by Becca Shaw Glaser & Nathan Kroms Davis November 10, 2020, The Free Press
Becca: How I’m feeling this morning. Though I had been checking the news obsessively, fingers crossed, I did not smile when the votes for Biden overtook Trump’s in Georgia. Instead, I noticed my jaw grew more deliberate; I needed to remain steadfast. Steadfast to make sure the Supreme Court did not override the will of the majority, steadfast to work on the challenges we face, no matter who is president.
Never in a million years would I have wanted him to be president. This man who presided over rewriting bankruptcy laws to favor credit card companies over child support payments, this man who refused to give Anita Hill a fair hearing and who has never adequately apologized for this affront, not only to Hill, but to all women and anyone else who has been the victim of sexual harassment. Yet I have been poring over the news, celebrating every vote that gets us closer to tossing the Trump nightmare behind us.
Who holds the record for the most votes cast for a presidential candidate in the entire history of the United States? Biden. Biden now has 4,259,997 more votes than Trump (and counting) in this election. But Trump wants us to believe that over 4 million votes are fraudulent, and that the election is being stolen from him?
I am an anarchist at heart. I have no allegiance to, no faith in, state, country, political party, religion or capitalism. I vote, yes. But that is only a pittance of the work needed to make satisfying and safe lives for all. When needed, I will support reforms, but my heart will always be with radical, creative transformation. As other lefty activists have said, “I vote not to choose my ally, but to choose my opponent.” Just about all of us agree that, as far as moving the world forward, Biden is a more preferable opponent than Trump.
What do we do next?
1. Take a nap.
2. Take another nap.
3. If the right-wing-dominated Supreme Court meddles to hand the election to Trump, the Court will have lost all legitimacy. We will need to be in the streets day and night, shutting down business as usual.
4. Write postcards to Georgians to flip the Senate: https://www.mobilize.us/flipthewest/event/362341/
5. Once Biden is in the White House, we must keep protesting and organizing, because without being pushed, Biden and Congress will not even begin to substantively address our obscene wealth and race inequality, our climate emergency, our enormous militarized Empire.
6. Abolish the electoral college.
7. Fight for what you and your loved ones need. Food, shelter, clothes? Make a fuss. There is more than enough to go around.
8. In a Biden presidency, what becomes of the Trump voters? White people in the United States once again voted en masse for bigotry, ever-growing wealth inequality, and ending the Affordable Care Act. Yet many of these Trump voters don’t see it that way. They tell themselves they voted for him because “while he can be a little crude,” Trump is “good for the economy,” or “the pandemic is overblown,” or “Democrats hate him so much, it only makes us love him more.” We need to do the work to expand everyone’s circles of empathy with intersectional social justice education, information literacy, principles of solidarity, and of course, getting money out of media and politics.
Nate: How I’m feeling today (Friday): Even after three days, still elated that the minimum wage referendum passed in Rockland by an overwhelming margin! Optimistic that Biden will win the presidency. Gloomy that Americans are still so sharply divided. Sad that Maine’s COVID-19 numbers are trending rapidly upward. But mostly relieved that we will (probably) soon put the past four years of destruction behind us. Though I agree, Becca: Biden will need to be pushed.
Becca: I am relieved too, and overjoyed that the higher minimum wage was passed directly by Rockland voters — when people get direct power over what is important to them, it’s closer to anarchism in action. Unlike you, though, dear Nate, I don’t see the past few years of destruction going away anytime soon. What is on your “What to do next” list?
Nate: My municipal or personal list? On the municipal side, I want to condense and simplify Rockland’s code (especially our zoning code), and remove or update sections of it that are obsolete or antiquated. Did you know, for example, that we have a curfew ordinance for young people? That seems kind of gross to me. On the personal side, I want to read “One Hundred Years of Solitude.” I think I also want to learn Hebrew. Well, life is long! Or is that art? Maybe new opportunities will flourish once we are past this climax of a dreadful year.
Nate is a Rockland City Councilor.
Becca is just kind of a person.