The other day I logged into FB to
see a “livestream” of Van Jones invoking Brexit and imploring all progressives,
liberals and, well, maybe Democrats too, to wake up and take Donald Trump’s viability
seriously. Van’s clearly frustrated,
exasperated, reduced to repeating himself, like those who believe they may have
lost an argument that is not yet actually over.* It
is, in fact, already cliché to say that Brexit is a wake up call for Americans.
And in a manner, it is. Van’s warning,
at its hot, angst-y core boils down to this, “The train (Eurorail?) in Britain
went off the tracks. And here, my
friends, it can happen, too.” **
Narrowly, the coincidence of Brexit
and its tumultuous, chaotic ramifications with our most unusual electoral matchup
prompts many to say, hey, America could very well choose the “chaos” candidate
as well, so we’d better get serious. But
more broadly, it causes me to consider the extent to which most of America has “slept
on,” neglected to more accurately see, the full nature of our current and past political (and
social) order. More later.
_____
* Since the days of his anti-prop 209 activism
when I was at Cal I always thought of the oft-turtlenecked Van as smart and
cool. Even when he’s heated. I gotta say, though, he seems on the verge of
busting a blood vessel. Maybe it was the
ridiculous floating likes and heart icons, as well as the like-o-meter.
1. ** This isn't the sum of his argument, as you'll see. May revisit his argument that neglect by Dem. Party of white working class at least in part underpins Trump (and Bernie, obvi) support.
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