written 16 June, 2024
published 23 June 2024
A stopped (analog) clock is correct twice a day. Similarly, even Trump, a life-long liar and corrupt grifter, now a convicted felon, occasionally tells the truth. The system is rigged. But what Trump fails to mention, it's rigged for people like him: extremely wealthy, white men.
Systemic misogyny has oppressed women for thousands of years. Leonard Shlain, in "The Alphabet Versus The Goddess", starts with the question, "why did all the nature worship religions disappear at the same time?" This decline also marks the rise of the city states, the power of domination, the appearance of the personal ego, and patriarchy. He attributes it to the advent of alphabetic literacy, which is processed in the left side of the brain by discerning differences in sequence and shapes. The transformative power of this form of communication has created a profound imbalance in the mind, leading to the global delusion that the world is absolutely separate, when, in reality, it's fundamentally unified.
When the Christian Church arose a few thousand years later, becoming the state religion for the Roman Empire, oppression of women became an article of spiritual faith. Women were defined as the root of all evil, condemned for life, oppressed and even killed, to maintain the religious purity of the community. Unfortunately, this oppressive attitude toward women is not limited to the Christian religions.
Even in these supposedly "modern" times, only relatively recently were women allowed to vote, own property, and carry credit cards. Women are still routinely paid less than men for equal work, and those portions of the economy traditionally occupied by women are valued less.
In the last half century, the empowerment of women in America made great strides. Women know they can be strong and intelligent, as well as compassionate and caring, and are now in every part of our culture and economy. The "Me Too" movement has thrown a strong spotlight on omnipresent masculine sexual predators. But this progress is now facing organized pushback from retrograde Republican men, who literally want to return to the social mores of the 1800's.
Women know misogyny is alive and well. If, as a man, you doubt this is so, ask a woman who you trust will tell you the truth.
Systemic racism, oppression of one race by another, has also existed for thousands of years. Jared Diamond, in "Guns, Germs, and Steel", describes how the fortuitous distribution of the few domesticable plants and animals determined which civilizations thrived and developed, and could then invade and dominate others. Thus, white Europeans enslaved black Africans, not because of racial superiority, but because of technological advantages.
In America, the cheap labor of black slaves was part of the economy almost from the first settlements. Even after the Civil War ended national economic acceptance of slavery, lingering white entitlement institutionalized racist oppression. This continues today, impacting educational resources and employment opportunities, even though great improvements have occurred. Again, there is pushback from retrograde Republicans, professing that racism no longer exists in America. Ask any person of color is this is true.
Cutting across misogyny and racism is the distortion of the society based on wealth. Accumulation of sufficient wealth gives access to privilege (private law) despite gender or race. From America's formation, the wealthy have enjoyed rarified treatment. Only when this delusional system of exclusive gain crashes, such as in 1929, does the system modify somewhat to support the larger society, rather than just the privileged few. The housing meltdown in 2007, a result of banking industry greed, destroyed $13 trillion in domestic wealth, yet only one person went to jail, and most of the major banks responsible are still in business today.
While many individual Democrat legislators cater to the very wealthy, the party agenda is more socially inclusive. In contrast, the GOP party platform is totally committed to expanding wealthy privilege. The only accomplishments during Trump's presidency were stacking the courts with right wing ideologues, and passing a massive tax cut benefiting those with the highest income, increasing the national debt in the process.
I understand the outrage of regular people who feels left out by virtue of their gender, race, or economic status. It does call for action to change the system to allow more actual equity. What I don't understand is why many of those people think Trump, or the GOP, ever have their interests at heart.
