• WoahWoah@lemmy.world
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    30 days ago

    Precisely. The real ugliness and violence is currently only simmering. The election is when the boil begins. And the boilover comes after that.

    Remember: if Trump wins, there will be disorder, dispersed violence, and then state violence: mass deportations and the disruption and dissolution of various dimensions of the state itself as fascism assumes the helm.

    If Trump loses, there will be broad social conflict, disorder, and intensive violence, including a rise in domestic terrorism. I’m actually concerned we will see something like “The Troubles” in Ireland. Federal and state agencies and institutions will be attacked as well as infrastructure: things like power stations and bridges.

    There is no threading the needle here. Either scenario results in chaos and violence. Both scenarios result in an increase in danger and a decrease in stability. There’s no winning move. We’ll think back to this moment as “the good days.” Strap in.

    • grue@lemmy.world
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      30 days ago

      To be clear, Trump losing (not just the vote, but also his inevitable attempt to seize power anyway afterward) is definitely the vastly preferable scenario here – “Troubles” are way better than a full-blown dictatorship – so stopping him is, if not “the” winning move, at least the do-or-die first step towards it.

      There is no validity to a dismissive “eh, either way it’s gonna be bad” attitude here. We are in an existential fight to achieve “pretty bad” because the alternative is “absolutely catastrophic.”

      • WoahWoah@lemmy.world
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        29 days ago

        Recognizing that things are going to bad regardless of who is elected is simple pragmatism. There’s nothing dismissive about it at all. Quite the opposite.

        Harris winning the election (which, in terms of the electoral college, she’s currently on pace to narrowly lose), will not decrease the amount of active fascists in the United States, so, regardless of who wins, there’s going to be trouble and there’s going to be a lot of work to do that can’t be done with upvotes, downvotes, or social media posts.

        It would be wise for people to be prepared for what is to come. Ignoring it makes it worse.

        Edit: for instance, there is a man in the woods near I-75 by London, Kentucky picking random people off with a rifle right now. I’m afraid we’re going to see a lot more of that kind of stochastic terrorism, which will not simply go way if Harris wins. There are serious problems in America.

        • grue@lemmy.world
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          30 days ago

          There’s nothing dismissive about it at all. Quite the opposite.

          I mean, somebody downvoted your previous response. My best guess as to why is that your “either scenario… there are no winners” bit was perhaps poorly phrased and easy to misconstrue, so that’s what I addressed.