We are constantly reminded that there is no bottom to the Trump administration barrel. Each day Donald Trump shows how profoundly unprepared and incapable he is to handle to the greatest public health crisis of our time. COVID-19 cases are surging, and even as Trump continues to fuel his insane anti-mask conspiracies, many states are beginning to close down again. The economy is in tatters, and with the rampant thievery by the investor class, who have diverted trillions of dollars of relief aid from the people into their own coffers, the American people have nothing to shield them from the oncoming crises of mass evictions and expiring unemployment benefits.
A normal, even poor leader, would recognize the dire straits we are in, and know that no matter how badly things have gone so far, the key to digging our selves out of this catastrophe is to get control of the scourge of COVID-19. And yet, Trump cannot do this. His narcissism is so all encompassing he can't even try to actually address COVID-19, he can only see it through the lens of how it makes him look in the day to day, and these days that is very bad.
So instead of trying to actually get this virus under control, save our people, save the economy, Trump has decided to attack and disparage the heroes trying to give Americans the knowledge the need to survive. This takes the form of dismissing scientists and doctors' advice, along with the ever present gas-lighting Trump does whenever he opens his mouth. Most recently, Dr. Fauci, the lead pandemic expert in the country, has found himself in the cross-hairs. Luckily, the American people know who to trust on the pandemic between Trump and Fauci:
Who do you Trust for Accurate Information about COVID-19?
Dr. Fauci: 67%
Trump: 26%
The American people know Trump is a failure and a loser who cannot be trusted, especially when it matters. He's a man who couldn't manage his way out of a paper bag, let alone a global pandemic. But propaganda and misinformation are powerful things, and Trump doesn't think he needs to be believed, he just needs to stop people from believing the experts. We cannot let this brazen attack on expertise, on science itself, succeed. If we are to overcome not just COVID-19, but the myriad of collective challenges facing us this century we are going to need to listen to experts, and heed their advice. The world is simply too complicated for everyone to know everything, and so we must trust each other and work together, especially when wannabe dictators like Trump try to divide us.
Unfortunately, as we at DSOT have constantly pointed out, knowing what to do is insufficient. Often the solutions are right in front of us, but those in power block the progress we all so desperately want and need. Even if Joe Biden, does win the presidency, and the "resistance" is victorious, securing any significant concessions from the Democrats will be a massive uphill effort, requiring a sustainable and growing movement, that keeps the focus and pressure on critical issues like universal healthcare, $15 min wage, Green New Deal, etc.! If we are to emerge from beyond COVID-19 as a nation not in ruin, but in rebirth, getting not just economic prosperity for all Americans, but the time to flourish as humans and create a more socially conscious society, it's going to take an enduring collective movement of commensurate size and power, to the forces of economic oppression, ignorance and bigotry we face! To create that better future will require the stamina to outlast the powers that be, and convince them that there is no choice but to change or lose everything.
Don’t miss this chance as the gears of history are turning quickly to change our country for the better, join us every Tuesday, in growing solidarity and power until we take back our democracy from amoral special interests, and greedy politicians: Don't Shop on Tuesdays!
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