Burn It To the Ground...

[derelict52]

Been a while since I've written here!  When I was off on my summer "intermission", I was writing in a journal almost every day, but stopped posting here.  That journal eventually ran (with some formatting) to over 34,000 words on 72 pages!

Since my sabbatical, I haven't journaled much at all.  Not sure what I would say.  I'm also not sure if it would have any value.

But this morning, as I glanced at the news, and some of the comments on FB about this or that disturbing event, the back of my head suddenly opened up with a driving bass guitar riff that marked a curious point for the closing ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics for me - the moment when Chad Kroeger and the rest of Nickelback started to sing the song "Burn It To The Ground", which is a song that basically says, "We are off to get so drunk that the world could end and we wouldn't notice!"  I remember thinking that, okay, yeah, the greatest competition in the world is now complete so, for a day or two, we can throw away the whole training regimen and just lose ourselves in the celebration of sport... but "burn it to the ground" was a bit aggressive...



I glanced at the "Magic Wall" on CNN.com, just to see where things stand as far as the House of Representative races.  It looks like the GOP will have just enough votes and seats to carry the House, the Senate and, of course, the White House!  The Supreme Court recently ruled that the President's "official acts as President" are not really prosecutable, so it is highly possible that the most conservative elements of American politics are going to make every effort to reshape the USA as a whole over the next four years.

I'm pretty sure they're going to "burn it to the ground."

A friend of mine challenged me to write out a list of the things that I "fear" about the election results; he feels that if I have such a list, I can look at it every once in a while and see how my fears are not actually coming to pass.  Having worked in the US government for several years, I believe *he* believes in "bureaucratic inertia", which will keep the wildest whims of the GOP's radicals from coming to pass.  I'm not so sure.  But here's some of my list items, so that I can refer to them later.

1. Sycophantic incompetence.  By this I mean, those who have kissed Trump's ring (ass / whatever...!) and have remained constantly loyal will be given governmental positions that are unsuited to their singular lack of overall talent.  MTG, for example, is a shit-disturber, totally capable of filling that role in opposition, but what "talents" does she actually have for government?  Sheila Copps was famous in Canada for being a firebrand in HMLO but faltered terribly once she was a government minister, while John Nunziata fared so poorly in government that he actually converted to an Independent so as to continue being critical of the government, whoever happened to be in power!  But my fear in the Trump organization is that he is going to elevate loyalists to positions for which they are completely unsuited, and their only goal will be to remake everything in their dear leader's image.  
2. A president only for those who voted for him.  Trump has already shown that he will float refraining to help people or regions who didn't vote for him if a disaster strikes them.  He acts as though he should only be president of those who voted for him instead of "the president of the United States of America".  This isn't supposed to be part of the deal.  
3. Purging "illegals" by the millions.  This *sounds* like a great idea if you are racist and feel that the influx of immigrants (mostly from places south of the USA) is somehow detrimental to the interests of the nation.  However, these people do jobs and make money and spend money and contribute to the tax base and are otherwise taking part in the "American Dream" and to deport them in bulk will cost untold billions of dollars that will have to come from somewhere else (and not the countries who are receiving the people, no matter what he may claim will happen - Mexico didn't pay for a single foot of his much-vaunted wall!) because they will no longer be paying for it!  
4. Economic downturn.  Trump was very big on claiming that he would make certain things happen, often without a true grasp of what it takes to make those things happen.  He can't just sign an Executive Order that says that gasoline will be $1.92/gallon, because that undercuts all the associated expenses that goes into the current price!  He touts himself as the friend of big business and says that he will give tax cuts to so many of them, but if he imposes tariffs on everything coming into the country, those things that the USA cannot produce as cheaply will still be purchased, and the tariff price downloaded onto the American consumer!  Higher overall prices, lowered relative incomes, and less incentive than ever to produce things domestically will lead to a severe economic downturn that Trump will never accept blame for having caused.  
5. Reversal of SCOTUS decisions of the past, including elements regarding gay marriage and the rights of transgender individuals to receive identity-affirming care.  I guess I'm not so much afraid of things just being rolled back, or the government saying, "We as the government have no place to say anything about this..." but the federal government taking their hands off and allowing the states to make their individual rules... which we have seen would result in non-affirmation and criminal penalties suggested or imposed upon those who do.  
6. The (enhanced) Dumbing-Down of America.  With the rise of Christian Nationalism and its claim that the Bible is the ultimate authority on all matters of life, faith, history, and even science, we have already seen an erosion of trust in basic science in favour of faith-based explanations (e.g. Creationism over evolution, anti-vaxx fervour, etc.).  We have also seen a rise in people's feelings being more important than facts, such that we lose time resolving issues because they want how they feel to be affirmed as the offense, rather than the offense itself; this can be seen extending to emotional states overriding common sense on all sides.  Facts are facts, feelings aside; if a book offends you, then don't read it; if you feel that you are in a position to forbid your child to read it because they are still a minor, so be it; but you do not have the right to forbid the children of other parents to read it because of your sense of being offended by it!  But you might have that right by the end of the next four years!
7. American Irrelevance.  For most of the twentieth century, other nations deferred to the US because they wanted its support in various matters; with Trump as president, I can see other nations ignoring the US' thoughts and decisions on various issues because they are so far out of alignment with everyone else's.  Dictators will send Trump a nice letter, which he will tout as proof of how wonderful said dictator is, and while they ravage their people one way or another, Trump will fly over (in his newly-painted Trump-themed AF1) for a photo-op, doing nothing to help the people themselves.  
8. Further erosion of Christianity.  Forgive me for being judgemental here, but so much of America's Christian population has drifted into either Phariseeism or outright heresy.  Trump is being touted as a "spiritual leader", as "God's chosen one" (uh, that word is "christos..."), and as God's blessing upon the nation.  People who are actually reading their Bibles are going to have a hard time equating Trump with anyone of whom the Bible actually approves - he's more of an Ahab than a David, if you ask me, because David at least recognized his sins eventually and asked for forgiveness; Trump is proud of the fact that he's never asked anyone for forgiveness, because he's only ever given them "what they deserved" and, thus, is completely fair, equitable, and honest.  The Christian faith, as demonstrated in America, will become the refuge for bullies, for hard-liners, and for those who demand their own way, and many in the younger generations will turn away as they seek a God who loves them, affirms them, and cares for them as they are, not as who they must become in order to become "acceptable".  Remember, God takes us as we are and then starts making the changes to us, not the other way 'round!
9. I'll end this list with, erosion of trust in government, and especially in the Presidency.  In the movie Civil War, the President has overridden the Constitution to give himself an illegal third term in office; the nation divides itself, and both sides end up with guns and a mandate to kill one another.  The president ends up being executed, possibly in the Oval Office itself.  I fear that the Trump presidency will lead to every-increasingly-hostile rhetoric between all sides and a further erosion of trust in government at many levels.  They simply won't be trusted to do what has to be done in a given situation, as every act or word will be partisan and will be expected to toe a certain "line".  

These are my fears.  Perhaps not as personal as it will be for others who would make such lists, but these are mine.  I fear that a Trump presidency, overall, is going to burn to the ground a lot of American institutions that we have taken for granted exist, and whatever rises from the ashes of that fire could be very different indeed.

We will see...!