Ha! Now here’s a lefty Substack article I kind of enjoyed. It’s called, “Let’s Be Real,” by Erik Dolson. I’m going to just overlook the accusations of an alleged “catastrophic slide into an authoritarian oligarchy.” I tend to just roll my eyes at such things because just a short time ago I was terrified about sneaking outside to hike on a trail alone without a mask on and nearly relapsed into post traumatic stress when one of the public health dept’s volunteer goons jumped out of the bushes to photograph me in the act so I could be put on their naughty list. Sheesh, where was the concern about authoritarians when I was facing a very real threat of arrest for trying to enter a grocery store without a vaccine passport? I lost my job. I lost my peace of mind. I lost my trust in basic civility and human rights.

I have “long Covid,” it just wasn’t caused by the vaccine or the virus, it is the result of trauma caused by authoritarians and abuse, deep personal betrayals, and a keen awareness that it takes about two seconds for people to completely abandon their humanity and common sense. So pardon my eye roll when said people attempt to fear monger me about the nature of “authoritarian oligarchies.” I don’t believe you’d recognize one if it came up and kicked you in the behind.

However, the basic premise of the article is a good one! In my area you can smell the liberal elitism from ten feet away. Actually it’s a stench so powerful, you can probably smell it from a 100 ft away. I live in the ninth circuit of hell, a place totally dominated by the aroma of liberal, elitist Democrats. I am of course, from the wrong side of the tracks, making me “not an elitist.” I’m not a member of the cool kid’s club. It’s a club I can never enter. That’s why we sometimes call it The Plantation. Never mind the Democrats ability to “capture hearts and minds,” for me it’s more like, so how do I cope with the daily struggle to reduce my own bitterness?

Ironically this very blog right here constantly talks about “abundance,” just not the kind Ezra Klein is selling in his book. That kind of “abundance” is what gets you 40 years of expensive affordable housing policies that have never actually housed anyone but they sure have made some people feel so, so good about how much they “care.” And of course, it’s all done with the precious pretentiousness of the Atlantic. I call it the, “housing industrial complex.” The ugly truth is that there is big money in fixing assorted social ills and if one were to actually fix them, the money would dry up.

That “Grifter in Chief,” the one y’all fear is going to deliver us an authoritarian oligarchy, is the first politician in a long time who realized I exist. For the first time in ages, I was seen. I still feel seen today, seen and heard and listened to. It’s a glorious thing to feel as if someone in government not only sees you, they wish to actually be a representative.

I actually felt a kind of melancholy and sadness reading that Substack blog, a longing for the good old days of actual liberals, a longing even for the hippies of the days of old, the ones who had once read both Ayn Rand and Nietzsche. Our politics may have diverged in the olden days, but at least there was some substance to our conversations, some shared humanity, some kind of mutual understanding. I could actually relate and connect. So no hostility intended at all, I thought it was a brilliant blog post and well written. Those are the words of someone who actually cares enough about others, to see them.

Darkly humorous, but speaking of authoritarians, local social media is currently discussing whether or not Erik Dolson’s blog post should be removed from the discussion. A few comments have flat out stated this article doesn’t have the right to exist. I felt that one right down to my very bones. Really captures the sentiments around here. In liberal dystopia, one must toe the party line perfectly or one loses their right to even exist.

I would know. I’ve spent a lifetime not existing.