{"id":40230,"date":"2020-10-27T00:10:54","date_gmt":"2020-10-27T07:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pocketwisdominsights.com\/pwicolab\/?p=40230"},"modified":"2020-10-27T00:20:44","modified_gmt":"2020-10-27T07:20:44","slug":"either-side-wins-we-all-lose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pocketwisdominsights.com\/pwicolab\/community\/christians\/christian-co-lab-mission\/pwi-co-lab-staff\/either-side-wins-we-all-lose\/","title":{"rendered":"If Either Side Wins, We ALL Lose"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Opening Insights: Reality<\/h2>\n

How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg?<\/em>
Four.<\/em>
Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.<\/em>
ABRAHAM LINCOLN<\/p>\n

The American people are at each other's throats. For many, the 2020 presidential election is the focus point of their division. Not since the civil war have Americans been so ready to attack one another. <\/p>\n

We are divided and no matter who wins we will still be divided. We are focused on our adversity, staying angry and continuing to fight. Small business will be destroyed, large business will have to resort to even greater automation, meaning more robots and less people, otherwise they won't make it either.<\/p>\n

The following article was published by The Washington Post, \"a major American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C.\" It was written by Marc Fisher<\/strong><\/a>, \"Senior Editor, reporting on a wide range of topics.\"<\/p>\n

Informational Insights: End Times<\/h2>\n
\n

A psychiatrist examining what has happened to America\u2019s soul chooses for his book cover an iconic image from \u201cPlanet of the Apes\u201d \u2014 a charred, half-buried wreck of the Statue of Liberty.<\/p>\n

A minister who believes the United States is God\u2019s chosen nation decides that a Joe Biden presidential victory would mean doom, a crushing of the nation\u2019s essence.<\/p>\n

And a filmmaker whose work has celebrated the raucous mess of U.S. politics concludes that the reelection of President Trump would be \u201cthe end of democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

One week before Americans choose their path forward, the quadrennial crossroads reeks of despair. In almost every generation, politicians pose certain elections as the most important of their time. But the 2020 vote is taking place with the country in a historically dark mood \u2014 low on hope, running on spiritual empty, convinced that the wrong outcome will bring disaster.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like it,\u201d said Frank Luntz, a Republican political consultant who has been convening focus groups of undecided voters for seven presidential cycles. \u201cEven the most balanced, mainstream people are talking about this election in language that is more caffeinated and cataclysmic than anything I\u2019ve ever heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are a believer in climate change, reelecting Trump is literally the end of the world. If taxes are your issue, you think a Biden victory will bankrupt you. If your top concern is health care, you think a Biden loss will kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a long history of lurid foreboding in American politics. Among the nation\u2019s founders were pamphleteers who made their names decrying the dire future the colonists faced if their revolution failed. But the current language is so apocalyptic that even those who are steeped in the country\u2019s episodes of extreme rhetoric are alarmed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t take it seriously for a long time, but in the last six weeks, it\u2019s become very concerning,\u201d said Michael Barkun, a political scientist at Syracuse University who studies political extremism. \u201cThis idea that the other side winning the election will produce a precipitous decline and the disintegration of institutions is completely at variance with American history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Historians say that in past bouts of insecurity and self-doubt, Americans often focused on foreign threats \u2014 the ideological battle with the Soviet Union during the Cold War, the worry about unrest in the Middle East after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.<\/p>\n

But now, the worry on the right that a Democratic win would plunge the nation into catastrophic socialism and the fear on the left that a Trump victory would produce a turn toward totalitarianism have created \u201ca perilous moment \u2014 the idea that if the other side wins, we\u2019re in for it,\u201d said Peter Stearns, a historian of emotions at George Mason University.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe two sides have come to view each other not as opponents, but as deeply evil,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s happening when trust in institutions has collapsed and each group is choosing not to live near each other. It seems there\u2019s no middle ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rejection of the other side is so thoroughgoing that 31 percent of Biden supporters in Virginia say they would not accept a Trump victory as legitimate and 26 percent of Trump supporters are similarly unwilling to accept a Biden victory, according to a new Washington Post-Schar School poll<\/a>.<\/p>\n

