
"One political conversation with a gay friend that I'll never forget occurred the night before Election Day in 2016, where my friend told me that he hoped Donald Trump would win so that "The Revolution" would finally happen. The idea, I suppose, was that Trump would make things so bad that it would finally wake up the proletariat of the world, and it would unite in the ultimate class war to overthrow the messed-up liberal world order,"
"This kind of cynicism - that the "system" is so bad that it's beyond repair - is self-perpetuating and impervious to reality. One can point out that the U.S. government does a lot of things that are beneficial to a lot of people: like redistributing wealth through taxes and social spending, ensuring some income to the elderly and disabled, paying for millions of people's (though not everyone's) health care access, sending needed medications to impoverished people in other countries, funding public education."
A 2016 conversation recalled a friend hoping a Trump victory would trigger a revolutionary overthrow of the liberal order, which never happened. Cynicism that the system is beyond repair becomes self-perpetuating and resistant to evidence. The U.S. government provides many benefits, including redistributing wealth through taxes and social spending, ensuring some income for the elderly and disabled, funding healthcare access for millions, sending medications to impoverished countries, and financing public education. Labeling acknowledgment of these benefits as indifference disciplines political viewpoints and serves as an excuse for incuriosity.
Read at LGBTQ Nation
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