The New Normal Means We Can’t Go Home Again
“Keep reminding yourself this is not normal.”
- John Oliver (Last Week Tonight, November 2016, Vox)
In 2016, leading up to the election, and then, after Trump won the election, we were warned and then pleaded with by John Oliver to get it into our heads that this was not normal, that we (read: sane citizens) had to stay vigilant as we were living in unprecedented dangerous times. Little did we know that we would be in for more terrible unprecedented events like the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since it aired, I’ve been hung up on Episode 30 of Last Week Tonight, “The Trump Presidency”, which aired on November 12, 2017. There’s an important section on “three of Trump's "assaults" on civic leadership norms.”
1. The insistence that mainstream media is “Fake News”
2. The logical fallacy of “whataboutism” which basically involves using misdirection to avoid making any articulate statements
3. Trolling or personal attacks on those in opposition (a strongman/demagogue/authoritarian technique)
Here we are now in September 2023. Those of us who have survived Trump’s presidency and a pandemic. We have been beaten down but we remain vigilant.
If you’re here and reading this then you know what happened. You lived it. I suppose “knowing” now depends on what side you’ve taken. Facts are in question. Truths are in question. That’s how bad it is. Many if not most of John Oliver’s fears about the Trump presidency came to pass. We are a country in shambles, more divided than any other time in recent history. We are at war with ourselves ideologically and, let’s pray, we can avoid the all too often mentioned concept of a modern day Civil War.
It's difficult to predict anything these days. If Trump is legally able to run for office there is a chance he may regain the presidency. Even for many on “The Left”, a Biden vs. Trump re-run is not desirable—it may simply be the situation.
Where do we go from here?
Please share your thoughts and opinions in the comments. Respectful opposition is welcome.
It has been devastating, starting with the daily assault of his campaign and through his presidency. Now we're ever more awash in extremism. It's interesting to use the world "normal" because norms shift and the new situation becomes the norm. (I wrote about shifting baseline syndrome in my last post, it's a thing.)
None of this is new, however. For a succinct look at where norms in America have been heading the last few decades, here are 14 short comments on how we got here. https://kolektiva.social/@HeavenlyPossum/110989789650647995
Still, I am a barnacle hanging on to hope for dear life. I can't see an alternative.