Take a Walk on the Wild Side

“For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institutions and merely lukewarm defenders in those who would gain by the new ones.”

The last two decades have scarcely been generous to anybody voting Republican, or more broadly anybody with the faintest of right-leaning inclinations; deviationism is an exilable offense. Even disregarding the controversies of the contemporary GOP, it’s been the case for a while now that any American—particularly any metropolitan American—who dares to assume the side of Big Red will undoubtedly take heat from most of their middle-to-upper-class peers. 

And so since in just under two months it will come time again to elect the leader of the Free World, it is important to take note of what has happened as of late. From the disastrous insolvency of the Biden campaign to the bipartisan commiseration that followed Donald Trump’s attempted assassination to RFK Jr.’s endorsement, one thing is clear: the tides are shifting. 

For better or for worse, lifelong liberals came out against a cardinal tenet of the DNC platform in DEI, pushing stances that would’ve seemed unfathomable to express publicly just some time ago. Heavyweights in Silicon Valley, which has long been one of the bluest regions in America and on occasion actually colluded with and done the bidding of the Democratic party, broke taboo and pledged their total support for Trump. A window—very likely fleeting—has slid open, granting an opportunity to lift America out of a period of social and cultural hegemony, of regressive ‘progressivism’ organized by a political party which has been hijacked by a mortal dependence on pandering to radical ideologues. So whether it be for the welfare of the nation or to preserve what’s left of its culture, it is critical to stick our fingers through the wedge, imperative that we at least try to pry it open.

Put aside for one moment your conception of Donald Trump. Now, ask yourself how long it’s been since you actually heard one of his policy proposals. He’s against women’s ‘right to choose’, correct? Well. He is hardline anti-immigration and xenophobic, though? Eh. Homophobic? Sorry. Project 2025. Not Trump. He refused to condemn white supremacists! Nope. You get the point: since when was Donald Trump, the perennial antagonist, the Big Bad Wolf… not really that bad at all—and perhaps even a moderate? How did we get this so wrong? And why are we still being peddled this narrative?

Now consider Kamala Harris. She recently announced her economic policy plan consisting of grocery price controls and a 28% unrealized capital gains tax, proposals which, to any intellectually honest economist—one who values innovation and prosperity, anyway, should sound every alarm in the book. Though efforts are being made to cover it up, her record as the border czar remains nothing short of tragic. And while she’s framed as having a rich vision for foreign policy, her involvement with the Afghanistan withdrawal does not exactly paint her as a master of international statecraft. Not to mention that her complicity in concealing Biden’s degenerating condition from the electorate serves as a damning indictment of her interests as a public servant. It’s no surprise that some of the party’s foremost reportedly don’t have much faith in her.

If for some reason you’re expecting things to change, don’t; the DNC has established its playbook, and it has no intentions to go off script. As planned, Kamala will continue playing identity politics and tell stories about her proletarian childhood with her mother—a cancer researcher at Berkeley—and her father—a tenured Stanford economist. She’ll continue to rehearse and perform speeches prepared meticulously for her by her speechwriters, with little substance and even less conviction. And she will most definitely continue in what has become the Democratic tradition of partaking in a calculated series of snide remarks, condescending scoffs, and sanctimonious equivocations in confrontations with opponents. It’s doubtful that her successor will be any different.

As with any election season, as November rolls around it is crucial to sober up and meditate on your values as a citizen. Unfortunately for democracy, many will not engage. But for those who will, consider thoughtfully your two options. Option one is to elect a seasoned leader who, though he is hardly without fault, has a solid policy platform and a vitality which inspires a nostalgia for an era—a truly American era—in which the United States was a spiritual celebration of growth and strength. Option two is to cast your vote for a candidate who actively eludes unscripted public appearances and interviews, completely abandons core values she previously championed, and folds under the pressure of everyday grip-and-grin, getting nervous for a dinner party and having her staff run a mock rehearsal in which they roleplayed conversations with real-life characters. 

Salvific fantasies and populist revolutions aside, this election will be about dismantling consent. It will be about exercising your power as a citizen of a democracy in the face of a very real manipulation, a very real perversion of information and narrative. Yes, he is sometimes ugly, often coarse. But how many more times will Trump have to repudiate Project 2025 and exculpate himself of Charlottesville until they stop lying to us about him? When will debate moderators step in to correct these falsehoods as they do his? For some, these questions are best addressed, almost understandably, with nutty convolutions involving malignant backroom ploys and orchestrations. What’s more likely, though, is that at some point along the way we bestowed upon a political party an innate sense of righteousness and benevolence, along with the unbridled liberty to fly freely with it. Unsurprisingly, fly freely it did, up and away and as high as it possibly could. 

There will arrive no time better than now to reach overhead and pull it back down to Earth.