Dark Wave

John Oliver has a wonderful report on the Trump victory. He says -- absolutely rightly -- that realization of what has happened comes in waves. Then we get distracted by ordinary life for a while, then another wave of horror arrives.

A wave hit me this morning. I had a bad night's sleep and woke early. My defense against reality is (a) science fiction and (b) political analysis. If I try to understand, I am less frightened.

So this is my current theory about what will happen next.

(1) We may struggle through the next 2 to 4 years until the Democrats may come back into power, at least in part, and begin cleaning up the mess. But the Democrats need to change their strategy. Wall Street and identity politics is not a winning combination. We need a party that addresses the needs of the working class and lower middle class. A lot of working class is nonwhite, so we aren't neglecting PoC when we support working people.

(2) We may end up with a one party government, with the Republicans always in control. This would require voter suppression and the indifference of many Americans.

(3) We might end up with a fascist state. My bet would be something more like Italy or Spain than Germany. That's still very bad.

(4) We might end up like the Soviet Union, with the government breaking down and then the country itself breaking apart, while gangsters and party hacks stole everything not nailed down, with the advice and help of American economists. Maybe Russian could send advisors over. The plus side is the USSR did not have a civil war, though parts of it have: the Ukraine, for example. The minus side is the death rate went way up and the population actually contracted. That's what happens when your country turns into a failed state overrun with predators.

I'm not even talking about nuclear war or global warming.