I’ve been unsuccessful in trying to formulate how to write about the election. But my son Bix did a good a good job of it, so I quote his blogpost on the subject here, as follows:
Fuck The Unenlightened Self-Interest Of Trump Voters
Nov 11, 2024
In the end, after the past week of watching this take and that take, but mostly just avoiding any real bothering with any takes at all, about how the election went the way it did, I’ve settled in the only place that makes any sense to me.
Whatever the perceived self-interest of any given Mine Furor voter—be it caste allegiance or aspiration, simple racism or sexism, some claim to an economic concern, or even (somehow) abortion rights—the only thing that matters actually is pretty simple:
They were willing to sell out the safety, dignity, and humanity of their neighbors to fascism in order to get what they wanted.
None of the other chatter, be it considered opinion or hyperventilated bloviating, amounts to anything but noise, and anyone who covers the angle of “what happened” without this focus is a distraction.
I’ve already mentioned it, but if you still haven’t done so, go watch this debate-ender, or from here if that link insists you download TikTok.)
Whether a Mine Furor voter engaged in selfish indifference or willful ignorance amounts to the same thing, and after three election cycles now it’s pretty evident that they are stubbornly unreachable. They should still get to benefit like anyone else from progressive policies, but it’s past time to let them go.
If the Democratic Party decides the road to victory runs through mega-donors, high-class consultants, and yet another rightward shift, they’ll be a lost cause, too. This country’s path to correcting itself lies at the bottom and to the left, which just so happens also to be the symbol of antifascism.
Bix is selling Everyday Antifascist t-shirts, so I went and bought one today. I hope you had a chance to watch the video. It says it all.