The emotion I'm struggling with the most is the title of this post. Mitzi and I were talking this morning and she speculated that this Supreme Court and its "decisions" will spark more "self-sorting" in America, with red states getting redder and blue states, well, less red.
The problem with self-sorting is one that I criticized Michael Bender, a professor at the University of North Florida who runs a political poll, for when he made a generalization that people tend to move to states that more reflect their values.
Florida is two states, one for the privileged and the other is ignored. Professor Binder was speaking of the former and committing the sin of the privileged regarding the latter. Poverty in Florida is a life sentence. Poor people can't afford to move. The kind of people moving to red states aren't exactly known for their generosity. Florida is defined by its policy of malignant indifference to the suffering of others.
Although that indifference has turned to open hostility toward those living on the margins of society.
Mitzi and I have spoken before of buying property in New York. More accurately, Mitzi buying property in New York. Although my navy pension and Social Security make me firmly among the privileged, I don't have the means to own property in two states.
I've been trying to save a little money this year. I hadn't planned on making any sizable donations to political campaigns. I thought I might try to amass a small sum to pass on to my children when I'm gone, though I think the opportunity for that has likely passed. I think now I'll look around and see where my money might best serve what remains of our democracy.
We have a narrow window to save the republic. If we can soundly defeat Trump and repudiate Trumpism and neo-fascism in November, install unambiguous if not commanding Democratic majorities in both houses of congress, we can reform the Supreme Court, and reduce the corrupting influence of The Federalist Society.
But it's a narrow window, and I'm not optimistic. I think America is on the verge of becoming a fascist autocracy like Hungary. I have to recall that I must "do my best, and the rest isn't up to me." And perhaps among my best actions is sending resources to those people still fighting for democracy in our nation.
Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:03 Wednesday, 3 July 2024