I go back and forth a lot between thinking people are losing faith in U.S. systems in record time, and thinking that I’m making up libidinal fantasies and overestimating the speed or extent of that loss of faith.
So what do you all think?
IDK I spent a weekend with old friends in a swing state and at least amongst people comfortable enough (only in that they are employed and aren’t facing eviction, still in low paid dead end service jobs). They are just really doubling down on this mindless “both parties suck” and “the government is bullshit”. I think enough of the American people can’t imagine anything being substantively different or diagnose what’s wrong other than that the system is failing, that as long as they have a job, food, and a place to live they will just try to keep their heads down and continue on. I think at this point the question isn’t the rate of loss of faith, but the ability to coalesce people around real demands or visions on how things could really be different (which is why BLM was able to take off) and having enough messaging/organization to prevent cooptation or energy just being dissipated.