How would you describe the political mood of the country right now?
Eerie. Exhausting. Like we’re collectively in a constant state of hypervigilance… always looking over our shoulder, refreshing the news, checking in on our community members. Whatever the mood is, it’s filled with fear. Sure, there are sprinkles of joy and hope but overall morale is certainly very low.
Extremely polarized and divisive. People are in a heighened state of sensativity meaning they aren't thinking soundly. Most people are reacting rather than assessing which is keeping us in a state of panic and disorder.
There are two big groups right now. On the other hand, a lot of people are too emotionally charged to understand where the other side is coming from. A lot of people are also apethetic and throwing their hands up, because now that we've uncovered a lot of these levers of power, it feels like the democratic process never really existed in the first place.
What are your views on the current state of the nation post Kirk killing?
The left is making jokes and showing all the ways that he is responsible for promoting the kinds of policies where something like that could happen. The right has turned him into a martyr. Both sides are capitalizing on his death for personal gain.
It shows how polarized people are. Everything is being weaponized and politicized to an extreme degree. It’s shocking to see him being turned into a martyr when he wasn’t even a politician and the motive of his assassination is unknown. In the past this might have sparked common ground discussions about the tragedy of gun violence but people are so dead set on their opinions that there was no room for thinking or assessing the implications, people went right into rehashing old arguments. It seems very clear that people in politics have an agenda and will utilize any situation to further it. This does not feel like an administration that is hearing its citizens and attempting to meet their needs, rather we are being utilized as puppets as they serve their own need for power.
I feel deflated, disappointed, and disgusted. The amount of media attention and political
respect Charlie Kirk has received makes me sick to my stomach. How can so many people speak up after his death but stay silent about the fact that thousands of children have been murdered in our country due to gun violence? I feel ashamed that the nation I live in honors the death of a hateful, fear mongering bigot but refuses to shed light on children being brutally murdered every day in Gaza and Sudan. I am angry and infuriated at the normalization of evil in our nation.
Are we seeing the collapse of the public square — the idea that people with opposing views can still debate peacefully? How so?
In many spaces, I think there has been the collapse of the public square, yes. However, I do believe that spaces and people who are willing to listen and learn still exist — they are just hard to come by and they are not televised.
Yes. Politics have become like team sports. People are no longer debating ideas or policies. People have become so polarized and built too much of an identity around which party they represent. They will defend politicians vehemently and will flip flop on their own values in order to protect the sanctity of their party affiliation. People are no longer forming their own judgments on policies and bipartisanship seems to no longer exist. It’s become an us vs them mentality that no longer takes the collective good of the country into account. This president does not even pretend to represent the whole nation and has further strokes the flames of division. People will fundamentally want to accomplish the same goals but won’t even recognize that when they debate because they can’t see past the languaging of their own party.
With the global domination of social media, it feels like everything is the public square. People don’t have to think about what they’ll say when they get to the public forum, because the public forum is in your hand at all times. People debate peacefully all the time, but the debates have no logic to them. Neither side can or will admit its own wrongdoing, so it’s not really a debate. It’s an argument.
Do you think America has a clear political direction, or are we drifting?
Typically, the only time a prosperous country has a clear political direction is when there’s an external threat—usually war. It’s not uncommon to see a leader outline a group of people to call the enemy, so as to direct the dissatisfaction outward rather than at the system or the leader. Despite the problems with housing, healthcare, education, the economy, etc, the U.S. is an incredibly prosperous country and unless the left and the right can define and agree on a mutual enemy to fight together, the country will continue to drift and internal squabbling is inevitable.
I think we’ve drifted into about a thousand directions. Absolutely zero clarity. The wealthy and powerful want us to be confused so they can maintain control. The lack of direction is by design!
America as a whole does not. Individual parties or interests groups do but we are not acting as a nation that sees itself as a group that’s on the same boat heading in the same direction.
Do you think the American political system is reformable — or are we headed toward a breaking point?
Frankly, I have no idea. But my gut tells me a revolution is brewing. Our systems have been broken and racist and hateful long before Trump entered politics and it is about damn time that we co-create a more inclusive, consistent, kind system.
It’s possible. It would take a leader that can unite people and organize us towards a common goal. Someone that brings hope and purpose, who can actually promise a vision of a better future instead of just fear mongering/critiquing the opposing party.
The political system is reformed in small (and sometimes big) ways every day. Every time a law or bill passes it’s reformed. Every new candidate voted in is a reformation. The point of our democracy is to slow down that process so that when we inevitably make mistakes in trying to achieve a stronger economy, political system, or whatever else, we can course correct. It’s fairly rare to see a major economic power hit a true “breaking point”. Even France with all its dramatic revolutions has not “broken”. The same goes for Germany, China, and the UK. All major players in the world economy, all have gone through massive changes in the last hundred years, and they all have adapted and evolved. The U.S. has never looked the same over a long period of time, and that’s the point. This version of the country won’t last, and eventually the wheel will turn and we’ll have new things to worry about, different problems to face, and new benefits that we’re grateful for.
What do you think is the most urgent topic that congress should be focusing on?
Re-establishing a balance of power and ensuring checks and balances are in place. Otherwise we will end up in dictatorship and/or revolution.
Shrinking the economic gap of the poorest and the wealthiest. Generally speaking when the gap grows too large, revolutions occur. And even though revolution is a romantic notion and it’s easy to look at them through rose-colored glasses, many either don’t work, leave things worse, or result in the shedding of a lot of innocent blood. To avoid that, we have to give the poorest of the country the ability to at least survive. Otherwise what’s the point?
The wealth gap. I firmly believe that the 1%ers have everyone else focused on a culture war so that we don’t engage in a class war. The gap in wealth and resources is absolutely inhumane. Everyone deserves to have their basic needs met. Poverty is a policy choice in this country and it is heartbreaking that poverty is chosen time and time again.
What gives you hope?
The sun gives me hope. Knowing that it will continue to rise. Trans kids give me hope. Seeing them continue to unapologetically be themselves despite being born into a society that hates them. Love gives me hope. Seeing my neighbors and community members continue to play in the sandbox of hell and find ways to spread and feel love despite all of the evil intertwined in our society. We must hold onto hope and to each other.
History. Look back at the history of this country and you’ll see just how much we’ve been through. The Civil War, the Great Depression, the 2008 financial crisis, two World Wars, Terrorist attacks, and a Pandemic. We’re still standing. Another is how geographically “lucky” we are. Having coasts on both sides, some of the most fertile farm land on Earth, a river system that is great for shipping, a giant chunk of land, and a wealth of natural resources. It’s a strange way to look at it, but those things have kept us from ever experiencing a true famine or a complete collapse. We should not rest on those laurels and get lazy, but it does offer a cushion for us while we try to sort out our social differences and dilemmas.
Seeing the patterns that play out in history. America has made many mistakes and bounced around extremes but has always been able to correct, such as during the red scare. I’m hopeful that one way or another there will be a path forward. All unsustainable systems eventually collapse and better ones take their place. My hope is that we can correct before we reach a point of correction without needing to reach that extreme.
-trw