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Oh man.
We REALLY need to talk about how the myth of American Exceptionalism is failing, how the only thing Trump can offer now is oppression, and the fascist threat of secret police and radical violence.
Here's what I learned writing AMERICAN RULE.
1/ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/611439/american-rule-by-jared-yates-sexton/
We REALLY need to talk about how the myth of American Exceptionalism is failing, how the only thing Trump can offer now is oppression, and the fascist threat of secret police and radical violence.
Here's what I learned writing AMERICAN RULE.
1/ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/611439/american-rule-by-jared-yates-sexton/
I wrote today in The Muckrake about reports out of Portland that federal troops are kidnapping protesters without identifying themselves or reading them their rights.
This is a dangerous new stage, and we need to recognize why we're here.
2/ https://www.themuckrake.com/main/violence
This is a dangerous new stage, and we need to recognize why we're here.
2/ https://www.themuckrake.com/main/violence
The truth is American Exceptionalism, the idea that we are God's chosen country and are as perfect as a nation can be is being destroyed every single day.
Our failures, in the pandemic, in our economic crisis, in our ability to solve our problems, is making the lie obvious.
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Our failures, in the pandemic, in our economic crisis, in our ability to solve our problems, is making the lie obvious.
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This myth of American Exceptionalism has been peddled by Republicans like Ronald Reagan to disguise our flaws and inequalities and to legitimize any behavior.
It is a nationalist, religious myth meant to propel America as a power while subjugating other peoples.
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It is a nationalist, religious myth meant to propel America as a power while subjugating other peoples.
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The Founders were not perfect.
They were not divinely inspired.
An angel *did not* show up and help with the Declaration of Independence.
We are a nation with many flaws and we have made many mistakes. We have to recognize that and continue to improve.
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They were not divinely inspired.
An angel *did not* show up and help with the Declaration of Independence.
We are a nation with many flaws and we have made many mistakes. We have to recognize that and continue to improve.
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Of course, the Right has consistently portrayed any criticism of America as unpatriotic and continued to tell Americans that their religion, including the myth of American Exceptionalism, is under attack by traitors and satanic forces.
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It is no coincidence, obviously, that the myth of American Exceptionalism is tied to white supremacy as the Right considers white Americans to be God's chosen people and rulers of the world.
Any threat to white Americans, in this view, is a threat against God's plan.
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Any threat to white Americans, in this view, is a threat against God's plan.
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Now, the myth of American Exceptionalism is failing in spectacular fashion.
The idea that we are perfect is unraveling with every act of public violence, every headshaking failure. The mythology that has infected America since its beginning is dissipating daily.
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The idea that we are perfect is unraveling with every act of public violence, every headshaking failure. The mythology that has infected America since its beginning is dissipating daily.
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The pandemic has accelerated the death of the myth of American Exceptionalism.
While the rest of the world fights it, we are drowning in coronavirus. We can't get the tests, we can't flatten the curve, our society is flailing and suffering and so the myth is flickering.
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While the rest of the world fights it, we are drowning in coronavirus. We can't get the tests, we can't flatten the curve, our society is flailing and suffering and so the myth is flickering.
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The Federal Government has failed in its duties to protect Americans, leaving governors and communities to do its job.
The chaos and dysfunction is obvious and disgusting, leaving Americans to wonder why anyone would consider this country infallible, perfect, or exceptional
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The chaos and dysfunction is obvious and disgusting, leaving Americans to wonder why anyone would consider this country infallible, perfect, or exceptional
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And even as the Trump Administration refuses to lead, it's issuing bullying decrees about reopening schools while providing no plans.
They're literally sacrificing lives in order to win reelection.
This administration has made clear how faulty this country actually is.
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They're literally sacrificing lives in order to win reelection.
This administration has made clear how faulty this country actually is.
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Figures like Betsy DeVos, obsessed with dismantling public good for privatization and purposes of power, are struggling to even seem halfway competent.
The scam the Trump Administration is running is so obvious that any myth of exceptionalism is losing power by the day.
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The scam the Trump Administration is running is so obvious that any myth of exceptionalism is losing power by the day.
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Like the huckster fraud he is, Trump has continued to offer spectacles to distract from the pandemic. He continues to arrange rallies and photo-ops and disgusting displays.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands test positive everyday and the lie is continually exposed.
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Meanwhile, tens of thousands test positive everyday and the lie is continually exposed.
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They've tried to just lie about in totality. They've claimed it wasn't real, that numbers were overhyped, that the media was out to get them.
But there's no hiding this. Everyone knows America is failing. Everyone knows the pandemic is a public failure and national shame.
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But there's no hiding this. Everyone knows America is failing. Everyone knows the pandemic is a public failure and national shame.
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But here's the thing.
Authoritarians like Trump double-down as their lies are exposed. They shrink the bubble and define the world as Us vs. Them
That's what's happening right now, a divide between everyone who grasps reality and those willing to kill for the fake reality.
