Under the current circumstances, there has been a vehement desire to maintain the ideology that there is true opposition, and that under the right circumstances, some balance could be achieved. There have been multiple variations of party permutations, and each has promised that all individuals will benefit from their leadership. Evidence has demonstrated that regardless of who gains more power, the wealthiest people still hold the keys to the kingdom, and everyone else is given little to keep us competing with one another. What should now be clear to everyone within the empire is that there are two sides, but they are both under the dominant narrative, so nobody other than beneficiaries and possibly sycophants will flourish.
One of the most obvious problems with a two-party system is that binaries are, generally, narcissistic. They require that “everyone” who is not on the “right” team to hate everyone else, and instead of leaders, we essentially have football teams–which is how we all got here. Some may argue that my opinion is an oversimplification, but I would remind them that the first thing Trump did was make a mission to undo everything Biden accomplished. Instead of stepping down gracefully when he knew he had cancer, Biden clung to power and destroyed the opportunity for Harris to have time to demonstrate leadership capabilities. All in all, having two power-hungry parties is all about making excuses for toxic people, and demanding that people pretend that they see nothing wrong.
Incrementalism and its worship is how we got to the earth being on fire, and sending migrants to brush their teeth with toilet water. Beneficiaries and sycophants love telling those who already deal with oppression to manage more, not respecting how many resources it takes to endure all the atrocities. Children in the concentration camps will likely never recover from the psychological trauma, nor will those in the Florida penitentiary. Black wealth is being decimated because the capacity to gain more resources is being thwarted by a terrible job market and unchecked bigotry. Meanwhile, all the technoligarchs are trying to take away the white collar workforce with AI, effectively ending the existence of the middle class. Telling people that “these things take time” ignores the reality that the oppressed manage.
During the pandemic, I lived near an environmental advocate and a gender advocate, and all three of us had the same complaint: all “dialogues,” “discussions,” and “conversations” seem to return to the dominant narrative. We spent hours in meetings and crafting reports, and no one ever considered how stressful it is to command people to “convince” those who have no intention of changing. There is a general failure to recognize that the oppressive way under the two-party system leads to only the white way, where everyone else is forced to constantly advocate without reasonably efficient progress. Most leaders have no real interest in exploring other options, and we can either keep begging them, or let them flounder as we disengage.
“Allies” are demonstrable liars when it comes to managing the reality that others endure, and they are getting more fearful about their reckoning as well. They have all been too dishonest to admit that they enjoy the systems that allow them privilege and power, but they keep hoping that nobody notices. In fact, I have only every met one. Too bad for them, everyone is starting to lose their privileges and power, and those same disingenuous individuals are scrambling to build the alliances they destroyed with selfishness. Holding up signs and getting upset are all well and good, but failing to point out the technological racism and the rampant employment disparities that they maintain are not good looks. Fake people are no longer believed by those under duress.
The truth is that both parties are hoarding wealth, and all the clever quips and pant suits are doing nothing for anyone. Fixing all the destruction that has occurred over the last 15 years is going to require substantial investment. Either everyone from both parties need to start substantially relinquishing resources, or people are keeping this game going until folks have nothing left. Murdering CEOs should be a signal that distress is no longer a state of mind that people want to be forced to regulate. It is far past time to get the greed under control.
* This meme was taken from the votesocialist2024.com X account. I have seen variations over the year, but it seems particularly relevant now.
Chasing A Dying Empire 