My only suggestion for reducing your level of anxiety would be to read less of the NYT and WaPo and spending more time listening to Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson (or even Bari Weiss). That is not snark, its a real suggestion.
I don't spend much time reading the NYT. I have read parts of Project 2025 and try to read the words of the people on both sides who are in or are seeking power. I also read the summary opinions and dissents of SC decisions. I agree with you that reading or watching partisan media is far from the best way of forming opinions.
From my experience following Trump for years, I do not believe he is any kind of right-wing radical, at all. I recall past interviews from 20+ ago where when asked which party he might eventually run for, he wouldn't say - or he couldn't decide, they both had appeal. On some matters, I see him as quite tolerant. And I also believe his Christian affiliations are 100% sincere but not overly 'conservative'.
I would agree that if Trump wins and the GOP gets in, then the radical conservative groups will have some traction, which could be some concern. Although from my observation the current Democratic party is as radical as it gets. So there is concern there too.
Just spent the morning preparing to gear up my own activism. I am very unsettled as well. These have not been our best weeks. I am not conservative but I am a moderate voter with liberal idealism. Hoping my own way of galvanizing voters that has worked in the past will work again this year. The misinformation overwhelm that is now our current reality of online information vomiting is what's contributing to the extremism. In real life most people are not being extreme. In real life we were all doing just fine until DT came back on the scene.
Thank you for your contributions, David. If each of us--in our own way, to the best of our ability--makes a similar contribution, Trump and his fanatics will be defeated.
David, thanks for all you are doing. I don't think your fears about the outcome of this election are overblown. Beyond doing our best to build coalitions among Dem factions (I'm much more of an old lefty than you are), we can speak out about what it feels like to live in a time when so much seems to be unraveling, the beauty that could yet still be if we're honest about the suffering all around us. For me, it comes down to supporting get-out-the-vote efforts, such as the organization you pointed to in your footnotes. I'd also point to Force Multiplier - www.forcemultiplierus.org - another organization that helps determine which Blue candidates in various races have the best chance of pulling ahead with the help of donations and, most important, how to support nonprofit organizations around the country focused on voter turnout.
I appreciate your tone and demeanor. So many are resorting to name calling and painting “the other side” and evil or ignorant. As a moderate conservative, I was hoping Nikki Haley would be our candidate. As has been stated ad nauseam, we are stuck with two elderly, imperfect candidates.. well maybe not with Biden but who knows.. that story has been unfolding for weeks now. Whether he steps down or not is anyone’s guess. Regarding project 2025, I really do not believe that Trump wants to implement it. I’m not saying that he’s not aware of it, but I do not agree that he wants a federal abortion ban. I really don’t think that’s his top priority at all.. it’s all border and immigration. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. He’s not gonna burn down the country. I think a lot of that is extreme fear-mongering.. just as there are similar claims from the right regarding Biden. I applaud that you are fundraising and doing your part. So many people just complain, won’t even vote.. my hope is that we elect moderates from both sides down the tickets. In four years, we can move on to some younger, more moderate candidates and maybe take down the heat a bit. Call me an optimist.. but we’ve been through worse in this country and there are good people working to make it better on both sides. Not to make this an advertisement.. but I encourage people to check out Braver Angels, or Starts with Us. Because it does start with us. If we can’t learn to communicate and try to understand each other - find common ground.. we are not better than those we elect.
I appreciate your measured comment and also your optimism about the next generation of leaders. I hope as well that if Trump is elected he will not implement the extreme policies. I don't think anyone knows. And he too is getting older and may lack restraint.
Not to play the Hitler card here, but people didn't think he was going to do what he did, either. Once you open that Pandora's box, it can be really hard to close. I remember doing a term paper for a Holocaust course in college in 1980 or 81, less than 40 years after the end of WWII. I interviewed six or seven people who lived through the war in Germany, a mix of Jews and non-Jews. Some had been in concentration camps, some had been hidden or hid in forests, and some were able to live through the war in their homes. All said the same thing: we didn't take Hitler seriously. We thought he was a joke. We thought he wasn't serious.
