Be Part of the Revolution!

I admit to some disappointment. I posted a list of possible outcomes. The comment thread was extensive, and several people suggested possibilities I had not considered.

But what disappointed me were the comments (only a few) from people (who are intelligent and thoughtful) who assumed that there is no way out from this mess and that the death spiral of the United States is inevitable.

I won't argue with why some people feel that way. Certainly things look grim. Not as grim yet as Germany in the thirties, but certainly it's the same playbook. But the Third Reich collapsed -- not just because the Allies united against it, but because there was significant internal opposition to weaken it enormously. (Here's a clue. Don't put slave labor in charge of making ammunition.)

But where other tyrannical states have mostly dealt with homogenous populations, the weakness of this country is also its strength. We have diversity. And those diverse populations want equality in the eyes of the law. They want inclusion. This is what DEI truly means, despite the reich-wing's attempt to redefine it.

The strength of America is that we are ungovernable -- unless we choose to be governed. I believe (I could be wrong) that no tyrant survives for long. Nixon didn't.

Someone pointed out to me something that I have been saying for a long time -- that this current badministration is the endgame that the reich-wing started planning for in the 50s, when Fred Koch funded the John Birch Society. Nixon's resignation tainted the liberal wing of the rethuglican party and created a vacuum that the reich-wing filled -- with Ronald Reagan, who was never intended to be more than the hood ornament on the battering ram.

So ... some of the comments in the comment thread were the usual garment rending that post-twitler, things will just get worse and worse, there's no way out, we're doomed, let's all run around in circles, screaming and shouting, pissing and moaning --

Sorry, but I don't think that way. Despite all odds, I sold a script to a TV show. Despite all odds, I adopted a little boy. Despite all odds, my family and I moved to a place that is nothing short of paradise. Despite all odds, I'm still here. And ...

History is full of evidence, full of examples where tyrannies ended, one way or the other. In this country, the Great Depression ended the rethuglican monopoly on our politics. We are headed for another Great Depression. While that's not good news, it also represents an opportunity. Just as FDR was able to rebuild the United States in his unprecedented three and a half terms, and Truman was able to continue that -- and Ike understood it too, and JFK and LBJ understood the strength of this nation -- it is possible that this nation will finally and fully reject the attempts of the billionaires to make this their private club.

It is this simple -- this nation, of the people, by the people, and for the people, WILL BE ACCOUNTABLE TO THE PEOPLE.

It won't be easy, it will take vigilance, and we will need to put serious limits on the power of money to buy governments, but it is not impossible.

And those who insist on being short-sighted, on telling me there's no way out, we're all doomed, the ship is sinking, blah blah blah -- I didn't get here by wallowing in that mindset. And I'm too old and too stubborn and too cranky to go down with that ship.

I'll say it this way. If you want freedom, you gotta get up off your fat flabby ass and be a part of the revolution. Be a pebble in the avalanche.

—David Gerrold