From rumors of civil war to threats of voter intimidation, Americans\u2019 concerns about the election and its aftermath have arisen as once-fringe ideas have leached into the mainstream. One-third of Republican voters said in a Daily Kos\/Civiqs poll this fall<\/a> that they think there\u2019s truth to the QAnon fantasy of a deep state elite that secretly controls the government. The FBI concluded in May<\/a> that QAnon and similar \u201cpolitical conspiracy theories very likely will [foster] increasing political tensions and .\u2009.\u2009. criminal or violent acts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Americans are especially susceptible to a dark, pessimistic view of the country right now because several powerful forces are undermining institutions that people have trusted for centuries, according to scholars who have studied the shift in popular attitudes:<\/p>\n

A populist president with a showman\u2019s predilection for apocalyptic language. A flowering of unfounded beliefs, such as QAnon, \u201cfake news\u201d and fear of rampaging immigrants. A revolution in technology and media that has significantly altered how Americans consume news and learn about politics.<\/p>\n

Add a frightening pandemic, a burst of protest and anger about racial inequalities, and a sudden economic collapse, and the result is pervasive mistrust, a sense that the world\u2019s most powerful nation can no longer come together in common cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re facing a difficult time,\u201d Barkun said. \u201cThe threat \u2014 the virus \u2014 is invisible, and that makes it more frightening. There\u2019s an increasingly widespread belief that authority \u2014 scientific, political, informational \u2014 is suspect. It can be more comforting to believe in an unpleasant outcome than to embrace uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

In sharp contrast with other presidents, Trump has positioned himself not as a unifying ambassador of hope, but as a fellow victim. He tweets conspiracy theories, laments \u201choaxes\u201d aimed at him, devotes his inaugural address to a dystopian vision of \u201cAmerican carnage,\u201d and campaigns for reelection as a breakwater against anarchy in the streets and a nefarious plot against the suburbs.<\/p>\n

For many years, a rule of thumb in American politics was that the candidate with the sunnier outlook was likely to win. The other presidents elected in the past three decades appealed to American optimism and aspirations. Bill Clinton ran as \u201cthe man from Hope.\u201d George W. Bush presented himself as a \u201ccompassionate conservative.\u201d Barack Obama centered his campaign on \u201chope and change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biden this month warned that \u201cthe country is in a dangerous place<\/a>. Our trust in each other is ebbing. Hope seems elusive. Too many Americans see our public life .\u2009.\u2009. as an occasion for total, unrelenting partisan warfare.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Trump repeatedly suggested that he might refuse to accept the results of the election, Biden last month expressed concern about \u201cwhether [Trump] generates some kind of response in a way that unsettles the society or causes some kind of violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump is arguing that the country will collapse into \u201cmob rule\u201d if Biden wins. \u201cNo one will be safe,\u201d the president said.<\/p>\n

Chosen by God<\/strong><\/p>\n

Frank Amedia\u2019s America is on the edge of the abyss, a place where people of faith expect Armageddon and people on the other side conspire to scrap freedoms.<\/p>\n

TV evangelist Pat Robertson announced on his show last week that \u201cthere\u2019s going to be a war\u201d after the election. He prophesied that the nation will experience \u201ccivil unrest of great proportions .\u2009.\u2009. then a time of peace, then maybe the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not to be outdone, Amedia, pastor of Touch Heaven Ministries in Canfield, Ohio, and a former adviser to the Trump campaign on Christian policy, delivered his own vision<\/a> of what the country will face if Biden wins: \u201cProgressive Marxist socialism,\u201d \u201clawlessness,\u201d even an embrace of \u201canimalism\u201d \u2014 \u201csomebody can marry a cow and have perverse sex with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

On camera, Amedia, who hosts \u201cPotus Shield<\/a>,\u201d a YouTube series devoted to praise of the president, predicts an apocalyptic future if Trump loses, a time of secular riots and biblical upheaval. But off camera, the preacher seems more anguished than angry, more searching than seething.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth sides agree that the soul of the nation is at stake,\u201d he said in an interview. \u201cI know that other nations faltered by becoming divisive, amoral, totally based on personal ambitions and agendas. We seem to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amedia believes Trump was chosen by God<\/a> to lead the United States, but he has no illusion that the president is an admirable character. He laments the \u201csad political discourse in the country that has developed into a win-at-almost-any-cost mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow did we end up with Joe Biden and Donald Trump?\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re supposed to have certain ideals and I don\u2019t think either of them musters up to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pastor, 68, wants to believe that the nation\u2019s energetic and idealistic young people will pull the country back from a disturbing rejection of truth, science and faith.<\/p>\n