As a German who talked to her grandparents about this and generally has always read about this horrid pet of our recent history and taken a big interest in it, I can only agree. Most people thought „it can‘t become that bad“, and then it became even worse.
Thanks, Katrin. I have this idea that if everyone had had the kinds of conversations we had, with people who lived through that horrible period in Germany, they would not be so quick to dismiss the reality that history appears to be repeating itself. I absolutely don't want to think that. I don't want to be Chicken Little or The Boy Who Cried Wolf. I feel like such an alarmist. But there are reasons those folk tales exist. I can't say it enough: we ignore these signs at our peril.
I so agree. And still, most of the time when you do express your fears, you get exactly those reactions - „Oh come on, don‘t be alarmist! You‘re exaggerating!“. I might also add that Hitler‘s party never won a majority in an election. He was made chancellor by the ultra-conservative, monarchist parties who did have the majority, because one government after another had crumbled under the incredible pressure of unpayable debt (from WWI, to the winners of the war, esp France, who refused to relieve the debts) and inflation, and the President decided they could give Hitler a chance and „reign him in“. Instead, Hitler used the opportunity for a coup, and within very few weeks, a dictatorship was established. It was this quick.
Thank you for articulating so beautifully what is felt so bluntly in our home, too. Individual efforts to promote calm, listening, reason over rage, and helping moderates win are vital.
I did not and do not wish Trump dead, and was horrified at the attempt on his life- for the same reasons I AM deeply unsettled by his extreme policies and vocal sentiments toward those who have not bowed to his aggression and bullying. We need moderates from both parties to think long and hard about what America stands for in 2024 and who can keep our nation united in the face of threat from any source. Education on candidates over emotion, and votes in swing states and close, pivotal races are where the bulk of attention must go.
Thanks for your POV. Both sides of the aisle share similar concerns, each convinced theirs are the "right" concerns. I examine what one's motivation is: selfish ambition? power? money? security? love my neighbor as myself? We are in turbulent times. I appreciate your honesty.
All the ingredients for mass chaos and violence are there, and any number of things could set something off. Taken in isolation each could be dealt with, but the widespread (and generally accurate) persecution of systemic incompetence and dysfunction is creating a feedback loop wherein people perceive problems as bigger and more pervasive than they are and thus react in ways that further destabilize things. This is a mass AND elite problem; the prosecution of Trump for election finance charges would never have happened in a healthy polity, and now both sides realize that the election in November will result in a good number of the loser’s partisans going to prison. A nation of 330 million people, a number of whom of whom are unvetted illegal foreigners, will undoubtedly produce more outrageous crimes, amplified by the media and its parasocial internet subcultures. The only thing holding back destruction, I think, is the inertia of ordinary life. It’s just possible to go about one’s day oblivious to wider problems. Things are more expensive and the background noise of events isn’t pleasant, but one can still just sort of tune it out. One big Black Swan could fly in at any time though.
I’m grateful for the brave example of former and future president Trump, who showed that even a man best previously known for shady dealings and celebrity egotism could rise to the occasion and show real courage in the face of death. I think many Americans previously hesitant will now look to him as a true statesman, a fine counterpoint to the grifting dotard currently being puppeteered by his staffers. Perhaps we’ll yet get a reprieve from the storm on the horizon. I’m hopeful.
I pointed out in my original post that his previous tendencies were toward self-aggrandizement in the context of a celebrity culture. No one needs me to rehearse his specific flaws; there are people paid millions of dollars to do so on a nightly basis. My point is that his recent brush with death has given him the opportunity, and hopefully the impetus, to become more than he ever was, to rise to what his times demand of him. His speech at the convention was as somber and pensive as I’ve ever seen him. Like I said, I’m hopeful.
If it were me, and I could only name flaws in the other guy but not in my own candidate, I'd wonder what somebody spiked my ice water with. I've never known a Presidential candidate to be perfect, and I don't expect it of my candidate now. I can talk rationally about different opinions when both sides can concede flaws, as David has done. I don't hear Trump voters willing to engage in that essential piece of reasoned debate. To offer just one example that seems not at all controversial, "Well, yes, he has made rude comments about women and has conducted a sex life that most conservative voters don't approve of. Nobody denies that. Gary Hart dropped out of the race in 1988 for less, and Bill Clinton was disgraced for less, but I'm willing to overlook that because ...." Help me understand why Trump's flaws - which are deadly to other politicians (even when they are in the past) - are so unimportant to Trump voters. Do people not see these flaws?
