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I recently spent a couple of nights in a forest, unplugging from digital modernity. This gave me a chance to step away from the endless media sensationalism to which I'm continually exposed. I tried to use the time to gather my wits about me as the election approaches. One candidate thinks free speech is a privilege and the other candidate is Donald Trump, so the United States is in trouble no matter what happens.
The neoliberal fascism of a Harris presidency promises to disregard our basic human rights domestically while precipitating a world war internationally. At the same time, another Trump presidency may well push our divided society past the point of no return and into catastrophic civil conflict. Charles Eisenstein, who worked with the Kennedy campaign until Kennedy dropped out to endorse Trump, recently posted a lengthy refusal to take a side in the current contest.
Eisenstein argues that the whole idea of taking sides is objectionable because it contributes to social division in a moment when social unity would be better. This argument is sound, but I got the sense that Eisenstein was using it to avoid engaging directly with the specific issues we face. Personally, I'm opposed to both Harris and Trump, but that doesn't mean I'm not picking a side. I'm on the side of freedom and fairness, which is a side that has no political representation in this election.
The faction of the establishment putting forth Harris is different from the faction of the establishment supporting Trump, yet both factions are on the same side. They're part of the same control regime forcing us further and further into dystopia. This involves manipulating our total information environment to program our thinking and influence our conversations. This programming is increasingly customized by algorithms, and it always encourages us to turn against each other instead of uniting against the regime itself.
Of course, I'm not suggesting we unite against the regime. Opposing the regime is a losing strategy. Historically, rebellions have either been brutally suppressed or they turn into brutal revolutions which are worse. So we can't in good conscience fight the power, but we can abandon the regime's systems in favor of better alternatives.
There's a religious fervor being generated in the population right now, and this fervor is being channeled into partisan conflict. I know people on both sides who have strangely taken leave of their senses when it comes to their favored candidate. They are all in a trance. What will they do if their side loses?
They will contest the results. There may be demonstrations or even riots in the streets. Political witch hunts could paralyze government. We'll be lucky if that's as far as it goes.
A Harris victory probably means war with Russia. And Eisenstein suggested that a Trump victory could mean war with Iran, if the neocons get their way. No matter what happens, our manufactured religious fervor is moving us in a direction favored by the war machine.
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