Beware the politics of fear

Fight Corruption With a Politics of Demands

Trans people this, illegals that, low T males this, blaming jews or muslims that, you’re being replaced this; Beware of the politics of fear shared by people who have been taught to be afraid all of their lives.

When a so-called leader speaks to you from a place of fear, just understand that they are too afraid to be effective leaders. Their goals and ideologies are meant to instill anxiety in your mind. And during times of economic struggle, when people are finding it harder to pay the bills and have more than enough to save or invest in a future for themselves, they become more prone to fear-based signals.

The politics of fear will never help you, even if your so-called leader says it is the answer. Those same demagogues use your anxiety and fear to take advantage of you, to create conflict between you and your neighbors, using scapegoats or people you don’t like to blame for your problems.

When in fact you know that they have no part in creating your problems. It is a distraction to turn you blind to the root causes of your struggle. Meanwhile, those same leaders will always relish in the corruption that is responsible for society’s biggest problems.

So if fear isn’t the solution, how can we create real change that improves your life? It is simple.

The Politics of Demands

I believe in real representative democracy, but it requires us to be actively participating in power. Not just in voting, which is important, but in demanding what is your right as a citizen of a nation ruled by citizens. 

We need to demand power. We need to demand real representation from our public officials. They are not our rulers; they are servants to us.

A politics of demands means finding where you can activate your individualism or collectively as a group of citizens in a way that captures the attention and authority of your representative. 

In the past, unions did so through strikes. Communities organized together to protest, blocking commerce and other vital parts of society until their demands could not be ignored.

And to some, geopolitical issues may feel confusing or even be colored by blind patriotism or “team” politics. But I encourage you to view this example through a critical lens and not from a personal bias.

I think of the present-day Iran Conflict and how, against all odds, the power of the United States was effectively undermined by a strategic blunder of the Strait of Hormuz. Once seen as the unshakeable machine of world homogeny, the US Empire was defeated overnight.

And that defeat will stain the world order for years to come. And while that may have significant negative outcomes for the current world order and US militarism abroad, it might also have many positive outcomes for US Citizens domestically.

But only if we have the capacity to see our true power and wield it.

When so much economic and political power is concentrated in the hands of a few billionaires and foreign interests, politicians bought and paid for give away our tax dollars to the rich. I ask you, what are our Strait of Hormuzes?

How can everyday citizens organize and take back control of their own representative government? 

At the end of the day, power is an illusion; it can seem boundless, but as with every human endeavor, it can break and fail.

I believe in a politics of demand, that you and others like you demand to gain direct benefit from your own government. Whether that looks like improving water, air, and food quality so that you are not poisoned by simply surviving.

Or that your schools are funded properly and continually improved to adapt to a modern world so that your children can live a prosperous life.

Or that when you get sick or need any form of care, your healthcare is free at the point of use, so that maintaining your health becomes a vital desire and not an anxiety-driven financial disaster.

Or that homes are built with higher quality materials and don’t cost an arm and a leg to own. I still don’t understand how homes are built using “adult cardboard”. Don’t you find it weird that walls are built so thin and weak?

The point is, politics and public policy should give you direct material benefit. Especially in a representative democracy that is supposedly controlled and governed by the people.

Constituents should have a direct manner to impose their will on their representatives during their term, so that a representative gets immediate feedback from their districts on how well they are performing their job, with immediate benefits or consequences tied to their performance rating.

And their pay, ability to run again, and whether they can keep their seat dependon maintaining a positive rating with their constituents.

Money in politics should be completely banned or restricted to such a degree that no one individual or group can buy a representative.

That is my thought for the day. Let me know what your thoughts are on how we can take back power as citizens.