The weirdest thing about travel in the States now is knowing that at least three out of every ten Americans you see actively supports corruption, fascism and could very well be a gun-toting nut who’d just love to shoot a “leftie” (which means anyone who disagrees with them and/or is a different colour, gender or sexual orientation).
Being a “leftie” of sorts (though by no means holding every position of the left, because well, I think outrage culture is mostly bullshit and can’t get caught up in every indignation, and hyperbole is never helpful), this naturally worries me.
How many of these crazy fucks are there? How many would just go with the flow and expose a sudden and irrepressible cruelty, a well of repressed violence, the second things finally crossed that line it’s been teetering on, almost since Reagan?
It’s unnerving. People being nice to each other in public, to go home and demonstrate a terrifying radicalism, a casual and persistent bigotry, a desire for repression at any and all costs, no matter how corrupt the method of achievement?
Anyway, scary place. Recommended caution, and be ready to run; these fuckers could lose their shit at any moment.
Target: 1600 words
Written: 857 words, novel: Father Lightning