hejsandra

From Cop to Mother

2024-07-05

It's time to imagine what can be, unburdened by what I may or may not have said in 2020.

Honey, wake up, it's time to become overly fixated on american electoral politics again.

I'm not american, but both in 2016 (when I was 14,) and in 2020 I was following the American election pretty intensely. The reasons I think are not that hard to understand. And, like clock work, I'm being drawn in again. I said it's obvious why a european would be invested in the state of the most influential democracy and overall country in the world, but it's not just practical -- it's also just the american entertainment and grandeur that keeps you plugged in to everything. There are no bland american politicians, at least not on national level. Everything is at once super high stakes and silly to the point of insanity. It's also one of the few times when Twitter is incredibly fun. Ususally it's frustrating, over-dramatic, collectivistic, shallow and disorganized, full of the most minute and pointless discource, but during the election year all of these weaknesses becomes strenghts, because american electoral politics are fast-paced, aesthetical, gameified, made up of small moments that may or may not be decisive (most likely not), and small comments or clips that make or break someone's likability. And the minute is allowed to feel important, when two politicians are polling side to side. This tweet I think really summarizes the intensity of american politics the last elections, compared to european elections that are in comparision uneventful and predictable. Not even major events in other elections, like rush elections called by politicians who know they will loose them, come close the rush of finding out via Twitter that caucuses for the democratic candidates are being decides based on coin tosses.

So after the first debate I'm drawn back to twitter like an addict drawn back to a good time, and I'm not disappointed. There's a seemingly unified rallying around vice president Kamala Harris and I find myself immediately on board. Yes yes yes.

She's fun, is the main drawing point, and I don't think that's pointless. Americans want fun. They also want someone who's not on their death bed. Is she goofy? Yes. But maybe that's a good thing. All the vids Republicans are posting trying to defame her (probably sensing she's the new target) just makes me smile. She's fun. She tries hard in a way that's so obvious it loops back to being genuine.

I also see the rallying around her as a move towards liberalism, political pragatism, and honestly, fun. There's a certain nonchalant attitude towards liberal rights in internet politcs (which also influences real life: Graeme Wood writes of american college teachers who's "best students" consider liberal democracy "an exhausted joke") that's been noticeable to anyone who's been online in the last decade I think, that is coming to an end -- there's no nonchalantness towards liberalism now, there's either for or against. And for americans, if you're not interested in a theocratic future, liberalism it is. No yapping on "neo-liberalism", no mentally deranged "accelerationalism" -- because the only thing america is accelerating towards is autocracy and the deconstruction of all progressive gains in decades. Liberalism, does seem fun in comparison. I genuienly think a generation of young people who have never experienced a threat towards liberal values are waking up to the fact that they actually like them for the first time, and I cannot stress how important that is. It's even in music: Chapelle Roan is, I think, the first sex-positive gen Z:er, and I'm happy for her. Her songs have a certain desperation and celebration of freedom that is so genuine from a queer woman from the american Midwest. We're in the Pink Pony Club era of cultural politics, Chapelle performing as a drag version of the Statue of Liberty being the image of it. This would have been a cringe thing five years ago (america? liberalism? reconsider) -- now it feels like oxygen.

So, okay, most of this is maybe some sort of manic cope, but it feels strangely realistic -- not just a future of escaping catastrophe one election more but genuinely moving on -- to an era of lofty liberalism, xane'd out but progressive politicians and laughter and fun. If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will start sounding like Kamala Harris saying you need to look at what can be, unburdened by what has been 5 minutes in a row. After a while it start sounding so genuienly profound. You now, Trumps strenght has always been that he can say whatever and the opposition gets frustrated because his base doesn't care, they just want him to push his politics. I do think the progressive side is accelerating towards that point. I do not care. Please save NATO and the environment and lgbtq-rights and democracy. Please do a little dance while you do it. Americans can choose between old testament fire and brimstone Father or the zoony non-dualism of a chaos Mother, maybe they'll choose mother. Maybe being unburdened by what has been is what I need in my life rn. Maybe it's what we all need. Waking up to hear the catastrophe of that debate genuinenly made me ill at ease from all the way over here. So just having hope for someone even if it's a sort of at-the-end-of-the-world type of hope, it's nice. That almost makes it more intense. Maybe this is the sort of post-all-hope manic Hail Mary that convinced the apostles Jesus rose from the dead, that this was the plan all along. At the end there's a sort of burning hope. And not hoping for anything will kill you for sure.∎