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Authoritarians like Trump double-down as their lies are exposed. They shrink the bubble and define the world as Us vs. Them
That's what's happening right now, a divide between everyone who grasps reality and those willing to kill for the fake reality.
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What happens is that everyone opposing Trump is turned into a traitor or a terrorist. Anyone opposing his myth, his lie, his altered reality, is considered dangerous and an enemy.
With authoritarians like Trump, reality becomes a battlefield and there are always victims.
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With authoritarians like Trump, reality becomes a battlefield and there are always victims.
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Notice here, in Portland, where Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf addresses these extralegal, unconstitutional measures, only by promising "We will prevail."
It's a military operation against American citizens. Citizens considered "terrorists."
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It's a military operation against American citizens. Citizens considered "terrorists."
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Unfortunately, America has a long history of vilifying political movements by the people as national threats.
To maintain power, the wealthy and powerful ALWAYS spin conspiracy theories that protesters are anti-American terrorists, usually being manipulated by outsiders.
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To maintain power, the wealthy and powerful ALWAYS spin conspiracy theories that protesters are anti-American terrorists, usually being manipulated by outsiders.
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This idea of citizens suddenly being considered "terrorists" allows law enforcement and even other citizens to treat them as conspirators and enemies, legitimizing violence, extralegal measures, and pure, unabashed violence.
This has happened over and over and over again.
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This has happened over and over and over again.
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Eventually, because of this weaponized worldview and these conspiracy theories, a 75 year old man being brutalized, left bleeding on the ground, becomes a soldier, a terrorist, a necessary casualty in a war against an omnipresent, unAmerican threat.
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Suddenly, the military is warring against American people in the streets in a crucial, life-or-death struggle with terrorists and conspirators.
The warzone is the nation itself, and anyone who opposes the leader is disposable and dangerous. The enemy.
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The warzone is the nation itself, and anyone who opposes the leader is disposable and dangerous. The enemy.
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And the leader of the cult of personality embraces this role as arbiter of who is good and godly and who is devilish and dangerous.
They thrive on shows of strength, displays of cruelty, authoritarian measures meant to protect the dying myth
History is full of these people
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They thrive on shows of strength, displays of cruelty, authoritarian measures meant to protect the dying myth
History is full of these people
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What makes Trump so specifically dangerous is his absolute willingness to embrace the role of authoritarian and cult leader.
He has now positioned himself, to his cult members, as the arbiter of God's will, as the sole protector of the myth of American Exceptionalism.
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He has now positioned himself, to his cult members, as the arbiter of God's will, as the sole protector of the myth of American Exceptionalism.
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All the while, Trump's cult members dive deep into the conspiracies and fascistic religion.
They believe in satanic conspiracies, the pandemic as a means to achieve the "Mark of the Beast." Democrats as evil traitors.
This is how authoritarian cults work.
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They believe in satanic conspiracies, the pandemic as a means to achieve the "Mark of the Beast." Democrats as evil traitors.
This is how authoritarian cults work.
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Spurred on by rumors of "terrorists," the cult members take up arms, line the streets, carry out extralegal measures as paramilitary groups and violent gangs.
This is how authoritarian regimes infect the populace and spread their authoritarian rule.
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This is how authoritarian regimes infect the populace and spread their authoritarian rule.
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Eventually even "normal" citizens become so indoctrinated and drown in the conspiracy theories and weaponized paranoia that they take up arms and carry out violence and despicable acts.
It's its own pandemic, its own infection, spreading across the country.
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It's its own pandemic, its own infection, spreading across the country.
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As the paranoia and fear grow worse, people come to accept military occupation, violations of the Constitution.
It is a war, after all.
And in war you have to do anything to protect yourself.
The country grows immune to terrible abuses as the state can only offer violence
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It is a war, after all.
And in war you have to do anything to protect yourself.
The country grows immune to terrible abuses as the state can only offer violence
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Eventually, it's not even questioned when unmarked individuals just kidnap people off the streets.
People disappear.
But to the cultists, it's all necessary. These people are terrorists, after all. They'll kill us if they have the chance
They don't deserve their freedoms.
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People disappear.
But to the cultists, it's all necessary. These people are terrorists, after all. They'll kill us if they have the chance
They don't deserve their freedoms.
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And what you have is a bizarre, dangerous, toxic relationship between an authoritarian looking to keep power, a state with nothing to offer its people, and a cultish population terrified and willing to sacrifice all freedoms for safety.
You have an authoritarian state.
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You have an authoritarian state.
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The myth of American Exceptionalism has done unbelievable damage. It's legitimized slavery, inspired genocides, and its hidden constant, everpresent fascism within the United States.
We're in an incredibly dangerous moment that grows more dangerous by the day.
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We're in an incredibly dangerous moment that grows more dangerous by the day.
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