Dystopia.

Dear you,

Tennessee governor, Bill Lee, signed a bill into law that essentially bans public drag performances. Who voted for this man?  Who votes for someone who wants to criminalize people doing their thing? It just keeps getting sicker in Republican-land. Last year, in currentaffairs.org, Nathan J. Robinson warned us. He reported on the Texas Republican platform, his subtitle: "We need to understand the very, very dark forces that we are up against".

Dark indeed.  Their assaults on individual rights (and actual individuals) is matched by their assaults on democratic governance as a whole.  We are seeing it now, the calls to eliminate essential oversight bodies like the EPA or FDA.  Yes, Robinson warned us, referring to the Texas platform as their intended national model.  He wrote: "The Texas GOP also wants to repeal: all estate taxes, all business franchise taxes, the federal income tax, and all property taxes. The answer to the question of “But if you eliminate all the taxes, how will you fund government services?” is, of course, that there will be no government services. The platform calls outright for eliminating most of the federal government. The EPA’s power has already been gutted by the right-wing Supreme Court, but the plan is to abolish it altogether. And that’s just the start. 

In a section entitled Unelected Bureaucrats, the agenda proposes eliminating altogether: 

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

The Department of Energy

The Department of Education

The Department of Housing and Urban Development

The Department of Commerce

The Department of Health and Human Services

The Department of Labor

The Department of the Interior

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA)

Holy fuck.  Imagine this week's bank failure (Silicon Valley Bank) without the FDIC protecting at least some of the deposit money.  Been brave enough to fly recently?  Imagine how fun that is going to be without a TSA.  Work through that list and consider the dystopian possibilities.

As for lesser impactful politics/voting, zoom in to my condo zone. The board and management are freaking out over a lack of votes (quorum) about an assessment. Many (like me) didn't vote because the whole deal is totally shady. The assessment estimate?  Inflated and vague. The intended "projects" focus on tree and shrub killing. Other idiotic priorities include spiffing up the corn hole area and the poolside public bathrooms. Those of us who abstained are receiving calls and emails yelling at us for "not caring".  This reminds me of an old South Park episode. Stan refused to vote for the school mascot because the choices were either a douche or a turd.  He was exiled and berated by Puff Daddy who said he must vote or die.  I don't recall if Stan caved and voted.  But I am not going to cave.  A "yes" supports destruction and tackiness and a "no" would suggest I don't want other sensible things on the list paid for (like new pool fencing to replace the rotten wood ones we have now).  I won't vote and I certainly won't die.  In the end, in this silly circumstance, no real harm will be done one way or another (except for the death of beautiful green things).  Wish I could say the same for our current national dilemma where it appears too many voters are choosing something very, very dark.

Who are these people?  What motivates their allegiances and alliances?  Vote or die becomes they vote and we die.

This is going to be one hell of a fight.  Embrace the light!

Love,

Joyce