Trump exaggerates when specificity would serve him better. He’s poorly read and lacks any historical sense. He thinks too often in terms of image rather than substance. It’s debatable whether he’s yet learned that the media is not really his friend; he has a thirst for approval that powerful outlets can exploit. Until recently he’s been unable to attract experienced and able aides outside of his familiar circles. Being a Boomer, he brings with him geopolitical prejudices that should have been retired or reconsidered years ago (reflexive hostility to Russia and China). Those are his major flaws I can think of.
Thank you for writing and for what you are doing. Hopefully you in the Hamptons and many others in similar situations will find a way to have an impact elsewhere where it matters.
From my vantage point in Canada I fear a tsunami coming to inundate the world.
I am currently writing about the survival of my non-Jewish parents in Nazi occupied Poland. The parallels are frightening and I don’t think that’s hyperbole.
I remember that essay last September, David. And I remember it grabbing my attention as a child of immigrants from a country where this corruption reigns supreme and where it’s only a democracy in name. I’m sad to say that for those of us who’ve seen it elsewhere, this looks eerily familiar. All to say I don’t think your anxiety is overblown
My only suggestion for reducing your level of anxiety would be to read less of the NYT and WaPo and spending more time listening to Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson (or even Bari Weiss). That is not snark, its a real suggestion.
I don't spend much time reading the NYT. I have read parts of Project 2025 and try to read the words of the people on both sides who are in or are seeking power. I also read the summary opinions and dissents of SC decisions. I agree with you that reading or watching partisan media is far from the best way of forming opinions.
Yeah good. With regards to this Project 2025, I am not super familiar with it, I read this this AM, from Reuters, which based on my experience presents a reasonably objective point of view in these times: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/project-2025-what-is-it-who-is-behind-it-how-is-it-connected-trump-2024-07-12/
From my experience following Trump for years, I do not believe he is any kind of right-wing radical, at all. I recall past interviews from 20+ ago where when asked which party he might eventually run for, he wouldn't say - or he couldn't decide, they both had appeal. On some matters, I see him as quite tolerant. And I also believe his Christian affiliations are 100% sincere but not overly 'conservative'.
I would agree that if Trump wins and the GOP gets in, then the radical conservative groups will have some traction, which could be some concern. Although from my observation the current Democratic party is as radical as it gets. So there is concern there too.
Just spent the morning preparing to gear up my own activism. I am very unsettled as well. These have not been our best weeks. I am not conservative but I am a moderate voter with liberal idealism. Hoping my own way of galvanizing voters that has worked in the past will work again this year. The misinformation overwhelm that is now our current reality of online information vomiting is what's contributing to the extremism. In real life most people are not being extreme. In real life we were all doing just fine until DT came back on the scene.
Thank you for your contributions, David. If each of us--in our own way, to the best of our ability--makes a similar contribution, Trump and his fanatics will be defeated.
be the torturer's horse . . .
Afraid of splinters!
it's all splinters
David, thanks for all you are doing. I don't think your fears about the outcome of this election are overblown. Beyond doing our best to build coalitions among Dem factions (I'm much more of an old lefty than you are), we can speak out about what it feels like to live in a time when so much seems to be unraveling, the beauty that could yet still be if we're honest about the suffering all around us. For me, it comes down to supporting get-out-the-vote efforts, such as the organization you pointed to in your footnotes. I'd also point to Force Multiplier - www.forcemultiplierus.org - another organization that helps determine which Blue candidates in various races have the best chance of pulling ahead with the help of donations and, most important, how to support nonprofit organizations around the country focused on voter turnout.
Thanks for reminding me of the Auden poem. There was a beautiful analysis of it and "The Fall of Icarus" from this poet about "the suffering that hides in plain sight": https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/03/06/books/auden-musee-des-beaux-arts.html
Thanks Martha. I'll check out Force Multiplier. And thanks also fro the link to the article.
