Shortly after Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016, I wrote an op-ed about three things in society that should’ve pointed towards Trumpism if not Trump himself. Instead of immediately submitting it to my local paper, it sat in the idle archives of my computer until I sent it to them shortly before the 2020 election with a slight update indicating if he won re-election, those reasons still stood and could be looked to for some insight if not a complete postmortem. Two of the factors came of age in the late 80s and early 90s, and the third in the early aughts, but all have swelled to become even more omnipresent today and have mutated significantly since their introductions: political correctness and the policing of language; reality television and our societal penchant for schadenfreude; and social media and its seemingly meth-fueled spin cycle and 24/7/365 flashing lights, blaring sirens, and strangers offering candy. Perhaps not that astute, but I don’t think it’s too hard to trace the trajectory of the decline of American culture and society from those three points of departure.

To say I was relieved when Trump lost in 2020 would be an understatement, not because I was a diehard Biden supporter, but because some return to normalcy was highly welcome, even though I openly acknowledge all the evils and perils that are baked into our government and its two major parties, Don the Demagogue aside. We weren’t returning to a perfect world, only one less fraught with dread, backwardness, and volatility. But as the 2024 election season snuck up on us, I had real worry, as Biden was clearly old and infirm, and the Democrats really hadn’t done well with their policies and messaging in the wake of the post-pandemic years and the inflation it wrought. I didn’t hold onto hope and I thought Biden would lose, and some of the nails in the coffin included the “debate,” the first assassination attempt, and the pick of JD Vance as VP (the latter being something I’ve changed my opinion on, particularly as it’s been consistently evidenced that he is not popular at all and is clearly a panderer and a sycophant lacking any authenticity or backbone). But I digress. I still thought Biden was dead in the water. I can’t say I felt much better about Harris at the top of the ticket, as she was never popular and always got chewed up in the media and couldn’t unravel herself from the criticisms, but I found some solace in the “left” rallying around her, even if in retrospect it’s clear that it was surface-level and all glitz and no glamor – skin deep support from “elites” and the Hollywood class, and the steep drop-off from there. With an inability to control the narrative on the border and inflation, and embracing the losing argument of the culture wars, defeat was almost guaranteed from the outset. That gets us about to where we are today.

The dumpster fire has turned into a wildfire and I hope we have the water to contain it. (Image retrieved from here and comes courtesy of Pixabay.)

I wasn’t an “oppose Trump at all costs” kind of guy during his first term per se, though I generally disagreed with most of his positions, his behavior and lack of character, and his desire to destroy democracy and serve himself first and foremost. So, I guess I pretty much did oppose him, at least at most costs… In other words, I was not (and am not) a fan. But this time, I decided I wanted to approach his term a little differently – if possible – in that I’d weigh each decision made on its own merits. I figured this would keep me from overreacting or getting sucked into an echo chamber that made it harder to sort real from fake, good from bad, right from wrong, etc. Part of the reason for my attempt to approach it like this is something that gets brought up from time-to-time from different talking heads, and that is the simple fact that not every idea he has is bad, and that there is often a lot of truth in his lies and his bluster. Now, don’t get me wrong, I still think most of his behaviors and decisions are nothing short of terrible and will instill great harm on this country and its citizens, but there are some things he’s not entirely off-base on, it’s just that it almost always boils down to the simple fact that he goes about it all the wrong way.

So, here we are, a little over two months into the term (at the time of writing), and I’ll admit it’s a little challenging not to be dismissive of the whole shebang. I mean, putting it “politely,” it’s a shitshow. As was to be expected, and then some… But I’ll continue to try and hold sweeping judgment and just document a few things that are steaming my kettle – and to reiterate, “the left” has major issues, is full of opportunists and power-seekers, and genuinely engages in anti-democratic practices as well, just not to the extent of “the right,” and specifically under Dear Leader, Donald J. Trump. So, where do I begin?

I’m tempted to start with Gaza and his “plan” for the United States to take it over and turn it into “the Riviera of the Middle East,” permanently displacing those who live there currently (even if they’ve been displaced already by the ongoing war on their backyard). I thought he was “America first”? It’s going to take a lot of money, manpower, and resources to renovate and occupy that area. It just seems so half-baked…

Or maybe it’s better to begin with the firing of tens of thousands of federal workers and the closing or drastic downsizing of the agencies they work for. I’m all for efficiency and eliminating redundancies, as well as maximizing taxpayers’ contributions to the country. But this is reckless and cruel. I must assume some of these people he’s letting his avatar, Elon Musk, axe voted for him. It’s clear that there will be significant ripple effects of these decisions on the communities where those people reside, not to mention their families. The directive is to go work in the private sector. Is it so easy? Are equivalent jobs available? Just to choose one segment greatly affected that really got me are the land management agencies, like the NPS and USFS. Are they aware of how much pass-through tourism dollars come to small businesses and local communities from people visiting the parks and forests every summer? Do they care how much our collection of beautiful and ecologically rich wilderness areas will be permanently impacted from no management or conservation efforts? I thought The Don was for the everyman. These types of federal jobs are about as blue collar as they get…

Or maybe we should really shine the light on his siding with dictators, like Putin, and his tendencies towards dismantling generations-old relationships with our allies, like Canada, France, Germany, and the UK. It’s clear he’s never understood or cared about the value of relationships, loyalty, or collaboration, as his failed and crooked business empire has demonstrated over the decades. But is he at least aware that we’re weaker without these relationships maintained?

Perhaps we begin with the elimination of USAID or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – the former which helps us keep trouble at bay and dampen anti-American sentiment abroad, the latter which protects individuals – many of them his voters – from being taken advantage of and bankrupted by large corporations. But Donald has never really cared about anyone other than himself. He just aims to grab more power and more money for his name, brand, and legacy, collateral damage be damned.

Or maybe we start with the recent kerfuffle of the leaked chats from the defense team on Signal, their carelessness, their lack of professionalism, and the clear fact that people who have no business being in positions of power are making life and death decisions. On top of all that, nobody’s been held accountable (as of this writing), yet when Hillary’s emails on a private server were exposed, that was the worst thing that anyone could’ve ever done…

There’s just too much. So much so that it’s hard not to just outright dismiss him, his administration, and any possible good ideas or residual positive outcomes that might just happen to bubble up over the next few years. But I’ll try to remain objective, hard as it may be.

But really, as I think about it, there’s really no reason in wasting time, energy, or breath in pointing all these things out or getting worked up about any of them, as it was all to be expected. None of it is really all that shocking given what we know about him and his tendencies. Part of me just wants to sit back and watch it all unfold, and see how it tramples over the lives and livelihood of all of us – me included; I know I won’t escape the destruction in some capacity. But really, it’s all the people who voted for him, and against their best interests and those of the country, which causes me just to think, “Well, the chickens have come home to roost. Happy with your decision?” But I would be remiss if I didn’t note that there are people who voted for him and continue to support him who will very much benefit from his reign – tech bros and oligarchs, those in the upper quintile of the economic bracket. What a mess we’ve brought upon ourselves.

If I need to end on a “positive note,” I guess we had a good run for a while there, sorry to see it end so soon.

Marco Esquandoles
Bystander to the End of Life As We Know It