The Golden Trident

Photo courtesy of Lorie Shaull

By Astrid Fabinski

The American political system had a good run, if you consider “good” to mean utterly horrifying and deadly beyond belief.  The sociological and economic crisis that has been unfurling itself in front of us is coming to its close slowly, violently, and right in front of your faces. Many seem to think that this crisis, defined by global rising temperatures, deathly low wages, and the erosion of privacy from one’s government, is a singular issue attributed to Democrats or Republicans. However, all are only symptoms of our political system rotting away.

America is no doubt more politically illiterate than it ever has been. Not in the sense that its voters are necessarily less intelligent than they previously were, moreso that the modern politician is simply a moron. Politicians do not carry themselves with the formality and prestige they once had; instead, they carry themselves with anger and spite towards specific groups of people. The American voter has found themselves with no serious options for the last three elections (another Clinton term vs. Trump, a rotting segregationist vs. Trump, almost a rotting segregationist, but instead a moderate Republican vs. Trump), creating a form of normalcy around the degradation of American politics into humorous battles of incompetency between two parties that are almost impossible to tell apart. It is astonishing how low and comedic the American political state is, and as funny as it is to laugh at Trump’s speeches or Harris’ coconut slogan, it is hard not to be absolutely terrified for what’s to come. However seemingly dysfunctional our politics are, every year we contribute to some mass instability in the world. However clumsy the President appears, the U.S. seems to more methodically destroy any hope for domestic revolution. No matter how idiotic a campaign appears, no matter how absolutely evil a politician is, they just keep getting elected. 

A big contributor to this illiteracy is America’s lack of a unified progressive party. The closest we have are the Democrats, who this year campaigned on tighter border restrictions, increased military and police budgets, mentioned almost nothing of protecting LGBTQ healthcare, and denied any plans for universal healthcare. Her anti-progressive policies ultimately resulted in Kamala Harris getting endorsed by Dick Cheney, one of the most horrific war criminals alive today. The only real alternative to Democrats, the Green party, is unelectable because Americans refuse to vote third party. This leaves young progressives and even moderate liberals with the option between an evil party and an evil party. No matter how true the “lesser evil” argument is, it is very hard to mobilize voters with. Without a party that can deradicalize or offer a counter to the Republicans’ incredibly effective propaganda, voters will continue to shift right, or have no choice but to not vote at all. 

Leftists and fascists will never be able to see eye to eye, even if they may be able to have a conversation. Instead of believing in a pretend world where everybody just talks to one another as liberals so often like to, it is important to recognize that the radicalization of America has already happened. Harris cannot court the moderate right because the moderate right wants things that are counter to most progressives’ morals (think abortion, universal health care, Gaza, LGBTQ rights), while the moderate right will not be courted because they see Harris as a progressive. This election we saw Harris, after being endorsed by high ranking republican politicians, gain less of the Republican vote than Biden did in 2020. We also watched her lose the popular vote because she was unable to appeal to her own voter base, causing the nation’s voter margins to shift right almost nationwide. 

Trump proved that all you really need to get elected is a whole lot of anger and a whole lot of nothing to point it at. The American politician doesn’t have to say that the American police system is irrevocably corrupt, they don’t even have to mention the police system, let alone a position on it. All they have to say is, “These leftists, they want to get rid of our precious police!” They don’t have to acknowledge any other political system as legitimate, they can just say, “These leftists, they want to destroy the American system!” They don’t have to have a political conversation at all, because all an American voter wants is to feel comfortable. And what’s less comfortable than confronting the exploitative system you live in? 

Instead of letting voters exist in this comfort as Harris did, feeding their unfounded fears of immigration and transgender healthcare, Democrats must reveal just how miserable republicans actually are. More importantly, Democrats must offer a counter plan. Campaign on universal healthcare, prison reform, basic living wage, higher wealth taxes. Give the leftists, both moderate and extreme, in this country a reason to vote at all. The secret to defeating the facism that democrat elites feared up until November 5th is attack, not capitulation.