It was almost three years ago that I wrote an essay titled COVID Apocalypse in which I noted that the capitalized word means to unveil or reveal – to make apparent that which before was hidden. Hence, the biblical book of Revelation.
Inspired by Professor Robert Reich’s newsletter today, I suggest that Trump’s re-election is an Apocalypse. It has shown us who we are. There is no more pretending that the worst of human character and behavior belongs to a small basket of deplorables. We have no choice but to face who we Americans are. We are:
- Bigots
- Racists
- Misogynists
- Sexists
- Paternalistic
- Homophobic
- Transphobic
- Xenophobic
- Authoritarian
- Autocratic
- Chauvinists
- Fetal fetishists
- Christian Nationalists
- Islamophobic
- Antisemitic
- Intolerant of any opinion not our own
- Tribalist
These words describe us as a nation. Trump’s second presidential term shows that we are not a democratic people who believe in individual freedom, small government, the golden rule, or any of that pablum fed to us in church and school. We are coarse, selfish, and inconsiderate of others. In fact, we seem to relish othering and attacking everyone not us.
I have long suspected that some of us harbored some of these traits, but until now, I had not realized that they were so widespread and the ethos of the majority of our people. Alas. 🙁