Fascism vs. Democracy: Different Visions of the Same Fire — A Horror Story

Cypress Butane
Nov 4 · 2 min read

There are two types of horror story, John Carpenter once said.
We gather around the fire, to tell the tale of… where the fear lies.

In one version, the storyteller gathers the tribe around the fire, and whispers a tale, that says…
‘The fear… is out there… beyond… the wall… The enemy is… the other. That is where our fear lies.’

In the other version, the shaman interprets the dreams that are brought to them, and in the end, with a glint of the fire reflecting in their glossy eyes, reveals, ‘And so you see, the enemy, was in us, all along.’

And blows smoke to the heavens, and the visions clear, and the fear is dispelled in this way.

Trump is undeniably a racist, nationalist, pointing (his) community’s fear, whispering around the fire that ‘the enemy’ is ‘out there… beyond… the wall…’

Whereas someone like Bernie Sanders is the heart of Democracy that says, together we are stronger, because of our differences, because we pool our resources, and dream together, and can solve any problem with our shared strengths.

The fire is inside us, and it burns out the fear.

The interesting thing is, that both stories are arguably.. true…

But they tear us up, in different ways.

Cypress Butane

Written by

I am St. Louis author Cypress Butane. Keep up with me at http://author-cypress-butane.tumblr.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCypressButane

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