Media outlets have now called the race for Biden, though no votes have been certified yet. It looks like we will be rid of Trump, though some seats were lost in the House (still hold the majority), and the Senate looks to be determined by runoffs in Georgia in January. In the meantime, Trump and his followers are continuing to undermine the election process and are doing so with their usual false narrative in place of facts. And large portions of the American populace are eating it up. This, I think, is what was unsettling me a week ago.
Instead of a complete repudiation of Trumpism, we just barely won. That means there is still a lot of work to do. People have become so insulated in their own bubbles, and now the Trumpers are going to further retreat in their own microcosm. It had already begun prior to the election. Even Fox News had become too critical for some, and they started seeking out even more conservative outlets to join the ranks of Breitbart and the like. OAN is on the rise. And now, we have huge shifts of the alt-right (and make no mistake, they are not Republicans or conservatives; they are a dangerous fringe that has become way too large and influential) from Facebook and Twitter to Parler and MeWe. Ironically, to their own version of a safe space. An echo chamber where QAnon will breed, unchecked along with disinformation. It's a confusion of believing that Free Speech means anything goes without consequences (like simply being called out or disagreed with). For people that seem to want to protest against political correctness, they seem to have awfully thin skin. And they are not afraid to try to make their fantasy a reality (like the nonsense the President is currently trying to pull regarding false accusations of voting fraud; the only documented fraud so far has been on their side).
Epistemology is the study of knowledge; an offshoot of philosophy that talks about what knowledge is and how we know what we know. If you'll allow me to oversimplify, I still believe in objective truth, in that most questions can at least theoretically be confirmed or denied; and if they can't then they are either unknowable or currently beyond our capability for reason or science to determine. Ethics often falls into this greyer area, but even most major religions usually agree on the basics.
So here's what is concerning me now. Disinformation spreads so quickly. Large numbers of people do not have the skill or the desire to seek out information, to fact check, to think logically. We have the technology to produce Deep Fakes, where even video can be manipulated to show something altered from the truth. We now have all of these people with their reprehensible beliefs retreating back into the shadows and forming organized coalitions to confirm each others' bias even more. Opinions are held as equally important as facts. Beliefs overtake knowledge, even that of experts. How are we going to determine the truth going forward? How are we going to sort through the noise to get factual information? How are we going to convince our loved ones that they are on a strange and dangerous path? Why are they clinging to Pizzagate, QAnon, the Deep State, crazy "experts" that talk about demons and angels? And if they have fully retreated into the shadows, how will we know what they are up to? I don't really want to subject myself to these ramblings that resemble severe mental illness, but they are dangerous. They are armed, and angry and full of hate and misinformation.
I still believe we need to work on ourselves to figure out how to change hearts and minds, but we also have to be ready for conflict. This is not a call to arms; it's just some food for thought and a warning. We have to keep our eyes open to what they are thinking and saying and doing. Hopefully, we can get some policies in place that will quell the anger and disenfranchisement they feel. To disarm the beast through met needs before violence occurs. Getting rid of Trump is not enough. Something has awoken; something that used to walk in darkness has been roaming around in the daylight. It's not some supernatural beast, it is simply the worst aspects of humanity. This isn't over. It is just beginning.
So, yes, this went to a dark place. Because it is a glimpse into my fear, my uneasiness. Let me end though, by reiterating that I still believe in us. I still believe in justice. I still believe in our country. We will get through this. But it is not time to rest. We won a battle, but the fight for our nation's soul still continues. Be strong. Try to be kind.
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