W
ell, the people have decided, and there's a new old president on the way. I've been (somewhat regrettably) a bit hooked on Xitter lately, and while I didn't want to say it out loud, the way people were talking about the election, and Trump specifically, really seemed different from both 2016 and 2020. There was energy coming in from intellectual and meme-sources alike that was adding an extra dimension to MAGA world that I hadn't suspected was possible. Considering how unpopular the Biden administration was, and how it seemed to be actually socially acceptable to talk about liking Trump (and considering the polls' consistent underestimating of him), I was actually somewhat expecting a Trump victory going into things. The atmosphere just seemed like Trump+.
And he pulled it off, again. I'm not the world's biggest Trump fan -- he has plenty of egregious vices, vulgar behavior, semi-criminal acts, and terrible policcies. But he also charmed me a little bit on this particular cycle, and I've gotten real fed up with his opposition. But perhaps more to the point, I think there may be an opportunity coming down the barrel for a real cultural transformation in the U.S. I think unironic national pride may be back in, and progressive shaming may be out. Trump is putting RFK Jr. up against Big Pharma, Elon Musk against government bureaucracy, and apparently Joel Salatin up against Big Agriculture, and he looks like he may have a united congress with him to do it. He ran a campaign that resulted in the most racially diverse Republican votership in American history. I'm trying not to be too optimistic -- Trump is the master of flubbing big opportunities. But I think this might actually have been an incredibly consequential election, and if he gives his new "outsider" squad the power and freedom they need, I think a massive American realignment has become somewhat possible.
Probably the dream won't last. But I hope that someone manages to capitalize on the masculine energy that surging through the country right now, and directs it to good.