As the United States slides ever more rapidly into fascist oligarchy, with a president who is trying to destroy public education, gut consumer protections, wipe out scientific advancement, and gin up fake justifications for invading our former friends and neighbors, many of us are asking: how long will the pubic continue to sit quietly by as the world spins into chaos? What will finally wake the sense of pride we once had in our absolute disgust at having monarchs? Our patriotic sense we are the world’s greatest democracy? When will the mass protests truly begin?
There are a ton of good reasons why the response to Donald Trump’s assault on our democracy, propped up by a feckless and useless GOP majority in the House and Senate and the slow speed of our court system, has been scattered and slow to grow. People will undoubtedly talk about the millions who live in a conservative bubble, provided by FOX news and a few other outlets, where information is controlled and massaged to reflect an extremist mind set about society and culture while downplaying this crisis. Experts will talk about our wealth and how you won’t see mass risings until enough Americans are economically impacted that they will take to the streets. We can be reminded of a lazy Democratic party leadership, which is sitting on their hands and hoping “we’re not him” will be enough to win elections. Many will point to the failure of the “traditional” media, which has sane washed Trump to make him appear as though he’s not whackafuckingdoodle off the charts nuts and who refuse to treat this for what it is: a soft coup in progress.
I’ll leave all those to others. I’m here today to point out we stew in our crashing society because of another reason: Convenience.
We are used to two day shipping. We love our many apps which provide us entertainment and cat videos daily. We keep using free websites managed by tech lords that let us connect with our friends, our families, the world at large. We have time and again voted with our dollars to allow monopolies to thrive because it’s too much bother to go find someplace else to shop.
We want what we want and we want it now.
My wife and I have been working hard to break away from the tides of convenience. We’ve given up using Amazon and have canceled our Prime account. We’ll shop elsewhere, starting with Bookshop.org for any books we need, which gives money back to independent book stores. We do not support any organization that has ditched their DEI initiatives at the request of the fascists in the oval office because supporting such racist drivel is anathema to a good society. I personally gave up Facebook 8 years ago when I learned just how much spying on us they were doing, and I gave up twitter a few weeks after Elon bought it. I will never trust a social media site again, and I will fucking bail the moment one starts sliding into enshittification and fascism.
I’m one person, though. Millions still use these sites. Because they are convenient. “I connect with distant relatives on Facebook,” the say, as if they don’t have a phone the Facebook app is running on where they could call or text those same relatives. Or hell, use Marco Polo, my wife’s family loves that app. Using these social media sites supports billionaires who have cozied up to Trump’s fascist regime and are enabling him while spying on you and giving your data to the jack booted thugs he manages. They get lower taxes; you get your rights taken away.
Millions still shop at Amazon, another fascist boot licker. Or at Hobby Lobby, which bends the knee for Donald the Hitler admirer and is run by their own antisemitic, homophobic bigots, who steal antiquities from other countries. They eat at Chick-fil-a, which has long donated to anti-LGBTQ+ causes. They don’t realize when you eat and drink at a Nazi bar, you’re supporting the Nazis.
We want all the streaming channels all the time with all the shows available to us 24/7. We want that set of bookshelves tomorrow, not two weeks from next Monday. We want prices to remain low, inventory high, and the American dream – which was sold away in the 1990’s by Gingrich and company – to always be there for us to strive for.
We want it all. And we want it now.
So, we don’t protest and we don’t take a hard look at what we are getting in exchange for convenience. Too many people either don’t care, or they fear we’ll have to take a stand against all these things which make our lives just a little bit better. The tiny improvements that come at such massive costs. But the costs are hidden; we only see the improvements. We only see how it makes our unbearable lives just a fraction better. We’ve spent years in a declining capitalist empire, struggling to find good paying jobs with benefits, or housing, or any sort of affordable healthcare. A nation where wealthy conservatives have time and again attacked the things that could make our lives better, and we cling to what little we have. We’d be fools to give that up.
We will sell our national soul for the sake of free shipping.
I fear it won’t change until the whole system collapses.
I fear for all of us if and when it does.