Living the Curse of "Interesting Times"

I have been at a loss for words this week. Aren’t we all?

Ethnic cleansing on tap for Gaza. The worst possible administrative team imaginable just got Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr. added by assent today.

Sabre-rattling against Canada, Ukraine left in the wind against Russia. In fact, a new alliance of USA and Russia to apparently confront China – but let’s be real, that’s more of an economic fear of China rather than an ideological one, because only sparkling American oppression is good enough for America’s oligarchy.

So, yeah. A little lost for words.

Last night, I watched this interview with Chris Hedges, who was the NYT Middle East Bureau Chief for years and years, and arguably knows as much about that part of the world as anyone, with the added benefit of deeply knowing the American political culture and history.

It’s the reality check so many people need. (If you don’t know already, Al Jazeera does some of the world’s best news reporting, and this interview from January 31 is critical viewing.)

Let’s be frank: We are in what is arguably the most terrifying time to be alive since the Bay of Pigs Crisis. We’re nowhere near that, but we’re certainly closer than we have ever been.

Folks think "Oh, Russia's got its hands full." Does it, though? Because Russia has now created a war economy, and they must keep wars going or their economy will come undone, and any resulting revolution will unseat Putin and destroy that country’s oligarchy.

Meanwhile, both Netanyahu and Trump used their presidency to avoid their own legal troubles, which wars have distracted people’s attention from.

Then there’s Elon Musk, who literally had dozens of investigations against him that have now all been ordered to be dropped, plus he’s just landed a $400-million contract to supply law enforcement with Cybertrucks, which we now know catch on fire at a rate of 10 to 17 times more than the dreaded Ford Pinto, which was removed from production. Thank goodness pesky corporate oversight and safety have ended!

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God forbid that there have been any backroom discussions between, say, Russia and the USA to the tune of "you take Europe, we'll take Canada," but what if there have been?

People don’t want to believe we’ve transitioned from capitalism to whatever the fuck the world is becoming, but it's where we’re at.

The question now is, where do we go from here?

Unfortunately, a lot of that is down to the American people.

Do they revolt? Or do they go “welp, nothing we can do,” and the latter’s looking more the case.

Jury’s out yet, but I’ve got some money wagered on the most heavily-armed civilized population in history. I never thought I’d be cheering for America’s lack of gun regulation but maybe it finally has a positive.

But now we’re on Day 24 of the Trump Presidency.

It took 53 days for Nazis to unseat Germany’s democratic institutions and create a full fascist government.

Tick-tock. Where will we be in 29 days?

[insert scary shrug]

Here in Canada, we’re on the verge of electing a new Liberal Party Leader, who will, I guess, immediately take over for Justin Trudeau. That’s increasingly looking like Mark Carney, the guy who kept Canadian banking stable so we could avoid the 2008 recession that had impact on much of the world’s banking. (He also was the head of Britain's bank ahead of the Brexit vote and he cautioned the UK that leaving the EU would trigger a recession.)

Our election, for my American readers, will likely be called within days of Mark Carney winning Liberal leadership. He’ll assume Prime Minister duties nearly immediately, and rumour has it he will call a snap election immediately after victory. Then we’d be at the polls within about 40 days, if Canadian history plays out.

So, Canadians are in this terrifying state of limbo.

We have Americans rattling sabres, we have a right-wing fuckwit trying to win in Canada (and who had a terrifying lead just two months ago), a centrist government currently in flux, the biggest province in Canada running an election so its leader can avoid corruption investigations in Ontario, and Canada’s largest oil-producing province Alberta, their leader has political turmoil with new allegations over a $600-million contract award, and she’s literally on her way to Washington to kiss Trump’s ass for trade purposes.

But, really, this week, the world is in limbo.

This week signifies the largest shift in geopolitical realities since at least Fall of the Berlin Wall, but that was a good shift. The last time the world took such a dark turn was in the Cold War.

That time, though, the Americans were presumably the good guys.

Now… they’re not.

Yes, yes, you can argue Americans have been fucking up things on the world stage for decades with unneeded and unwelcomed military incursions, but at least there’s always been some outlandish pretext, morally.

Today there’s a cult-leader for a President, an increasingly unhinged American religious-right doctrine of Christofascism, an oligarchy of the world’s wealthiest people trying to deprive people’s rights and steal their data, a corrupt untraceable digital currency the average person doesn’t even understand (let alone have access to), and a world that’s increasingly facing climate catastrophe as the worst people on the planet assume power.

So, yes, if you, too, are feeling a little anxious and at a loss for words: You are not alone.

*

Ultimately, as Chris Hedges in that interview says, it comes down to the question of whether we live with tyranny or we cause revolution.

For years and years and years, I have believed we would need revolution to unseat the wealthy and powerful that are making our world so inequitable.

I feel no comfort in knowing I’ve been right.

This is where we find ourselves, the choice is tyranny or revolution.

Get thee a pitchfork, folks. We’ve got devils to keep at bay.

NO PITCHFORK? Okay! FEBRUARY 15 IS A DAY OF PROTEST AGAINST FASCISM WORLDWIDE. Make a sign. People are protesting at Tesla properties — including Tesla-owned charging stations — on February 15th. [Also, see the official event page here.]

Here in Canada, there are solidarity protests against fascism nationwide February 15th. Write your leaders, have a voice, cancel American subscriptions... but do SOMETHING.