Not only do I lack calm — I’m truly scared. It’s obvious things are going to be very dangerous for many of us soon. I don’t know how best to prepare.
Wonderful
Writing
I appreciate your tone and demeanor. So many are resorting to name calling and painting “the other side” and evil or ignorant. As a moderate conservative, I was hoping Nikki Haley would be our candidate. As has been stated ad nauseam, we are stuck with two elderly, imperfect candidates.. well maybe not with Biden but who knows.. that story has been unfolding for weeks now. Whether he steps down or not is anyone’s guess. Regarding project 2025, I really do not believe that Trump wants to implement it. I’m not saying that he’s not aware of it, but I do not agree that he wants a federal abortion ban. I really don’t think that’s his top priority at all.. it’s all border and immigration. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. He’s not gonna burn down the country. I think a lot of that is extreme fear-mongering.. just as there are similar claims from the right regarding Biden. I applaud that you are fundraising and doing your part. So many people just complain, won’t even vote.. my hope is that we elect moderates from both sides down the tickets. In four years, we can move on to some younger, more moderate candidates and maybe take down the heat a bit. Call me an optimist.. but we’ve been through worse in this country and there are good people working to make it better on both sides. Not to make this an advertisement.. but I encourage people to check out Braver Angels, or Starts with Us. Because it does start with us. If we can’t learn to communicate and try to understand each other - find common ground.. we are not better than those we elect.
I appreciate your measured comment and also your optimism about the next generation of leaders. I hope as well that if Trump is elected he will not implement the extreme policies. I don't think anyone knows. And he too is getting older and may lack restraint.
Not to play the Hitler card here, but people didn't think he was going to do what he did, either. Once you open that Pandora's box, it can be really hard to close. I remember doing a term paper for a Holocaust course in college in 1980 or 81, less than 40 years after the end of WWII. I interviewed six or seven people who lived through the war in Germany, a mix of Jews and non-Jews. Some had been in concentration camps, some had been hidden or hid in forests, and some were able to live through the war in their homes. All said the same thing: we didn't take Hitler seriously. We thought he was a joke. We thought he wasn't serious.
We dismiss these threats at our own peril.
As a German who talked to her grandparents about this and generally has always read about this horrid pet of our recent history and taken a big interest in it, I can only agree. Most people thought „it can‘t become that bad“, and then it became even worse.
Thanks, Katrin. I have this idea that if everyone had had the kinds of conversations we had, with people who lived through that horrible period in Germany, they would not be so quick to dismiss the reality that history appears to be repeating itself. I absolutely don't want to think that. I don't want to be Chicken Little or The Boy Who Cried Wolf. I feel like such an alarmist. But there are reasons those folk tales exist. I can't say it enough: we ignore these signs at our peril.
I so agree. And still, most of the time when you do express your fears, you get exactly those reactions - „Oh come on, don‘t be alarmist! You‘re exaggerating!“. I might also add that Hitler‘s party never won a majority in an election. He was made chancellor by the ultra-conservative, monarchist parties who did have the majority, because one government after another had crumbled under the incredible pressure of unpayable debt (from WWI, to the winners of the war, esp France, who refused to relieve the debts) and inflation, and the President decided they could give Hitler a chance and „reign him in“. Instead, Hitler used the opportunity for a coup, and within very few weeks, a dictatorship was established. It was this quick.
Thank you for articulating so beautifully what is felt so bluntly in our home, too. Individual efforts to promote calm, listening, reason over rage, and helping moderates win are vital.
I did not and do not wish Trump dead, and was horrified at the attempt on his life- for the same reasons I AM deeply unsettled by his extreme policies and vocal sentiments toward those who have not bowed to his aggression and bullying. We need moderates from both parties to think long and hard about what America stands for in 2024 and who can keep our nation united in the face of threat from any source. Education on candidates over emotion, and votes in swing states and close, pivotal races are where the bulk of attention must go.
David,
I am deeply moved by your letter to us.
Thank you for putting in words
what many of us are thinking and feeling
I'm with you.
That you are not calm means you are in reality.
Our situation is indeed dire.
I have deep respect for men like you
who are facing this reality head on
and taking all constructive action they can.
