20241109
Already I'm hearing and reading 'I'm gonna move to Canada'. This meme has existed for as long as I can remember and it's bothered me.
I think the first time I really noticed it was in Ani DiFranco's beautiful 'to the teeth'. And while I love the song and many of the views Ani DiFranco discusses, and I make room for artistic expression, the sentiment "I'm just gonna move to Canada", while understandable, it's also pretty offenssive on a few levels: for one, you can't just move to Canada because you're an American and you know... you can live in any country you want and we have to just accept you. Another problem I have with this idea is ...'fix your shit'. When you destroy a neighbourhood by letting it fall to shit, allowing people to dump their garbage there, allow some nutjob, powermad strong arm to run it, cut down the trees and old buildings to make way for parking lots, you don;t then slap the dust off your hands and say 'right, time to moveto a better neighbourghood where shit isn't so fucked."
Lastly, and this is the hardest part -the hardest sentiment to express to my friends who are rightfully upset at the state of America: No one (or almost now one) is blameless in this plastic orange nightmare... The idiocy and bigotry you see around you is not only the fault of the political Right -though they have abandoned all reason and morality in their support of the orange joke. The rise of this populast bigot and his followers is also a reaction to how the Left has comported itself -or at least how we are seen by large segments of society. If those who are reeling in horror at the election actually move to Canada, I very much fear you will bring the politics that contributed to the American mess up here.
And to be honest, we are almost certainly going to elect our very own bad man in our next federal election. A more capable bad human being, a smarter bad human. A not as bad bad human but never-the-less someone who inspires the tear it all down crowd -the anti-{insert_vulnerable_group_here} crowd. so a swing to the right is almost innevitable.
The world should want America to swing back. Everyone should want America to be successful and strong and capable -and I think it will take Americans to do that. Americans that are pissed at ths election.
And if I could suggest a way not to do this: don't eat your own; focus on what unites you and worry about the edge cases where you diverge later;hatred and othering is ...human and I get why you;d want to do it to the people that are tearing down your country -but I don't think that is an effective way to stop what is happening. Engage with the people who elected the bad man. Make a point of telling them when you agree with something they have said. Be strategic in telling them where they are wrong, and why. Acknowledge their fears and concerns.
Above all else: don't hate them and always leave them a path back to reality. Let them come back to a more reasonable place without fear of 'I told you so' -let them have a community to be a part of if they want to leave their existing community.