It’s that time of the year when we’re supposed to write screeds to what is good and wonderful, to give thanks for cherished things, and to hold hands and sing happy tunes.
But I’m not thankful. In fact, I’m angry about what is happening to my country and in the world.
Let’s review, shall we?
Nationally:
We don’t have a president. We have a racist-in-chief. From “great people on both sides,” to “shithole countries,” to a presidential adviser with known ties to White Nationalists (Stephen Miller), the evidence is clear: Trump is a racist.
The racist-in-chief had over 100 contacts with a known adversary during the 2016 election and has probably committed obstruction of justice on multiple occasions.
The racist-in-chief attempted to bribe a key country’s new political leadership in order to obtain an electoral advantage in the 2020 presidential election.
The racist-in-chief’s political party could care less. The Senate leadership has stalled bills for election security, done nothing on the over 400 bills passed by the Democratic House, instead opting to fill the judiciary with far-right ideologues who will make any kind of progress nearly impossible for the remainder of my lifetime.
The racist-in-chief’s political party has embraced anti-intellectualism as a core component of its philosophy.
Globally:
We are witnessing the rise of strongmen: Putin in Russia, Modi in India, Xi in China, Bolsonaro in Brazil, Johnson in Britain.
We are seeing the slow dismantling of agreements and alliances that brought peace and prosperity.
And that’s before we get to the big one: we are slowly but methodically killing the planet we are living on.
I’m not thankful. In fact, I’m deeply concerned that we’re at the beginning of a second dark ages.