What Are We Fighting For?
When the Roman Empire finally came to an end, the world was plunged back into the Dark Ages. Though historians favor the term Middle Ages, the result was, none-the-less, a return to a more difficult way of life. All of the advances many had come to depend on, like trade, education and predictable governance, was over. It was as if the world had stopped spinning left to right and turned in reverse for a few hundred years. This was an unusual time when advances actually retreated. Life became more difficult and a form of tribalism governed the remaining isolated communities throughout Europe.
Has the American Empire fallen? Are we at the abyss, about to begin a return to values held a hundred years ago? On January 6th we watched a Viking invade our Capitol and it reminded me of the Huns, the Goths, the Visigoths and Ostrogroths that descended on the Roman Empire in the early Middle Ages. Have we advanced too far as a society? Is it time to return to simpler days? And when has anything ever returned to simpler days, Middle Ages excepting? Never, really, right? And so it is, that on this January 6th of 2021, some might think we witnessed an inflection point of American history. To be fair, many will say that January 6th simply revealed in stark terms what has been brewing for some time, maybe something that has always been there. Either way, it showed itself on the national stage in a way that was monumental, and that is new.
It would seem that the marauding domestic terrorists, as they have been confidently labeled in the press, have a clear agenda, but I, for one, don’t quite see it. Maybe I’m being a little obtuse, or maybe a little coy. I’m not stupid. I saw what everyone else saw. Among the marauding masses there was a confederate flag which clearly means a southern ideology, old or new⏤I’d bet on old, that longs for a different set of priorities. I saw “Make America Great Again” flags, a nod to the outgoing President. And, I saw mostly men, bearded men at that. Almost as if beards were a sign of rebellion or sign of a rustic old-fashioned ideology⏤self-determination? I’m reaching here, but I saw what I saw. In the end, if the overall intent was to support the outgoing President, it would seem that that is mostly a support of his style of leadership. The things he, Trump, stood for during his presidency were not that radical, save for a support of white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia. Tax cuts, deregulation, oil drilling, China? We’ve heard it all before; we’ve seen it all before. It’s a republican ideology, plain and simple. It’s why people voted for him and supported him despite all his baggage. No one at this point will deny that Trump has baggage. You either love him in spite of it, or you hate him because of it.
I think there might be a desire to interpret January 6th as a radical push for a specific agenda, only I don’t know quite what that would be. I know there is QAnon blather about Biden being radical, opposite from Trump, but we’ve seen that kind of political talk before. It’s almost required. We’ve seen that a woman was the only martyr. Does that mean that women are giving up their voting rights and all other equalities to join with the bearded Viking men? Despite seeing Capitol police officers of color, the one bludgeoned to death was white⏤go figure. One would have thought they would single out a black officer to go along with the confederate flag. What gives? The republicans recently voted to remove confederate names from all military bases. Republicans? The recently appointed, very controversial, conservative Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh, was quoted defending a wrongly accused black man in Alabama who could not get justice due to structural racism. A conservative judge doing the bidding of fairness and morality and decency. A Trump appointee, to boot. I’m confused. What are we fighting for? If it’s not taxes, and Supreme Court conservatism and foreign policy, then what is it. Why did we, er, they, storm the Capitol?
I guess where I’m going here is that in every area I can think of that matters, nothing is going to change; we are not going back to the Dark Ages of America; the genie is not going back in the bottle. Women’s rights, civil rights, individual rights, housing rights, and voting rights, are all not going to change, despite efforts or rhetoric to the opposite.
While we all try to make sense of January 6th, I am comforted by the realization that all the marauding domestic terrorists wanted was their guy to stay in office. There is no other agenda that unifies the likes of Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Rudy Gulliani, Rush Limbaugh, the unfortunate martyr, the bearded Vikings and the many others that came to Washington for a visit.
© Eric Clark 01/12/2021
Photo: bbc.com
