The Monsters are Here, Now
“The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.” — Antonio Gramsci, (1891–1937)
Everything seems very fragile now. The headline in the NYT is that the world is falling apart. The Monsters have come out of the basements the sewers, and the Justice Department. They are invading the peaceful protests and are trying to split the country and the world apart. Except for local efforts, there is no coordinating force trying to solve problems, and bring peace and calm. The US Federal Government seems to be doing the opposite. They love the chaos, as it covers their other faults. Trump ignores the problem while threatening more violence. Then he blames the Democrats, radical leftists and China. Some call that leadership.
How did we come to be in such a state of complete lack of direction and unpreparedness?
To me it began when we lost the Cold War, in 1989 and the early 90s. At first we were told that “Freedom” triumphed over “The Authoritarian State.” But what really happened was that communism failed, and the gates opened to Hyper-Capitalism. Anyone who wanted to put any restrictions on businesses and profits was labelled a communist. The wealth gap, that was beginning, keep spreading. Oligarchies emerged in several places around the world. Small groups of people took control vast amounts of money and the earth’s resources. This was true in Russia, the Middle East, Venezuela, China, and now the US. The Great Recession demonstrated clearly how hyper-capitalism was flawed, but it was the banks and other financial institutions that got bailed out.
As the rich gained power they bought governments. Employment for everyone increased slowly, but the wages of 80% of the workers increased even more slowly. Protections for workers decreased. Protections for the environment disappeared. Technology began to take away jobs. Information and money moved much more swiftly, but much of the information was false and many of the deals were corrupt. The effects of this was that many people lost trust in almost everything. Money and power became increasingly concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer people, and they used that power to change laws or suppress their opposition so that they could gain more money and power. They also purchased media outlets to help spread their ideology.
But, the opposition was growing also, and the two sides were becoming more divided, with little desire to compromise. Every ripple in the economy, any big storm, or authoritarian action brought out more of the opposition. The groups that have been historically disenfranchised and exploited began to organize and push for equality and to be heard. People of color, poor people, people with different sexual identities, and the biggest group of all, women, all began to point out how one group of people, a minority of the population, mostly older, white, men, have been suppressing and exploiting everyone else. The resistance is being joined by the newly nervous, the downwardly mobile, and the recently woke.
Now, some of the lines have been drawn.weal The Monsters are rushing out into the streets and are ramping up the Tweets. It’s the very rich vs. everyone else. The racists vs the blenders and co-existers. The individuals vs the cooperatives. Openness, tolerance and cooperation vs. authoritarianism and repression. They have all been joined by a new group that wants to be disruptive and destructive just to bother everyone.
Are we reaching a tipping point? Can the old order be toppled, or at least made to retreat? Will there be violence? How much? Who will side with whom when push comes to shove? What will emerge? How will it emerge?
I wish I had the answers, but I don’t. History is not very reassuring.
I would recommend that if you feel you will be affected by whatever happens next, and I’m very sure all of us will, that you pay attention, and then find a way to get involved. Read, write, talk to people, write to people, elected people, and people you vaguely know. I further recommend that you try to find ways of communicating with people of different colors, from differnt places and with different ideas.
The truth is, all of these problems can be solved, or at least alleviated. The resolutions will be better if more of us stay involved.
