A Level of Discourse: Part 1

Where are we, and what happened?

Lately, for better or for worse, there has been a lot eating at me. The external bombardment landing in peoples’ lives lately is the epitome of, well, bad vibes. How can I sit and wish to write fiction when reality is impossible to escape at the moment? From economic precipices to fascistic inclinations, the world is need of escapism more than ever, but I find myself firmly rooted to the ground and unable to let my mind wander or relax. Friends of mine, who have the unique and by no fault of their own, naive, ability to ignore it all, have told me that my head is underwater and to come up for air.

But I do not know how.

Perhaps it is that lack of naivety, or my own brand of self loathing and ignorance that makes me believe in the worst? My background in Civil Rights history coupled with study on international and national conflict is, currently, the scholarly cocktail that is impossible not to drink. The warning signs for a calamitous at worst and tumultuous at best ride for America are everywhere. I refuse to be distracted by the culture war that got us here. Things like religious freedoms, anti-masculinity, wokeness, LGBTQ+ rights, and even immigration, are, and unapologetically, minor narratives that weak sided arguments use to propel and mask their true agendas to the forefront of people’s concerns.

Basically, they create enemies and others.

You aren’t getting that promotion because of DEI, not because you are either not qualified or the company knows they can pay a woman less. You’re medical coverage is more expensive because of illegal immigrants straining the system, not because insurance companies and medical care are for-profit ventures. Your religion is under attack and being erased in favor of others, it has nothing to do with the widening of religious freedom as a whole.

No, like all the other things, it is the big bad other person.

The reality is, that although there is certainly a narrative of marginalization coming to the forefront of American life, and that these smaller groups of people finally have enough political economy to make their concern heard, it isn’t to destroy your way of life in any way. That is a false narrative. One that prays on ignorance and laziness. And I will leave it at that. Because truly, what focusing on these culture issues really does for the up and coming autocrat, is conceal the inner workings of a clock.

What I mean by this is, and to put it bluntly, They, whomever you want to think They are, want to avoid a class war and any kind of class consciousness They can. Plain and simple. If you can distract a worker from what you do to them and pivot blame to say, airmailing jobs across an ocean? Then you’ve got all you need to abuse them more. If you can blame non-citizens for, well, anything, then you can eventually erode human rights enough that the word citizen and all their exemptions are moot. Everyone get’s a ride on the prison bus.

And that is what is happening in America. A culture war veil, an easy paint by number still life pulled over everyone who fell asleep in history classes eyes’. And that is a lot of people. I don’t blame anyone for falling for it. It’s the easy route. Blame others instead of self reflect. Deniability as mental healthcare.

The Oligarchs and the Ethnic Elite found common ground I suppose. I mean it makes sense, they’re both driven by Cis Anglo Males for the most part, and they both prefer it that power consolidates at the top, where they are. So why not join forces? The rich and the hateful? It makes sense, since you don’t rise up in the ranks of Wallstreet or the Aryan Brotherhood without first deciding that some humans are not human after all.

So what am I even saying, through all of this? What is the point? If you’re in the camp that is concerned about this then you already know it and believe it and if you are in the camp that doesn’t then I am utterly convinced that the event horizon has been passed already and you and I can never see eye to eye again. Call me crass, but a conflicting opinion is what car is better, a Mustang or a Corvette, not whether or not the right to a fair trial extends to everyone or not.

I am saying what I am saying because to me it is so obvious the game being played right now and what THEY, are truly afraid of.

Class consciousness.

The world order as it has been known since the Treaty of Westphalia would be shattered into stardust if we, as humans, would or could ever be allowed to realize that the only thing that truly unites us and divides us, is the social hierarchy. The them vs. us mentality that has prevailed for centuries. We are workers, not white’s or blacks, we are mothers and fathers, not gay or straight, we are humans, not types thereof. In the very history of this country, let alone the world, we have seen the greatest eras of prosperity be when class consciousness was at it’s highest and we have seen the most damage done when it was at it’s lowest. Just looking back at the 20th century should be enough to see that. And be enough to see it systematically dismantled intentionally since.

Power.

The greatest threat to it, is it’s dispersal. We see a government that since the 80s has worked to slowly, and man can They play a long game, disentangle us from our rights. And they didn’t do it in the grandiose ways that the specters of Europe did. They replaced our enemies with new ones. They rewrote our books. They gave us just enough to get by but not enough to mad about it. They told you the Unions were why you had to deal with poor work ethic and then decided what work ethic was, what self worth was and what success meant. Social engineering from a 900 number.

And here we are, in 2025, well past Fukuyama’s end of history with nothing to show for it. Well, there is one saving grace, and that is that in the end, our culture might help us win the class war and repel the cancer self inflicted by hateful men.

But, more on that next time.

A Level of Discourse: Part 2 - What is an American and Why It Matters

[Bonus Reading List]

Estes, Steve. I Am a Man! : Race, Manhood, and the Civil Rights Movement. Chapel Hill, Nc: Univ. Of North Carolina Press, 2006.

Noam Chomsky. Profit over People. Seven Stories Press, 2011.

Patterson, James T. Grand Expectations : The United States, 1945-1974. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. New York, NY: Harper, an Imprint of Harper Collins Publishers, 1980.