Thanks for your POV. Both sides of the aisle share similar concerns, each convinced theirs are the "right" concerns. I examine what one's motivation is: selfish ambition? power? money? security? love my neighbor as myself? We are in turbulent times. I appreciate your honesty.
All the ingredients for mass chaos and violence are there, and any number of things could set something off. Taken in isolation each could be dealt with, but the widespread (and generally accurate) persecution of systemic incompetence and dysfunction is creating a feedback loop wherein people perceive problems as bigger and more pervasive than they are and thus react in ways that further destabilize things. This is a mass AND elite problem; the prosecution of Trump for election finance charges would never have happened in a healthy polity, and now both sides realize that the election in November will result in a good number of the loser’s partisans going to prison. A nation of 330 million people, a number of whom of whom are unvetted illegal foreigners, will undoubtedly produce more outrageous crimes, amplified by the media and its parasocial internet subcultures. The only thing holding back destruction, I think, is the inertia of ordinary life. It’s just possible to go about one’s day oblivious to wider problems. Things are more expensive and the background noise of events isn’t pleasant, but one can still just sort of tune it out. One big Black Swan could fly in at any time though.
I’m grateful for the brave example of former and future president Trump, who showed that even a man best previously known for shady dealings and celebrity egotism could rise to the occasion and show real courage in the face of death. I think many Americans previously hesitant will now look to him as a true statesman, a fine counterpoint to the grifting dotard currently being puppeteered by his staffers. Perhaps we’ll yet get a reprieve from the storm on the horizon. I’m hopeful.
I noticed that David was willing to point out imperfections in the candidate leading the Democratic ticket. Are there flaws in Trump?
He’s too modest.
C'mon, that was a fair question!
I know; I was kidding a bit.
I pointed out in my original post that his previous tendencies were toward self-aggrandizement in the context of a celebrity culture. No one needs me to rehearse his specific flaws; there are people paid millions of dollars to do so on a nightly basis. My point is that his recent brush with death has given him the opportunity, and hopefully the impetus, to become more than he ever was, to rise to what his times demand of him. His speech at the convention was as somber and pensive as I’ve ever seen him. Like I said, I’m hopeful.
If it were me, and I could only name flaws in the other guy but not in my own candidate, I'd wonder what somebody spiked my ice water with. I've never known a Presidential candidate to be perfect, and I don't expect it of my candidate now. I can talk rationally about different opinions when both sides can concede flaws, as David has done. I don't hear Trump voters willing to engage in that essential piece of reasoned debate. To offer just one example that seems not at all controversial, "Well, yes, he has made rude comments about women and has conducted a sex life that most conservative voters don't approve of. Nobody denies that. Gary Hart dropped out of the race in 1988 for less, and Bill Clinton was disgraced for less, but I'm willing to overlook that because ...." Help me understand why Trump's flaws - which are deadly to other politicians (even when they are in the past) - are so unimportant to Trump voters. Do people not see these flaws?
Trump exaggerates when specificity would serve him better. He’s poorly read and lacks any historical sense. He thinks too often in terms of image rather than substance. It’s debatable whether he’s yet learned that the media is not really his friend; he has a thirst for approval that powerful outlets can exploit. Until recently he’s been unable to attract experienced and able aides outside of his familiar circles. Being a Boomer, he brings with him geopolitical prejudices that should have been retired or reconsidered years ago (reflexive hostility to Russia and China). Those are his major flaws I can think of.
Good luck. Be safe.
Thank you for writing and for what you are doing. Hopefully you in the Hamptons and many others in similar situations will find a way to have an impact elsewhere where it matters.
From my vantage point in Canada I fear a tsunami coming to inundate the world.
I am currently writing about the survival of my non-Jewish parents in Nazi occupied Poland. The parallels are frightening and I don’t think that’s hyperbole.
If only more of the noblesse felt your oblige (and love the image choice, obviously)
I remember that essay last September, David. And I remember it grabbing my attention as a child of immigrants from a country where this corruption reigns supreme and where it’s only a democracy in name. I’m sad to say that for those of us who’ve seen it elsewhere, this looks eerily familiar. All to say I don’t think your anxiety is overblown