The Mirror and the Malaise

Please Ignore the Throne of Money in the Abandoned Parking Lot

Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

Normalization is a terrifying thing, especially when we’re watching it unfold after an attempted coup on January 6th. Sometimes I wonder if, years from now, we’ll look back and ask: could we have done more? Could we have approached this era’s chaos with sharper tools or clearer minds? But then again, maybe there was never anything we could do. The floodgates of democratic unraveling didn’t crack open overnight…they burst under the pressure of neoliberal excess and the festering inequality it breeds.

Sometimes all we can do is pray, speak up, or find solidarity in a sea of malaise and bad faith. And truthfully, it’s never just been about Trump. Whether he triumphs or flounders, the real story is about us, the American people, and what we’ve accepted as normal.