One of the ways I pass the time is thinking of where I’ll go when they’ve started rounding up people for the work camps. Europe? Asia? South America? I’ve been thinking about this ever since the early years of the Bush II administration, when I learned that detention camps designed for the contingent of “mass migrations” within the U.S. were being built.
I like New Zealand because I like living in a volcano and earthquake zone near the Pacific Ocean, where most people speak a form of English, and it rains a lot.
While New Zealand is at the top of my list, I don’t want to neglect other possibilities.
Suppose I can’t get to NZ, or suppose NZ goes crazy even before the U.S. does. I know that, given recent trends, that’s unlikely. But you can never be sure. There are volcanoes and rain and English other places.
Belize?
The good news is we don’t change governments overnight in this country. If America’s premier fascist wins his party’s nomination and goes on to win the presidential election in 2016, we’ll all have two months and almost two weeks to arrange our exodus. Plenty of time to get your passport, your shots, arrange for the family pets to be put down, decide which of your children can be left behind to fend for themselves, etc.
Canada is close, but it’s almost too close. Would I be followed across the border?
Is that a paranoid idea?
Speaking of fear and paranoia, I’ve been dwelling on the ways fear motivates us all lately. It seems like these days you can’t think of any subject that doesn’t stir fear or anxiety.
What do you think about how everything now comes in pumpkin spice flavor? Do you know why that is? It’s made from humans. That’s only one example.
If you’re really afraid of global warming, asteroids hitting the earth, GMOs, terrorism, Ebola or super bacteria, that’s the way they want it. If you don’t know who “they” are, that’s the way they want it.
How do you navigate between the justified fears and the unjustified fears? If a fear is justified what responses are justified?
This sort of questioning brings us back to the rise in bigotry that our premier fascist is exploiting to try to advance himself in this election process. Bigotry is a cause for fear, but it comes from fear.
There’s a tangle.
The reason we’re in this mess, it seems to me, is that I can’t express genuine fear at the very serious prospect that an extremist, narcissistic Mussolini-wannabe may take over the country I live in and destroy it, without him peddling fear, which would remind all his supporters of the very thing that drives their support of the madman: fear.
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” works pretty well when you’re up against enemies that are still thousands of miles away, but doesn’t work so well when they’re already here.
Violence and intolerance are justifiably feared, and it’s not cowardice to fear those who exploit fear to justify violence and intolerance.
All my instincts tell me that the situation we’re in calls for me to run through the streets, screaming, “Get out while you can!” “Sell your cars and TVs and book a flight to Manila!” “As soon as they’re done with the Mexicans and the Muslims, they’re coming for us!”
It’s all so true, but now I see that saying so just makes it worse. We don’t want to make the fascists nervous. It only complicates the situation.
More ideas for making a stronger America:
Can you think of more reasons why citizens should all shut up and not bother fascists? Remember, we all only want what’s best for America.
Bonus question: In recent weeks Donald Trump has openly encouraged the beating of protesters and the manhandling of reporters.
Clearly, people are getting on his nerves. Can you explain why that should not be allowed?