Last week, António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General opened the meeting of the General Assembly in New York with a stern warning: The world is in danger, we are more divided, and countries are teetering on the edge of totalitarianism as a result of economic inequity and we are suffering from the effects of climate change. He said in his address, “divides are growing deeper. Inequalities are growing wider,” he said. “And challenges are spreading farther.”
In our own nation, we are in the midst of a divide not seen since the Civil War. The chasm between rich and poor, CEOs and workers, black and white, Republican and Democrat, conspiracy theorists and scientists is growing wider, threatening to swallow what’s left of American Democracy.
The spark that opened this divide came from former President Donald Trump, and even in the midst of the numerous lawsuits and subpoenas looming over him, he’s still at it, driving a wedge between Americans. Last week, Trump held a rally stumping for GOP Senate candidate J.D. Vance in Youngstown, Ohio. Although the arena was half-empty, the images of salutes aimed at him during his rambling speech were disturbingly too much like the Nazi salute.
The images from that rally, no matter how absurd it was, did give me the chills. Here we have a former American President, who adores authoritarian leaders around the world, pushing lies about a stolen election and embracing Qanon conspiracy theories (let’s not forget the ridiculous QAnon supposition that Trump is the savior of the United States and is fighting against Hollywood pedophiles and the “deep state”).
Many Trump followers are perfectly happy with guns in schools, religion in government, and forcing children and women to give birth. Extremists and right-wing evangelicals, who profess to be “pro-life,” don’t seem to care if a woman dies in childbirth, and some are even calling for the death penalty for women who have abortions. Qanoners and the MAGA crowd are eager to defend the right to choose when it comes to COVID vaccines, guns, and masks, but draw the line at women, children, and the working class.
The pro-life argument is bizarre. How can a group profess to be “pro-life” when they balk at government efforts to fund early childhood education, strengthen child labor laws, and provide medicare for all?
The flavor of 21st Century fascism is a bit different from that of the ’20s and ’30s in Europe, but it still has the same basic characteristics: The rise of a strongman (or a strong woman in the case of Italy), scapegoating certain groups (political or ethnic), sowing division and derision, and promising a return to the “good old days.”
As we get nearer to November, I hope that Americans are aware of what is happening here in our nation. Don’t give in to the “big lie,” and all of the wild and crazy conspiracy theories that are designed to divide us and turn one American against another. We are America, and with all of its flaws, we are a Democracy, but Democracies are fragile and need constant care and nurturing.
During Guterres’ speech, he said: “Geopolitical divides are undermining the work of the Security Council, undermining international law, undermining trust and people’s faith in democratic institutions, undermining all forms of international cooperation.”
“We cannot go on like this,” he added.
He’s right, we cannot go on like this.
On November 8th, let’s come together for Democracy.