Andy Kaufman in a Wrestling Match

Email to Timothy Snyder and Ruth Ben-Ghiat, the important experts who’ve been warning us about scary Donald Trump:

As historians who've warned against the emergence of authoritarianism in the United States, what did you think of the speech from the presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee who seized delegates without running for the nomination in the primaries, then as her first promise said she would implement government price controls on food?

I’m sure they’ll respond thoughtfully /s. The relentless upside-downness of the media-constructed world has me looking for the cameras and wondering when Ashton Kutcher jumps out of the bushes. All things represented as [X] are invariably [Not-X] in an unconvincing mask. Most of the country is taking daily “medicine,” so we’re getting sicker.

We live in a tunnel lined with nudge units, shaping our perceptions and directing our behaviors; opposition to the tunnel is authoritarianism. Repression will restore our unity!

I live in the bluest of blue zones, so I’ve found myself having a series of conversations about how good the pandemic was. The pandemic gave us pleasure. It was a time when we all came together, listened to the experts, and showed that we cared about each other by wearing our masks and staying indoors. These conversations focus on what we showed — on display and performance. We showed that we cared. If you were on Nextdoor at the height of the thing, which I was for several days before I got thrown off for spreading disinformation, you read daily posts about pride: I wear my mask to show that I care, and I’m proud of that.

So Laura Dodsworth, in her book State of Fear, uses government documents to show how behavioral scientists worked with officials to inculcate a calculated sense of threat, teaching panic and spreading terror as policy; your neighbors enjoyed the hell out of it, and experienced it as pleasure. Our obedience made us feel good. Compare that to Jim Breuer’s description of his rising sense of panic in the presence of obvious psychological manipulation, and his conclusion that “we’re at war.” This chasm doesn’t represent a debate. It’s very nearly a split into incompatible species. We need to protect Our Democracy™ by arresting the political opposition, they explained. Only more repression and state control will save us from authoritarianism.

The broken seam is irreparable: the two facing edges of the societal story can’t be sewn together. We’re going to try to reconcile that cleavage with an election. “Tell Me How This Ends.”