The great American disaster

A nation on the brink of fascism embracing a cult of personality.

When I first heard George W. Bush saying “evolution and creationism” were just two theories a few years back, I should have guessed by then things would not go well if a country placed science and religious fantasies on the table as equally valid propositions.

I thought it was some American eccentricity, with a president with the IQ and culture level of a bad twelve-year-old student, not wanting to listen to adults in the room. Although the president of the United States must have advisors, they failed to coach him on that occasion; it sounded funny.

Fast forward a few years, Americans decided to elect an orange ape-like creature, and populism went into overdrive. Soon enough, there were “good people on both sides” when comparing right-wing extremists to people opposing those views. Are you kidding me? This is not distinguishing right from wrong, moral from immoral behavior. Even the twelve-year-old must have a grasp on what is the difference between right and wrong.

The Covid Pandemic hit while the country looked like it was going into cuckoo’s land, unable even to have a conversation on any given subject. People could not agree on what reality and facts were anymore.

We got a parade of clowns preaching snake-oil treatments, the denial of the obvious consequences that followed some stupid actions (like people self-medicating and dying in the process). If it were not a real tragedy, it would likely be funny.

A poorly planned attempted cue is being discussed for a year now. I fear the second try maybe a charm. A third of the country seems to not even care about democracy, precisely the same part of the country that touts the defense of democratic values as the reason for promoting the whole mess.

Fascism thrives under these conditions. I live in a country ruled by a fascist dictator for 40 years until 1974 (Portugal). It all starts with people accepting a cult of personality, dividing themselves into two groups, and not listening to each other. You are creating a perfect storm — the land of the free, the last remaining super-power, maybe on the verge of destroying itself.

I hope you get your act together as a nation and wish you all the best. But, unfortunately, it does not look good, seen from an ocean away.