On Platitudes and Placation

It may sound harsh, but one of the best ways to predict whether someone will fall victim to a scam in the future is if they fell victim to a scam in the past. You might think the victim would automatically learn the harsh lesson, but that requires understanding how they were tricked, and taking the time and effort to formulate and internalize a counter-plan. This is hard to do when one is overworked, short on time, and immersed in constant confusion. So in the end, the same underlying issues--whether it is a tendency toward wishful thinking, oversimplification, greed without willingness to work hard, belief in unreasonable things, or even an irrational hatred of certain groups--may remain unabated.

Don't Be That Guy

I know an individual who claims to care about Ukraine. It's ostensibly so important to him (if I take his words at face value), that he was willing to "roll the dice" and support Trump, despite Trump's abysmal record on the issue. But if you want to predict Trump, there are a couple of patterns. Cruelty, chaos, confusion, of course. But Trump often sides with Putin, parrots Putin, and Trump will sell his influence to whoever has money. And Putin has a lot more money than Zelenskyy, even if it's currently hard for him to launder. When Trump inevitably stabbed Zelenskyy and Ukraine in the back, guess what, this guy, rather than lamenting his mistake, defends like so: "Well, but Biden didn't do enough!" I wonder if he even knows the origins of his talking points?

Of course I understand the frustration, but it makes no sense to instead side with someone who actively undermines Ukraine and NATO. How does one fall prey to such a scam? Supposing there was ever any sincerity to his words, one would have to conclude that he is still mired in an illogical viewpoint he allowed himself to embrace, and now does not want to change. This is exactly the kind of guy who will fall for the same scam over and over, because he is too proud to admit a mistake and explore the details of how it happened. And I get that the world is a cruel place where it can be dangerous to show weakness or remorse. But still, sometimes one must confront the facts. For myself, one of the mistakes I tend to make is to try to lighten things up and be friendly rather than letting people know what I really think. I think I need to let go of that.

History Repeating

After WW2, faced with the opportunity to engage in deep soul searching, many made this same mistake I often make--to avoid conflict and confrontation. We might lament, for example "why must mankind always wage wars?" (When of course it was specific men who instigated the war, not the whole of mankind). It's as though we're trying to drown the specifics in melancholy and platitudes. Thus, former Nazis who supported Hitler found themselves back in office even if they continued to hold highly objectionable viewpoints, so long as they just disavowed Hitler. As a result, Germany did not completely recover from its past--witness the current AfD debacle. Could they have worked harder to outgrow the past? I don't know, but they seem to be paying the price. Of course, Putin's disinformation machine is amplifying the problem, but it would not be possible unless the people were already vulnerable.

Going further back, looking at the American civil war, America clearly made too many appeasements to the proponents of slavery. Having fought a difficult war, to keep the peace they left the rank and file of the Confederacy in place, allowed Confederate flags to be openly flown, allowed the proliferation of statues of Confederate "heroes" and the glorification of Confederate "valor," which makes no sense given that those people were fighting for racism and slavery and against America's modern values of diversity and inclusivity. They were fundamentally un-American. So it is not surprising that we now find the old cries of "the South will rise again" have grown louder rather than fading away. We now struggle with the things we were supposed to have overcome.

Recently, our failure to hold Trump accountable for his past crimes and corruption, made it inevitable that if he returned to power he would instantly pardon the insurrectionists and other co-conspirators, becoming more emboldened than ever before. We tried to hold him accountable, but found ourselves blocked by Trump's own cronies. So we failed, and now America is in turmoil.

View from the Bottom

Things seem pretty bad, and the only upside I can see is that Americans can finally abandon their misguided belief in "exceptionalism" and the inherent superiority of America. It seems we are as vulnerable to fascism and corruption as any other. Americans often ask why the Russian people permitted Putin's evils. They would do well to extend that logic to their own country and ask what options if any are available to resist Trump's new authoritarian machine. If they lack any effective recourse against the wicked deeds done in their name and with their tax dollars, what is there to be proud about?

The new regime is a message to America that it has reached rock bottom. We were having issues with accountability; now we have no accountability. We were dysfunctional; now we're completely broken.

Biden's last days in office were spent working for a cease fire in the middle east. He urged restraint and demanded protection of civilians. He didn't engage in anti-semitism, because he was a good guy. Some people claimed they could not vote for Biden or Harris because of their own hatred of everything related to Israel, and their concern for the people of Palestine. This is a point of deep divide and conflict; for myself, I do not agree with their hatred of Israel, though I respect their interest in innocent civilians in Palestine (not Hamas who are monsters), even if I am deeply troubled by the evidence that such sentiments had been extensively manipulated in social media, through deceptive means. In the end, what did they achieve in attacking Harris? The new administration that we are stuck with instead has made it clear that they fully support Netanyahu's diabolical deeds, are happy to accelerate the violence against Palestine if it's helpful to Netanyahu, and... also they want to forcibly displace the inhabitants of Palestine and repurpose the land for their own profits. Is that somehow an improvement? I don't think so. And yet they'd probably still allow themselves to be manipulated into detracting from Biden and Harris, given the chance. Am I being too harsh? See my opening paragraph.

Acknowledgements

I've borrowed some ideas from Rebecca Watson, viewed through my own lens, to remind myself and others about the costs of conciliatory behavior. I would also reiterate what Liz Cheney said--there will come a day when Trump is gone, but the dishonor of those who supported him, can not be forgotten. Must not be forgotten--if we hope to avoid repeating our mistakes. No amount of amity on my part can change that.