Coop Scoop: 9/17 The Herd Mentality Edition

The Herd Mentality Edition

September 17, 2020
Issue #34

“In reality, hope is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs man’s torments.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche

[Note: All relevant links to this edition are listed at the bottom of the newsletter]

That poll about Trump picking up Latino votes in Florida set off yet another wave of panic among anti-Trump forces last week. Democrats were seen not only biting their nails, setting their hair on fire and lighting votive candles, but a few were spied as they scouted proper rooftops from which to jump.

I like how Never Trumper and conservative consultant Mike Murphy puts it: “The Republican Party might be The Stupid Party. But Democrats are now The Neurotic Party.”

That one poll also unleashed a certain number of shakily written emails to me, the spooked authors basically saying they certainly “hope” I have been right in my continuing forecasts of a Trump defeat 45 days or so from now.

Let me sort this out before we go even further. Please refrain from investing any hope in my words. It’s not my job nor my responsibility to inspire you with any sort of hope, false or otherwise. I am nobody’s Mommy. And hope ain’t got nothing to do with this election. If you hope I am right, great. Go out and do something to make yourself and the country better off. You can phone bank any swing state you please for any campaign you choose by simply contacting the campaign and then doing it from your home.

I know just how unattractive that sounds. And it usually is. But it’s a whole lot better than getting immersed in this Trump shitshow for another four years.

As of today, I stand firmly by my assessment that Biden is headed for victory and I see very little reason to believe that Trump will pull something out of his ample ass to reverse what is now clearly a constant, clear, and solidifying path to an inglorious loss.

I make no claim to being clairvoyant nor do I believe I am infallible. Yes, Trump might win. And you might win the lottery. I don’t really know. I would, however, put some real money against both of those eventualities.

I strive to keep my political opinions and assessments free of my personal desires and especially free from knee-jerk reactions to transitory and one-off polls. My analysis, I would like to believe, derives from hard-nosed judgment of reliable data and 50 years of real-life experience observing, absorbing, reporting on, and participating in political processes here and around the world.

Taking this one step further, I am NOT hopeful. Indeed, I fear the next decade will bring further disintegration, continuing and deepening inequality, a deeper slide into climate change and more well-placed doubts about the responsiveness of the political AND economic system. That will keep the alt-right simmering, percolating and ready to erupt with some degree of resonance.

Within that generalized pessimism, I am optimistic that Biden will win. A Biden administration will be somewhat of a stopgap to the general decline noted above, but I make no illusions about it being any sort of “solution.” The leadership of the Democratic Party does not have the imagination let alone the will to enact the sweeping and radical change we need to fully defend rule of law, reform the criminal justice system, make the economy truly equitable, provide affordable health care for all, and guarantee that the U.S. remains primarily a Republic and not an Empire. That will not come until and if the people decide they want real change and are willing to act on it, instead of just “hoping” it will be delivered to them by Postmates.