I wanted to publish this on Wednesday, Inauguration Day, but as is often the case, I didn’t. I admit, of the three of us at Snakes and Otters, I am the least likely to post on time. Or even on the right day. Mea culpa.

Warning though… This is a bit of longer essay. Please read to the end though.

Leading up to the election and then the transfer of power, I was both amused and dismayed that so many people on the Left believed there was no way Donald Trump would actually leave office peacefully. That he would declare martial law and try to use the military to stay in power. Or some variation on a theme. Oddly none of them thought he would win. Oddly none of his supporters seemed to think he would lose.

I was amused at the Right’s insistence that Barack Obama would do the same thing in 2016. They were sure Obama would declare martial law or create an excuse to delay the election. Sounds familiar, yes? It wouldn’t surprise me to find that the Left thought the same of George W. Bush in 2008.

None of them did any of those things though. Power transferred on time on the intended day. Yes, yes. There was the brouhaha of January 6th. We can debate endlessly whether Trump’s words that day and before truly rose to the level of sedition or an attempted coup. Personally, I do not. Was he acting like an ass? Absolutely. Did he make total blunders? 100% yes. Did he do anything right? Yes. He left office when he was supposed to just like every President before him.

I didn’t vote for him either time. I own no MAGA paraphernalia. I never went to a rally. Wasn’t in DC on the 6th.

That I had to do that, and that many will sneer and say I’m lying to cover my own ass, is more than troubling. We are in a precarious place in our history as a people I believe. Not because Donald Trump lost the election or that Joe Biden won. Politicians come and go. I think it would take a catastrophic event to transform us from a Constitutional Republic (not a democracy) into some form of a dictatorship. Think total economic collapse. Or an asteroid strike. Or a zombie apocalypse.

So why are we at a precarious place?

The problem, to put it succinctly, is US.

At the core, I believe the social contract is breaking down. What we all used to take for granted in how we go about our lives isn’t always the case anymore. Sometimes, it’s because of unforeseen circumstances. COVID anyone? Sometimes we perceive others as turning their back on the rules, so we decide to do it too. All’s fair in love and war they say.

Well, “they” are wrong. All is NOT fair. When we say we’re a nation of laws, it doesn’t and shouldn’t mean we are bound in all ways by the law. Laws come and go like politicians. I think it really means that we’ve chosen to live by an agreed upon set of rules as a nation and a people. We no longer seem to be able to agree on a the common set of rules anymore.

This is how you get to a societal collapse without any external factors like famine, war or the zombie apocalypse. When we can’t agree upon the basics of behavior, the basics of political discourse, the basics how to resolve disagreements and the basics of how and whether or not we accept temporary defeat, then how can we continue. If enough people in the right places agree that a red traffic light no longer means stop, then we have total chaos.

Now apply that to political differences. When enough people in the right place decide to change the meaning of things, or whether or not the government has the power to do X, more chaos will result. We generally don’t respond well to chaos. It often brings out the most violent of responses.

That’s exceedingly dangerous when it comes to political and societal issues. 

We’ve got a vocal, though a minority, group that claims the election was stolen from their preferred candidate. That was four years ago. And now it’s happened again in 2020. This time it was worse, resulting in rioting, but both groups claimed it and proclaimed’ “He’s not MY president.” Each side is ramping up their reaction and response to the other. We’re now at the point where some of those in power have talked about what they need to do with and to those who were on the losing side of the election and some who were on the losing side are talking about taking up arms.

I don’t know which is worse to be honest.

Both sides seem to be trying their hardest to live up to the worst fears of their opponents. That will not end well at all.

How can it not be chilling to everyone when politicians blithely talk about what needs to be done with their opponents? Seriously? What the hell does that even mean? Are we talking gulags? Re-education camps? Confiscation of property? Jail? Or just plain old destroying someone’s livelihood?

How can it not be chilling to everyone when people seem to be really and actually serious about taking up arms against the government over an election that was lost? Not for physical injury, repression or rounding up the undesirables, but for political differences that happen at least every four years????

We’ve often talked about the core issue with American politics is the demonization of one’s enemies. Once you’ve gone down the path of calling your enemies evil, not their policies even – the people themselves, what can you do? No one want to compromise with evil. No one wants to be seen as being friends with the devil. No one want to be the one who sold out to the devil.

Plus, we’re talking about EVIL. You don’t just want to defeat evil. You have to destroy it of course. Does it matter that what you’re calling evil are people just like you? People with jobs, families, kids, hobbies, likes, dislikes, favorite books, music, TV shows and movies? Of course not. That’s what makes them so insidious. The evil hides in plain sight and tricks you into thinking their not evil at all.

You’re probably thinking… “Whoa there Robert! That’s crazy talk!”

Is it? Is it, really?

Look around. Look at the direction political and social discourse has gone. Look at how we interact with those we disagree with. Look at how we can’t even have an election that isn’t the most earth-shattering event, the most important election of our lifetime. I’ve heard that used in at least the last four Presidential elections. Hyperbole stops being hyperbole when it’s always used. If it’s always the most important, then none are important.

Those of us willing to do so, need to stop going along for the ride. It’s not that we’re not interested in what’s going on or even agree with the extremes. I suspect for most of us, it’s just that we’re so tired of all the crap. I know I am. But we can’t let it continue. The death spiral of our great nation seems to be accelerating.

It’s not Trump’s fault.

It’s not Biden’s fault.

It’s OUR fault.