Whether the talk of war is real or not isn't the point
There has been talk of war for years now and it's only going to get worse. The only question is whether violence will be widespread.
We somehow did not get the latest COVID variant while sitting at the bar in a northern Virginia Texas Roadhouse last week. We couldn’t get a table because, the day after Christmas, it was so busy the only seats left were at the bar. Everyone stared at us like we had three arms as we walked past with our masks on, which I have taken to complaining to my wife about because it is effectively pointless and really is just virtue-signaling to the people who work at restaurants, even though I also sometimes feel it’s important to provide them this symbol of respect. But none of the people inside the Texas Roadhouse knew of that internal conflicti and marital debate. All they saw were two libs with their stupid masks on. A pair of twin brothers in their 60s sat at the other end of the bar, one with tubes coming out of his nose and going to an oxygen tank at his feet. All manner of men and women with obvious pre-existing health conditions were there — obesity, likely quite a few with diabetes, breathing problems — but they were not wearing masks and probably never have because it’s a political statement that they’re free, or not scared, or don’t think the virus is real, or the fake news is making it up, or whatever it is that people in these places believe that I just don’t care to ask them anymore because it doesn’t seem like there’s any point. A few months back, I tried to care while out on the town one night and got into an interesting conversation with an anti-vaxxer — until he got to the point of his argument. If the vaccine doesn’t stop the spread of the virus, then what is the point of the vaccine? That you don’t fucking die if you get the virus was the obvious answer, but what’s the point in even having a discussion with someone who so fundamentally misunderstands the whole point?
The polls have come out showing that people are at least OK with and maybe even excited about the prospect of civil war. A lot of these are the same people who have been OK with the virus for a long time now, if they ever even believed it existed in the first place. The polls are an interesting and disturbing addition to our still-failed media state that under estimates everything it shouldn’t and overplays the things that really just rile everyone up for the sake of ratings and ad revenue. But I didn’t need the polls to tell me lots of folks are cool with political violence because I spent two days last week driving through Trump country. I didn’t need to talk to the people either because everything they believe is on display on bumper stickers and yard signs. Their yards and vehicles are a personification of their Facebook profiles, which are festooned with the same meme props of the culture wars. That Facebook’s radicalization engine is where the meme-ification of those decades-old battles really began to capture their attention and turned them into someone who puts a “Rittenhouse is welcome in this house” sign in their yard is entirely lost on them. As is the irony that they blame “Big Tech” for some type of oppression while using Facebook as their primary means of communication, news source and link to the outside world all while doing so on an iPhone with a camouflage case. Everything is culture war now. The patriots wear their iPhones on belt cases like a gun holster while the liberal sissy probably has some artisan leather case to protect their phone. But we all have the iPhone, and that’s why Apple is now worth $3 trillion. If the patriots wanted to rebel against their tech oppressors they could simply choose not to participate, to not buy an iPhone. But then how would they post all those funny memes that own the libs on Facebook? Can’t win a culture war without those.
That’s part of the reason why I don’t always buy all this talk of war, although I think it should be taken seriously by the proper authorities. (This basically means the FBI, since no local police departments are equipped or even care to deal with people in their towns posting threats about killing Joe Biden or other non-patriots to Facebook and in fact are often staffed by people who own Let’s Go Brandon merch.) It’s one thing to have a Come and Take It flag with an AR-15 on it and entirely another thing to engage in violent political acts. Since the ones making the threats are the most well-armed, we sort of have to take them seriously, but part of me thinks that all of this is just the normal desensitization that comes with living increasingly online lives. No one would say half the things they post on their local newspaper’s Facebook page if they were actually confronted with a reporter on their doorstep. I know this because I’ve lived it but also because every time there’s a natural disaster in Trump country there are plenty of people there who are more than happy to talk to the New York Times and NPR without calling them fake news or threatening them as enemies of the people. But take a drive through these rural scenes and you’ll get quite another picture, and that picture is of a populace who is ready for war. If the recent (and disturbingly-framed) polling is accurate, the roadside signs might as well be battle flags.
All the photos on this post are mine from a recent drive back from my in-laws’ home in Rhode Island. The first is from a bar in Wilkes-Barre, just down the street from where my grandpa grew up. The second was taken in Martinsville, VA, and the third is from a rest stop port-a-potty in upstate New York. Thanks to all of you who continue reading Where Do We Go From Here. This has been a challenging year on several fronts, which I may get to eventually, but for now I have much gratitude for a great group of family and friends who get me through each day. I hope to have much more coming in 2022, specifically on police shootings nationwide and unsolved murders here in Georgia. I hope you’ll stay tuned.