Well done Gabe. I am a boomer and have reaped the benefits of a generation before me that believed in self-sacrifice, compromise and teamwork. I'm distraught over the direction of our politics and society but am encouraged that someone of your generation sees what is going on and is speaking out about it.
One of your BEST! For me, this piece pulled together a lot of threads of concern I was holding relative to your frequent council regarding abuses on both sides weakening the potential for the future. I guess I was wanting my own personal "dictatorship" to come about :-) I also tend to struggle with your use of polls and graphs, but really felt the background they provided for your perspective in today's post was very well integrated. I'll provide this quote from you to help me remember that learning to stay buoyant through "frequent disappointment" is not just an important political strategy, but a key life skill as well!
"Many of us, it seems, would rather live in our own personal dictatorship... than come to terms with what it means to live in a democracy, with all the hard persuasive work and frequent disappointments that entails."
I'm not entirely sure I buy the argument that suspicions around the 2020 election and suspicions around the 2024 election are the same or come from the same place. In 2024 we had a power-hungry convicted felon who had been impeached and left office after his first term with rock bottom approval who suddenly people were willing to vote for again? Despite the fact that rallies and events for his side were sparsely attended and bleak compared with Kamala's? Trump yard signs were hard to find here in Iowa. But, coincidentally, the tech oligarchs were lining up behind him, those same oligarchs who control so much of the mechanisms used to conduct elections and sell public opinion? Democrats thinking maybe this ethically dubious crew might have done something ethically dubious seems very different from Trump's complaints about 2020.
Also, I think the gradual increase in doubt about 2024 might actually show that perhaps civic virtue isn't dead on both sides. Despite all of that, most Democrats shook their head and said, "well, I guess this is what the country wants." Only after seeing the goals and actions of our ethically dubious crew fully laid out over the course of 2025 did a majority decide that perhaps they might've been too quick to recognize that crew's victory. That maybe this isn't what the majority of the country actually wanted.
Finally your even-handed approach is no longer a reassurance but a warning -- everything is NOT okay! This American experiment in democracy is not guaranteed to succeed, especially as greed overpowers the better angels.
Absolutely obvious, Gabe, and yet, I never even considered these implications of the total self-centeredness and self-importance of so many of us. And, frankly, I’m not sure I’m glad you pointed it out. In this way lies dispair
Well done Gabe. I am a boomer and have reaped the benefits of a generation before me that believed in self-sacrifice, compromise and teamwork. I'm distraught over the direction of our politics and society but am encouraged that someone of your generation sees what is going on and is speaking out about it.
One of your BEST! For me, this piece pulled together a lot of threads of concern I was holding relative to your frequent council regarding abuses on both sides weakening the potential for the future. I guess I was wanting my own personal "dictatorship" to come about :-) I also tend to struggle with your use of polls and graphs, but really felt the background they provided for your perspective in today's post was very well integrated. I'll provide this quote from you to help me remember that learning to stay buoyant through "frequent disappointment" is not just an important political strategy, but a key life skill as well!
"Many of us, it seems, would rather live in our own personal dictatorship... than come to terms with what it means to live in a democracy, with all the hard persuasive work and frequent disappointments that entails."
Another fantastic article I wish I could mail to every American household
I'm not entirely sure I buy the argument that suspicions around the 2020 election and suspicions around the 2024 election are the same or come from the same place. In 2024 we had a power-hungry convicted felon who had been impeached and left office after his first term with rock bottom approval who suddenly people were willing to vote for again? Despite the fact that rallies and events for his side were sparsely attended and bleak compared with Kamala's? Trump yard signs were hard to find here in Iowa. But, coincidentally, the tech oligarchs were lining up behind him, those same oligarchs who control so much of the mechanisms used to conduct elections and sell public opinion? Democrats thinking maybe this ethically dubious crew might have done something ethically dubious seems very different from Trump's complaints about 2020.
Also, I think the gradual increase in doubt about 2024 might actually show that perhaps civic virtue isn't dead on both sides. Despite all of that, most Democrats shook their head and said, "well, I guess this is what the country wants." Only after seeing the goals and actions of our ethically dubious crew fully laid out over the course of 2025 did a majority decide that perhaps they might've been too quick to recognize that crew's victory. That maybe this isn't what the majority of the country actually wanted.
Finally your even-handed approach is no longer a reassurance but a warning -- everything is NOT okay! This American experiment in democracy is not guaranteed to succeed, especially as greed overpowers the better angels.
Great article, thank you!
Absolutely obvious, Gabe, and yet, I never even considered these implications of the total self-centeredness and self-importance of so many of us. And, frankly, I’m not sure I’m glad you pointed it out. In this way lies dispair