Photo: Nathaniel St. clair

The election of Donald Trump in 2016 was seen as the biggest slap in the face to leftists in my baby boomer generation. But the ultimate truth is that we have received so many literal and symbolic slaps in the face since the youth movement and baby boomer cohort of the Vietnam era that a massive slap in the face on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, had exponential force. but it’s not unexpected. Many survivors of social movement after social movement have been brought back to their knees, and there is not much time for a person to get back on their feet at this point in their life. It is not a cliché that a person or movement can only go to the barricades so many times, in real time or symbolically, and survive. Only relatively few people have done the latter, not to ignore the major movements for social change and peace that have occurred since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.

This is not the political system one faction of the legendary youth movement could have dreamed of. It would be difficult to envision or accept the advancement of right-wing extremists and Trump in key positions during his second term.

Most of the people I knew from the Vietnam era became assimilated careerists if they were lucky enough to find a trade or profession that gave them some measure of material comfort. Of the carload of friends traveling north of Ottawa to visit family acquaintances who were then visiting from abroad, none could establish any connection with the radical or even moderately liberal values ​​of the 1960s in the years that followed. Someone in the friend group claims that during this trip he thought we were on Cape Cod, a difference of about 400 miles, near a river in Canada rather than the Atlantic Ocean.

This is Kelly Hayes “Let’s Go Beyond Blame to Fight Each Other Against Fascism” (TruthNovember 8, 2024):

“Leftists are deeply alienated and isolated, warped by trauma and disillusionment. Some were bitterly disappointed in their allies, who they felt did not adequately support the survival and liberation of Palestine. Others are angry at leftists who don’t support Harris or rally movements behind her like they did for Biden in 2020. Everyone has their opinions about who failed and how. I believe there is a lot of blame to go around.

This is an example of what happened to the former editor, as Donald Trump threatens to punish leftists who criticize him, especially those he sees as leftists in the media and those who dare to protest Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Scientific American Trump dared to call Trump’s supporters “bigots” and “fascists”: “The editor-in-chief of Scientific American, the oldest continuously published magazine in the United States, resigned more than a week after posting comments on social media calling some of them “bigots” . Supporters of President-elect Donald J. Trump are “bigots” and “fascists” (“Editor Resigns After Calling Some Trump Supporters ‘Fascists’” New York TimesNovember 15, 2024).

reflecting on Truth The above mentioned article Gray Zone It covers the finger-pointing of Democrats who recently jumped on the bandwagon of the failed Harris campaign (“The collapse is beginning” Gray ZoneNovember 15, 2024).

The reality of the underdogs and sufferers among Democrats is that if elections can really change anything in the United States against the warmongers and the military-industrial complex, the march of ignoring and punishing both the working class and parts of the middle class has begun. In the ashes of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society because of the Vietnam War. The march towards endless wars, the marginalization of workers in the globalizing economy, the destruction of the environment and many other wrongs have been going on for half a century. It says a lot that Richard Nixon, a warmonger, was the last New Deal president. They are initiatives by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration administration, and almost nothing came of it after the Democratic handshake.

Where to go now? I don’t know because the reactionary forces are already on the ground and well established and financed. For an example of what’s to come, look at the oppression faced, especially on campuses, by those who oppose the massacre of Palestinian people in Gaza. Trump’s target is Iran. He has a lot of support among his candidates for his administration and a lot of money to spend against Iran. Trump and right-wing fanatics like him will make resistance both necessary and much more difficult.

Biden (November 17, 2024) authorized the use of long-range missiles supplied by the United States by Ukraine to attack Russia. The players change, but the ground and air battles are the same. Biden condemned About 10 people carrying Nazi flags parade in Columbus, Ohio. But Biden will not condemn Nazi symbols. Azov Brigade Those who participated in the Ukrainian war. The modern day version of the WWII brigade is today’s “freedom fighters”. At the time of this writing (November 19, 2024), Ukraine has fired US-supplied missiles at Russia in a war that could have ended with negotiations long ago.

American Exceptionalism belongs on the garbage heap of history, but the fanatics: political, economic, social and religious fundamentalists will not let us leave it out.