America Has an Empathy Problem
Until we can find compassion for each other, we are doomed....
I’m on a cruise, damn it. I’m supposed to be relaxing and taking a break from this shit. But my mind is spinning and I can’t sleep. So forgive my sloppy writing today. I have some things I need to get off my chest.
The entire democrat party is grieving. And just like the normal grieving process, the party is experiencing all the stages of grief at once. Some are still in denial that this is actually happening, or that Trump will really do all the horrible things he’s been telling us for years that he will do if given the chance. Others are angry and lashing out at leftists for voting 3rd party or not voting at all. Leftists are blaming liberals for keeping the status quo. I hope the party as a whole can quickly move past this stage because it’s extremely toxic and holds us back. The real enemy is Trump and his gang of Oligarchs. We can’t lose sight of that.
The rest of the party seems to be slipping into a deep depression. Immigrants are scared that they will be deported to El Salvador. The trans community are being erased from existence, and those relying on social programs fear they will have their income vanished by Elon Musk’s hacker Mafia. Black women have stated that they are done and are sitting out the next election. Who can blame them? They’ve led the charge for every social progress movement only to be slapped in the face when they needed us the most.
The leadership in this party seems to be MIA when the voters need them the most. If it’s anything like I’ve seen online with left-leaning voters, the party is in trouble and needs a come-to-Jesus moment, like now. The progressives are pretty much the only voices of reason and resistance, while the establishment dems are helping Trump by voting for his ridiculous nominations and signing off on the Laken Riley Act. I need a drink and it’s only 5:30am.
‘But the democrats aren’t in power! What do you want them to do?!’ This is the reaction I keep hearing when I criticize the leaders of the party. We’re not MAGA. We’re not in a fucking cult. We are supposed to hold our representatives accountable. I kept my mouth shut last year because I was afraid to turn away voters when I knew it was going to be a close election. I saw some things I didn’t like, but I knew the alternative was going to be a disaster. So here we are.
What didn’t I like? I didn’t like the way Biden tried to hold hands with Republicans. We still had several in office that helped plan January 6th! Why would we treat this party like normal party??? Besides, when you are working with far right extremists, what happens when you try to meet them in the middle? YOU move to the right! And that’s what Biden did. I think Biden was too soft on Putin and Netanyahu. I also hated that no one seemed to know anything about Project 2025 until social media influencers spoke up. Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Biden have been in office long enough to know about the Heritage Foundations plans. So why the fuck are the American people just now hearing about it??? They should have been sounding the alarms for years! Then Biden has a tea party with Trump and tells him “Welcome Home” as he comes back to the White House. WTF?!
The truth is this party wasn’t prepared to fight back because they helped contribute to the problems we are seeing today. Trump is the symptom. Not the problem. Cut off his head and JD Vance will gladly take the throne and finish what Trump started. The problem is neoliberal capitalism and everything that it entails. And every administration has contributed to this mess because they have all benefited from it in one way or another. That’s not to say the democrats haven’t tried or they haven’t worked hard for the American people. But just like playing a game of pool, it doesn’t matter how many balls you make, if you scratch on the 8 ball, game over.
Now we must rack a new game and be strategic. And we can definitely win this. But we can’t go forward until we have done a thorough SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis determine how to actually resist (and not a stupid hashtag movement). We know our side is better, smarter and has more to offer the American people. But the American people have lost faith in our party and in the government. The Dems have to figure out how to earn their trust again. Hint: LET A NEW GENERATION LEAD FOR FUCKS SAKE!
Our party needs to heal. We need to grieve the loss of a Kamala Harris presidency (for now, hopefully she will run again.) I don’t know if I’ll ever fully heal from this, but I know I have to try to move on. And part of that grieving process is having empathy. Empathy for each other and ourselves. There is going to be so much pain coming out of this administration and we are going to need one another to get through this. One of the reasons that Hitler came to power is because of all the infighting within the left. Hitler and the Nazi party capitalized on that weakness, as did Trump with us.