I’m Tired of Living in Unprecedented Times
It’s been a long thirty six days since former reality TV star and convicted felon Donald J. Trump was sworn into the Oval Office – for a second time.
While the barrage of executive orders reversing diversity, equity and inclusion, stripping national parks of protection and threatening federal aid are enough to lose faith in what is left of our democracy, the current administration’s reign of terror began on January 20th with Elon Musk’s Nazi salute. Every day since then, the United States of America has fallen further from that beacon on a hill and closer towards a fascist oligarchy. Remember, it only took Hitler 53 days to dismantle democracy.
For those of us who have been paying attention because we don’t have the luxury of looking away, America’s sinister underbelly is a familiar sight. After all, we are a country founded on genocide and slavery. We have a history of experimenting with exploitation of all kinds. Before we had the decency to pretend and commit ourselves to performative displays of social progress at worst. At best, the efforts of our defiant and determined ancestors uplifted marginalized communities so all women could vote, same sex couples could be married and a Black man could be President.
To witness brazen and overt displays of white supremacy be brushed under the rug and explained away is maddening to say the least. Obama would have never gotten away with blaming plane crashes on DEI, openly threatening State Governors or normalizing fascist gestures. Living during unprecedented times is exhausting. To be in the thick of your formative years during the fall of an empire is a special type of hell. It’s pretty hard to plan for the future when you’re not sure if there’ll even be one. Why contribute to a 401K when billionaires are just siphoning our money to fund ethnic cleansing? Clocking into work and selling our means of production feels particularly painful as the world literally burns.
What can we do when everything is shit?
When the weight of the world is too much to bear, I remember that this is exactly what they want. The current administration wants to sadden us to the point of paralysis, leaving us too sick and tired to change anything about the fact that we’re so sick and tired. They win if we’re too busy numbing and distracting ourselves. Trump was elected because of the rampant division and anger in our country. Burying our heads in the sand and staying within our bubbles is only going to widen the ideological and moral chasm our nation is experiencing. Creating community can be an antidote to late-stage capitalism as it rebels against the isolation and apathy capitalism demands. Lately, I’ve started socializing again with renewed vigor, mindful of my bandwidth, but determined to fill my free time with people who make me feel safe. When I’m not toiling away at the email factory, I’ve channeled my rage into art, urging myself to create rather than rot in bed (although that’s a valid coping mechanism). Surrounding myself with value-aligned folks, while actively looking for joy in the mundane reminds that although the horrors persist, so do I. The constant onslaught of chaos and cruelty is designed to overwhelm us into exhaustion. We have to cling onto hope like our lives depend on it because they do. I don’t have all the answers for resisting fascism but I do know that radical self-care and kindness are a good place to start.