Jared Yates Sexton Profile picture
Sep 25, 2020 9 tweets 2 min read Read on X
For decades now the Republican Party has engaged in bad faith politics, used violence, intimidation, and paranoia as weapons, flirted with blatant fascism as an ideology, all while Democrats have called for decorum and begged the media to play referee.

It wasn't enough.
One of the biggest mistakes was pretending like the Republicans were serious about their principles. They never have been.

Abortion, limited government, school choice, fiscal conservatism.

These were political cudgels hiding white patriarchal supremacy.
The Republican platform has always been a smokescreen and the motivating issue has always been desegregation and the protection of white patriarchal supremacy.

Decades and decades of GOP think-tanks and strategists have worked overtime to hide the racism and misogyny.
And the myth of American Exceptionalism allowed the Right to force Democrats to always hide behind the rhetoric of how great America is, how the universe moves in a moral direction.

It was a strategy of capturing people and limiting their ability to protest and change.
Here's the truth: American demographics have been moving toward this moment for decades. White supremacy was endangered by democracy and so white supremacists began destroying democracy.

This is what's happening. Pure and simple. See it. Recognize it.
Donald Trump isn't the disease, he's a symptom. Simply defeating him in November isn't enough. The GOP has been corrupted through and through with a fascistic, white supremacist drive for power at all costs.

This is a much, much larger fight, and it's time we saw it.
Our politics have been sick for a long, long time and hiding behind illusory debates and propagandized history.

We haven't been faced with the reality of the situation but now it's becoming clear. The GOP will not act in good faith because good faith means the end of their power
Any conversation about our political moment is lacking if we don't recognize what we're dealing with.

Fascism.

A weaponized nostalgia and purposeful paranoia that legitimizes the destruction of democracy and preemptive violence.
This isn't Red vs. Blue, Left vs. Right.

It's liberal democracy under direct attack by a fascistic movement that knows liberal democracy means its total destruction.

This is a societal, existential crisis and we don't have time to be in denial about it anymore.

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More from @JYSexton

Apr 16
What’s happening right now is that the Right is loudly expressing their bigotry and desire to crush what little of “the Left” exists and the Center is simultaneously appalled by their openness but trying quietly and institutionally to crush what little of “the Left” exists.
One of the reasons things seem strange right now is because the American understanding of actual politics versus our conventional “Red/Blue” narrative is so limited that most people are living in a mystified state that obscures the actual struggles and fault lines.
When you work in institutions (I was in academia for 16 years) you start to get a real glimpse at performative cowardice and hollow principles. And you understand exactly how the song and dance works and what the Center offers and really values.
Read 7 tweets
Apr 4
Authoritarianism is systemic abuse and feeds off crushing the human spirit.

It assaults us with unthinkable atrocities and means to convince a better world isn’t possible. Resistance begins with rejecting this and fighting for what we deserve.

jaredyatessexton.substack.com/p/its-meant-to…
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People want us to believe authoritarianism exists at the point of a gun, but it’s a disease of despair.

Authoritarians bombard us with abuse meant to destroy our spirit and convince us the reality of life is violence.
There are only three ways authoritarianism wins. It entices you to put on the armband and participate, it crushes you as opposition, or it convinces you to look away as it takes control.

This is the reality that was hidden from us post-war. And we must recognize it.
Read 9 tweets
Mar 30
What has been systematically created is a zero-sum society where the ruthless are rewarded and a deep distrust of one another is instilled, creating the perfect environment for corporate dominance in which solidarity is prevented and democratic energy contained.
This goes beyond work. In our politics, in our communities, in our relationships, in our discourse, a sharp cynical edge reigns, preventing intimacy and grace and above all collaboration and imagination.

It is a deep, deep wound. And we must heal from it.
America is far from the first country to suffer this. Neoliberalism has systematically spread this trauma around the globe. But it has infected us and created a fetid environment that’s perfect for dominance and oppression. Healing is the only way forward.
Read 5 tweets
Mar 26
Moments like the NBC and MSNBC revolt over the hiring of Ronna McDaniel and the resulting cave by management serve as ready-made examples of how the power of employers is dependent upon a complete and total illusion of total authority that can be easily shattered.
The truth is that capitalist exploitation is all based on the hope that employees never remember that they are more essential than the management class that uses them. That’s why it’s so necessary to bust unions and aggressively break the will of employees whenever possible.
The moment employees realize the abuse and exploitation they’re enduring can be ended is when the illusion shatters. When you realize you deserve better the wheel is already in motion. And that’s exactly what we need at this moment.
Read 4 tweets
Mar 20
I know it’s cathartic to see Trump bled of his assets, but there are millions of Americans deeply familiar with having their homes and cars taken from them and liens on their paychecks.

Just saying, maybe pump the breaks on the “optics being bad.”
I continue to be shocked by how hating Trump is revealing so many deeply-held beliefs people would rather pretend aren’t there. Disgust with fat people, constant cosmetic judgments, disdain for poor people.
Trump is deeply, deeply detestable. He represents the worst in humanity. But the reasons to like him go way beyond how he looks or any of these other small critiques. And I’m sorry, but his financial collapse is not going to win any voters over from his side.
Read 5 tweets
Mar 17
The wealth in this country is divided between antidemocratic billionaires and corporate “centrists” who are consistently moving rightward as the billionaires rush headlong into authoritarianism.

That’s why it increasingly gets worse as tired political lenses make less sense.
The old “Left vs Right” narrative is false. We have a center and a Right, and the center continues to move rightward. Money, power, and influence tear away at liberal democracy as we’re continually told a long dead paradigm is at play.
The fight now is between authoritarians and institutionalists wary of democracy or change. The narratives playing out are just stories hiding growing radicalization and acceptance of authoritarianism throughout the monied class.

And millions are just lost in those narratives.
Read 5 tweets

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