Skepticism of science and antagonism toward intellectuals have surged at stressful junctures in American history, in battles over the teaching of evolution, fluoridation of the water supply and acceptance of same-sex relationships.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat skepticism can be healthy and democratic,\u201d said Stearns, the George Mason University historian. \u201cBut what we\u2019re seeing now, with a serious erosion of respect for authority, is new and different. It reflects a division that I think can bring us close to violent civil war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amedia shares the fear that the country is tumbling toward violent conflict and wider spread of dangerous conspiracy notions. The only way to avert such a fall, he said, is through wiser and more widely accepted leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are some people joining into causes and movements? Why are they finding some credence in things like QAnon?\u201d Amedia asked. \u201cThey\u2019re trying to fill a void. In this season of anxiety, people want something that\u2019s beyond this feeling of loss of control. Our house is out of control \u2014 our presidency, our Congress, the virus. People want leadership that\u2019s fair and open. Why must we choose between right and left? Why can\u2019t we be for both Black justice and right-to-life? Why can\u2019t we accept the science and the faith?\u201d<\/p>\n

The pastor plans to continue his \u201cPotus Shield\u201d prayers for the president whether Trump or Biden wins.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re supposed to do as Americans,\u201d he said. \u201cIn my church, we accept the results whatever they are, and we\u2019re going to be the voice that brings the unity. Sometimes, when things have gotten a little too easy, people need to get put into a little bit of a pressure cooker to discover what their real values are. Maybe that\u2019s where we are. How can we heal the wound with respect for each other?\u201d<\/p>\n

'Good luck to us'<\/strong><\/p>\n

Four years ago, R.J. Cutler, a documentary filmmaker who focused on American political culture in \u201cThe War Room\u201d and \u201cA Perfect Candidate,\u201d said that the country was heading into a time \u201cwhen any bad thing seems possible<\/a>, when we no longer know the ground rules about the weather, about democracy, about very basic things.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reality of Trump\u2019s presidency has been worse than he anticipated, Cutler says now, and he is certain that a second term would be a disaster.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m one of those people that believes it\u2019s the end of democracy and we\u2019re in for a totalitarian state,\u201d he said. Trump \u201cwants his cultural enemies silenced. He wants to control communication. The culture will fight back, but this guy\u2019s going to put people in prison. To quote my mother, \u2018Good luck to us.\u2019\u2009\u201d<\/p>\n

Cutler\u2019s view represents not only the perspective of an artist who lives in liberal Los Angeles, but a broader swath of left-of-center Americans who believe Trump\u2019s reelection would threaten the stability of the government, the future of the electoral system and even the fate of the Earth.<\/p>\n

Many on the left experience what social scientists call \u201cextinction anxiety,\u201d the belief that, as Barkun put it, \u201csociety as we know it is going to be destroyed and Trump will accelerate that, because the system has run out of resilience. It\u2019s particularly surprising to hear from the left that the system has lost the capacity to absorb Trump\u2019s actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether that anxiety stems from fears about climate change, racial discord or the way social media platforms funnel users to a diet of ever more extreme political views, the effect is a despair that has only been exacerbated by the isolation and uncertainty resulting from the coronavirus<\/a> pandemic.<\/p>\n

Cutler, who has devoted recent years to making movies about the lives of \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d pioneer John Belushi and pop singer Billie Eilish, remains hopeful that if Biden wins, \u201cyou\u2019re going to see a cultural rebound,\u201d a time of creativity and of searching for solutions to long-festering problems.<\/p>\n

But even if his side wins, Cutler said it\u2019s hard to imagine that the country would simply turn a corner and start fresh. \u201cWe\u2019ve become a stratified culture. There\u2019s no longer one truth. I mean, there are people who think California\u2019s on fire because we haven\u2019t swept the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

