😬 Pre-election notes

	😬 Pre-election notes

	2024-11-05 - TZ: America/New_York


	I want to put down and publish my current feels on the upcoming US
	Presidential Election, since they’ll likely change significantly
	over the coming days (and, hopefully not, weeks). None of this
	is insightful, or novel. But it’s mine.


	This election feels as consequential as the two that were
	significant for me in 2016: That year’s US presidential
	election, and the Brexit referendum in the UK.


	I did not want Trump to win in 2016, and I wanted Britain to
	remain in the EU. The irony of both of those choices is that
	they were the both inherently conservative, in the sense of
	maintaining the status quo, yet were campaigned against by
	the right-leaning Republican and Conservative parties in those
	two countries.


	Here I am yet again, with a strong preference for the progressive
	party with the conservative candidate. No wild economic ideas,
	no violent threats against vulnerable groups, no threats to tear
	up existing allegiances with longstanding allies. In general,
	the ability to express nuanced statements about complex issues.


	None of this is a discussion of VP Harris’ policy positions. I
	think there’s two reasons for my not being concerned about that:


	1. She’d likely remain consistent with the current
	administration in many ways, for better or worse.

	2. The other candidate’s policy positions can be tricky to
	reason about since they are presented so erratically, but when
	they come through they are isolationist, inflationary (tariffs),
	and socially conservative to the point they have that strong
	urine-soaked whiff of facism and racism.


	It’s troubling that the result of this election appears to be on
	a knife-edge. Other people clearly frame things very differently.




	Nav

	🏠 Journal home
	➡️ Next
	⬅️ Prev

	Tags

	Observation