The most recent 20 comments posted to Electrolite by Glen Fisher:

LizardBreath: I always thought that we did have a clear, overarching moral vision: Reduce Inequality.

As in, "no men are created unequal"? Unwittingly, you demonstrate part of the problem: how things are said. "Reduce inequality" is a fine and noble sentiment. It's just that, phrased that way, it has all the emotional appeal of a bank statement. "Our goal this quarter is to eliminate waste and reduce inequality." Turn it around, and make it echo the Declaration of Independence, and you get a much stronger statement: our vision is one of *promoting equality*. "All men are created equal, and all men should be treated equally, in every way." (Put it into the hands of a real writer, and you can probably get something even better.)

Which version is more likely to catch the attention of the Other 51%?

Glen Fisher

Andrew Plotkin spake:

I've gotten through the past four years thinking "That isn't *me*." It
was a bunch of power-mad venal fools, and yes, they had a lot of
Americans on their side, but they didn't have *America* on their side,
really.

They still don't. They have half of America on their side. Much better odds.


I don't have the luxury of saying my elected government doesn't represent me.

Why not? If you voted, and voted for anyone but Bush, they don't represent you. They will claim to represent you, to be sure--they've been claiming that for four years now--but you're the one who decides whether they actually do represent you.


Everything we do from here on out is being done in my name.

If you voted, and voted for anyone but Bush, without your permission.


Last week I could deny it -- maybe that was self-delusion -- but I can't now. We're all the torturers and liars and defrauders now. Oh, and gay-bashers.

Not me. Bush and his flunkies are, but not me. Half of America may be, but I'm not in that half.


(I'd say I'm not in a good state to decide what to do -- all I *want*
to do is curl up and play video games -- but that's laziness, not
burned-out-ness.)

Denial is a normal part of coping with loss. Don't kick yourself for going through it.

I don't think anyone is in a good state to decide what to do just now; the calamity is too fresh, and the important battles aren't yet clear (nor even, in some cases, who the enemy is). Mourning remains to be done. For now, I think Teresa's "Last Days" advice remains valid: Be of good cheer, hard though that is just now. The election's (mostly) over. The fight isn't. It's just moved to another battlefield. And keep in mind, point 5:

Bush & Co. are really good at making people feel crushed. If you feel crushed, it isn’t because the world is an awful place; it’s because you’re picking up Radio Bush. It’s temporary.

It's just that "temporary" is going to be a lot longer than people had hoped.

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