A post-Trump period could be a \u201ca political and cultural free-for-all,\u201d Cutler said, in which some Americans, finally freed from coronavirus restrictions, might fall into \u201ca time of hedonism,\u201d while others remain fixated on social divisions that will not disappear quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because Trump goes away \u2014 if he really goes away \u2014 the forces he unleashed and the forces that arose in response don\u2019t go away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Death and rebirth<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Thomas Singer, a psychiatrist in San Francisco, was casting around for a cover picture for his book<\/a> about what has happened to the soul of the nation, his view of the country had grown dire.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings were falling apart,\u201d he said. \u201cOur inner experience, as individuals or groups, on the left or the right, is that there\u2019s something very damaged about everything that makes us American. We\u2019re shattered.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stumbled on the famous image<\/a> at the end of the original 1968 version of \u201cPlanet of the Apes,\u201d the harrowing discovery of the ruined Statue of Liberty sunken into a beach \u2014 a haunting symbol of a country that lost its ideals and collapsed.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes art anticipates reality,\u201d Singer said. \u201cThis was an apocalyptic sense that democracy as we know it will crumble.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in the time between choosing that image and publishing his book, Singer came to a different conclusion about the United States in the time of Trump.<\/p>\n

The psychiatrist, 78, recalls the anguish that the divided country went through in 1968, \u201cthis sense that everything was coming apart.\u201d Yet as a young man, he said, he and his peers never thought their future was doomed.<\/p>\n

Now, however, he hears young people lament that they have no path forward, that the Earth is in fatal decline, that new technology threatens the future of work.<\/p>\n

Although many of the forces contributing to that despair were at work before Trump came along, Singer views the president as an engine of mistrust.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has contributed enormously to this sense that we can\u2019t agree on what\u2019s real anymore,\u201d he said. \u201cHe thrives on chaos. He is profoundly rebellious \u2014 and that goes to the absolute core of American identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

That view of Trump as a quintessentially American renegade \u2014 one in a series of rebels without a cause \u2014 has nudged Singer toward the view that the president is not simply a destructive force or, as Trump views himself, a disrupter.<\/p>\n

Rather, the psychiatrist says Trump, perhaps unwittingly, is giving the country another chance to do what it has always done best \u2014 to battle and shout and rage in what the poet Walt Whitman called America\u2019s essential characteristic, a \u201cbarbaric yawp\u201d of conflict that breeds innovation and renewal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe soul of the nation gets forged in that collision of ideas, about race, about money and capitalism, about the individual versus the collective,\u201d Singer said.<\/p>\n

Populist surges like the one that helped Trump win in 2016 \u2014 fueled by the exasperation of Americans who thought that neither party addressed lost jobs, diminished communities, and empty malls and downtowns \u2014 have burned out within a few years, fading away as economic expansion, war or political reform eased insecurities.<\/p>\n

Singer fears that a second Trump term would further undermine trust and social cohesion. But now he wonders whether the president may have forced the country to confront and maybe resolve some of its deepest problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cA leader, like a parent, sets a model for behavior,\u201d Singer said. \u201cBiden is a return to deeply cherished American values of decency and goodwill. Trump has flushed out all of our raw divisions. I\u2019m hopeful that people will find their unruly and chaotic American soul and cry out. The result may be profoundly renewing about race, climate, maybe health care.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, Trump may serve a valuable purpose,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the human experience, death and rebirth go together.\u201d<\/p>\n

fisherm@washpost.com<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/end-of-democracy-election\/2020\/10\/25\/3b8c0940-13d0-11eb-ba42-ec6a580836ed_story.html<\/a><\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This article originally appeared on October 25, 2020 on THE WASHINGTON POST: <\/em>The end of democracy? To many Americans, the future looks dark if the other side wins.<\/a><\/p>\n

Possibilities for Consideration: No Winners<\/h2>\n

A breakdown of civil social structure seems inevitable at this point. Who will win? Does it matter? If the American people do not learn to embrace differences, be accountable to each other and to unite around a common goal then it doesn't matter who wins the election, we all lose, because the battle never ends.<\/p>\n

Add Your Insight<\/h2>\n

Take a moment and examine\u2026<\/p>\n