What Comes Next? Thoughts for 2025 and Beyond
Hear ye, hear ye! In this, the year 2024, the United States of America has loudly declared that it shall reject drab decency in favor of electrifying cruelty.
Tuesday night was traumatizing for a lot of people. Can anyone really blame them? For many of them, the worst assumptions about the American people were proven true by the results of the 2024 Election and many peopleâs lives are about to be severely upended if not outright destroyed. And the worst part is that weâve been through this all before. They know Donald Trump is an agent of chaos whose first term was defined by cruelty and dysfunction that culminated in over a million dead from a pandemic and an attempt to violently overthrow the government. His allies have literally written out an exhaustive document titled âProject 2025â detailing all the ways they intend to do even worse if given another opportunity. Still, over 70 million still people voted for him, and, more tragically, 15-20 million voters who showed up in 2020 chose to stay home in 2024.
And yet, Iâve remained oddly calm throughout this week. No tears have been shed, no doom scrolling or posting on any of my socials. Friends know me as someone whoâs often prone to emotional outbursts and catastrophizing in times such as these, and as a poor trans woman who views juggling two jobs as a tremendous personal success, I certainly have a lot to lose in the years ahead, but Iâve remained cool as a cucumber. Why? Iâd already accepted this outcome as a strong possibility months ago, and I want to take this moment to reflect on the institutional failures that got us here.
First off, the American people either have no idea what they want or will throw their espoused values into the nearest bin the instant they face any hardship.
Letâs go some of the things accomplished under the Biden Administration: we got a once in a century pandemic under control, oversaw the end of the final war American troops were deployed in, delivered huge on rebuilding the countryâs aging infrastructure, worked to combat climate change, built factories and brought back manufacturing jobs, walked a picket line and was the most pro-union President in decades; he prevented a recession that in 2021-22 every economist swore was inevitable; he was the first President to publicly support the transgender community, and he did his best to relieve as much college loan debt as possible despite obstruction from Republicans in congress and the Supreme Court. And how was he rewarded for this service? People either refused to acknowledge his accomplished or in some cases punished him for delivering on campaign promises, all while being subjected to constant ridicule over his age, and personal attacks against his character from all corners of the political spectrum.
Apparently, none of those accomplishments matter because there was 2.1% inflation. Hardly anyone will talk about how coming out from the pandemic has been hard on every country; or that the American economy under Bidenâs leadership returned stronger than any other nation. That wasnât a fluke, it was the result of President Bidenâs steadfast, competent leadership.
I may not have shed a tear this week, but I was devastated when President Biden was forced to drop out from this race. Since 2021, the media worked itself into a frenzy to punish this administration every step of the way.
That was when it became clear to me that doesnât matter how hard someone works or how much they accomplish, if the people control the narrative want you out of the picture, theyâre going to make it happen. So, while the rest of my friends were celebrating in July, believing Kamala Harris was on course for a 2008 style sweep, my gut told me things were about to get worse.
And just so weâre clear, this is in no way a knock against Kamala Harris. She was a fantastic candidate who ran a valiant campaign without any major missteps. How was anyone in the Democratic Party supposed to run an effective campaign when the public refused to acknowledge the record of successes accomplished under the Biden Administration? Sure, we all hoped that everyone was so sick of the other sideâs cruelty and would turn out again, but it was impossible to ignore just how heavily the media was hobbling us, all while the historic fundamentals that used to determine election outcomes were in our favor.
President Bidenâs greatest sin was being a boring and incredibly competent leader. This was infuriating for our news media. Joe Biden didnât generate the constant drama that sells newspaper subscriptions, or gets people tuning into talk shows and podcasts, and there wasnât a steady stream of ex-staffers coming out to sign book deals spilling all the sordid behind-the-scenes details. Thus, every major media outlet set out to destroy President Biden and his party in the hopes that theyâd once again be able cover D.C. with the salacious glee youâd expect from the celebrity rags that line the racks at the supermarket, not the D.C. press corps.
And it wasnât just the traditional news media. Even more than other modern elections, this was an election swung by online content from social media, YouTube, podcasts, and beyond. Thereâs a lot of money being made churning out this content in non-traditional media spaces too.
Take a moment to really think about what content has consistently been popping up at the top of your feeds these past couple of years. Did you notice any trends? I sure did. Whenever I logged onto a major website I was inundated with âstoriesâ from fake news accounts and memes/jokes advancing right-wing talking points. Claims that weâre in recession, inflation is out of control, attacking âwoke culture,â claims that Joe Bidenâs going to lead us into World War IIIâ these assertions were constant and inescapable.
And itâs not just right-wing content creators. âLeftistâ creators pushing a narrative that both sides are about equally bad was also boosted to the top. There is plenty of money to be made singing songs of doom and despair on both sides of the aisle.
But how did this content become so gosh darn lucrative?
In some cases, the blame rests squarely on loud and proud right-wing owners whoâve directed employees to push their propaganda (see: Twitter). Others are just mindless algorithms that push whatever content generates the most engagement with their users; the sort of inflammatory statements that are either hyperbolic or outright lies. Social media, YouTube, Google searchâ None of these platforms are engineered to produce a well-informed userbase! They are there to keep people logged in and consuming for as long as possible. The impact this method news delivery is having on the public is frightening, and I donât know what can be done to combat it anytime soon.
Alright Vivian, you have ideas on how this all happened, but what are your plans for the next four years? Is there any hope in this situation? Absolutely! I wouldnât be writing this if I believed the future was lost forever. Yeah, things are probably going to suck these next couple of years. I canât say how much itâll suck, but thereâs still joy in the world. It is more important than ever that we continue seeking it out and creating it wherever itâs in short supply.
I know that, for me, one thing was true before this election, and remains true after: I am tired of my happiness being determined by the day-to-day antics of a loud-mouthed reality TV star. Iâve been stuck as a captive audience along with millions of other people since this man first rode down that escalator in 2015, and Iâm done letting it consume every waking moment of my life. I donât want to think about Donald Trump, see his bloated face, or hear his whining voice, so Iâm simply going to unplug from most of the media Iâve engaged with the past decade.
I have that power to change the channel, and so do you.
Changing the channel doesnât mean ignoring everything going forward or giving up on the future. Iâll still be a registered member of the Democratic Party who votes in every election, gets off on shows like âThe West Wingâ, and works for a better tomorrow. Changing the channel simply means that, from this day forward, I refuse to spend another minute feverishly tuning into âThe Donald Trump Show.â I wonât spend hours reading and watching journalists and late-night comedians takes on every incident; or arguing with strangers online about what needs to be done. I tried that last time and got nothing but sleepless nights and a desire to jab people in the nose with a fondue fork.
Instead, Iâm going to spend the next four years doing the only things I have any control over: Looking out for myself, keeping my friends, family (especially found family) close, volunteering for and donating to charities I support, and never giving up on brighter days to come. Who knows? They might be closer than we think.
Oh, and as for yâall who voted for DJT a third time: I hope you get everything that was promised on the trail. You deserve it.
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