(Note: the basic content for this essay was formulated prior to South Korean president Yoon abruptly declaring martial law, and who, with the assistance of military leaders, declared all political activity illegal. This attempt at constructing a dictatorship was thankfully brief, but bears consideration here in these United States. Not for nothing, Yoon is referred to as ‘the Korean Trump’ by Koreans.)
Let’s say we’re all residents of a condominium community.
Let’s say the name of our condominium community is the United States of America.
Here’s the thing. Of the many residents of our community, there are some who are arsonists. And not just ‘I like the idea of arson in principle’ arsonists, but individuals who have regularly set fires throughout the condo complex. They enjoy setting fires, especially because setting fires upsets the other residents. They really like that. In the arsonists section of the condo community discussion page on the community website, they talk endlessly about ‘triggering’ the ‘anti-conflagration’ residents. They find it a real hoot.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the residents who don’t want their homes to be consumed in fire, with any number of injuries and fatalities resulting, don’t see the humor in all this. (The arsonists are quick to say ‘We were just joking, lighten up’, even after setting another fire.)
Every few years, the residents of the condominium association select who sits on the board. In the recent past, the arsonists have managed to secure a few seats on the board, and even get an arsonist elected board chair. This seems odd to the non-arsonists, since the not-arsonist residents make a up a majority of the community overall.
How does this happen?
There are conflicting views among competing factions of non-arsonists about how to properly address the arsonists in their midst. One faction, the ‘Let Every Fire-setter Talk’ (they call themselves ‘LEFTists’) claim the arsonists are a misunderstood bunch, who are rightly frustrated that for years the condo board has ignored the arsonists legitimate concerns at being forced to pay condo fees for services that benefit other residents. The LEFTists will on occasion admit that every resident benefits from the services paid for by the association fees, and even recognize the arsonists generally benefit more than most, rendering the arsonists’ purported concerns farcical, utterly detached from reality, and to most observers an obvious deflection to camouflage the wish simply to set more fires, in the hope of burning some non-arsonists to death. Nevertheless, the LEFTists insist the arsonists have legitimate grievances, and the non-arsonists have only themselves to blame if something catches on fire because these legitimate arsonist grievances have been ignored, and the arsonists have been looked down upon, and by the way, the non-arsonists ‘messaging style’ is terrible. And in any event, the main problem the non-arsonists have is simply not giving the LEFTists everything they want, which is why the LEFTists refuse to support the non-arsonists efforts to do anything to improve the conditions in the community, or reduce the number of fires set by arsonists.
Another faction of non-arsonists, the Stop Arson Now Everywhere working group (they call themselves the ‘SANE’ residents organization), say the LEFTists, quote, ‘are out of their damn minds’ if they think the arsonists won’t burn the LEFTist’s homes too.
This dispute has continued for decades, with no resolution in sight.
In the meantime, the arsonists are poised to remove all fire extinguishers, and make pulling the fire alarm grounds for eviction. They’ve already removed the fire extinguishers from floors where arsonists inhabit most of the units. They sincerely wish to set fires, and cremate anyone whom they dislike. They have said so.
This is a parable about the wisdom of allowing fascists to remain in a pluralistic democracy they wish to destroy, allowing fascists to participate in government institutions they intend to use to deprive all others of basic rights.
The fascists in these United States are every single GOP voter, aka the fascist crowd, who are the real concern, much more so than any figurehead they elevate to high office. The figureheads emerge from, and serve the wishes of the fascist crowd. None are duped, none embrace fascism for ‘other reasons’.
What is to be done about the arsonists in our midst?