Off We Go...
Project: Pioneer #59, November 1, 2024 Friday 9am
Project: Pioneer is the live weekly reality journal of a couple and their small dog as they leave their ‘normal’ life in a luxury apartment for a new semi-off grid life in a small recreational vehicle. We cover prepping, politics, spirituality, afterlife, RV life, and personal finance. Half of all subscription/donation money goes to The National Alliance to End Homelessness, the other half pays for expenses. You can listen to the audio podcast version of this journal at Substack, Apple, Spotify, PocketCasts and others.
Listen to the audio above for our new theme music, Stormy Blues by Arne Bang Huseby. Please share this post!
Well, here we are together, all of us, on the precipice of a major historical moment. There have been so many, good and bad, that we’ve learned about in school. We’ve watched so many movies and read so many books about good versus evil, and we’re at that moment when we’re about to learn which will triumph.
Here we are. For real. Right now. In real life.
Remember that Will Smith movie, Independence Day (1996) when everyone banded together at the end to defeat the alien invasion on the 4th of July? (Chris Farley voice…) Yeah, that was awesome. This feels like that. But, you have to wonder, who watches those movies their whole lives, or learns the history of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, and other real, actual evil bad guys, and decides to go with Team Evil? Sure, there will always be some, for whatever reason. They just might be…evil. But 40% of the population of the greatest country ever? At a time when we’re at peak prosperity and breaking records economically?
Four hundred historians just stated that “…the nation stands at an unprecedented historical as well as political crossroads. On the outcome of this election, no less than the election of 1860, hangs the fate of both the spirt and the letter of the Constitution.”
Frank Zappa saw this coming way back in 1986, with that Moral Majority Jerry Falwell movement.
“The biggest threat to America today is not communism, it’s moving America toward a fascist theocracy, and everything that’s happened during the Regan administration is steering us right down that pipe.”—Frank Zappa
Thinking… Oh, wait a minute! I think I understand. Those 40% supporting Team Evil are in the upside-down. They’re seeing this as good versus evil, an alien invasion threatening humanity. I’ve been hearing about those evil caravans of raping murdering illegal aliens for years now, since 2015 in fact, almost ten years! They must be using canes and walkers to be taking that long, geez. I thought my 88-year old mother was slow, but this is, like, ridic. Where dey at?
It can’t be the other ones that are arriving, now down to a trickle, because they’re going right to work on the type of jobs Trump and his friends have always dangled, begging them to come—construction, hotel maids, field workers. It can’t be those folks, because they commit far, far fewer crimes than your average white citizen dudes. They ain’t evil at all. Maybe it’s some kind of Trojan horse thing? Sounds pretty conspiratorial to me. Maybe on the next full moon they’ll turn into evil zombies and do that long-promised raping and murdering?
It’s the same confusing conundrum with the economy. I went through that in the last post. Restaurants, airports, entertainment venues all mobbed, every economic indicator through the roof, the world’s best inflation and covid recovery. Yet, you hear people say they’re voting a certain way “due to the economy.” Toward the major contributor, ironically. The guy who screwed it all up and left that mess (and an additional $7 trillion in debt) in the first place.
At first it was obvious Trump didn’t know how tariffs worked. But after he bankrupted so many family farms last time using them (requiring an expensive taxpayer bailout), we can safely assume he’s flat-out lying to the cult. His tariffs make no sense, until you realize they give him a tool to extort every business in America for waivers (as he gave Apple last time). Major conservative publications like The Economist, Barron's, and Wall Street Journal are telling us he will destroy the economy and jack inflation way back up with these crazy policies. Trump himself and Musk are telling you to get ready for some "hard times" and saying they'll have to "crash the stock market." You have one candidate promising to do good things for his fellow billionaires, and the other with a whole website full of policies to help people just like you and us. Like I said, the upside-down.
As I always say folks, if you’re not a wealthy, straight, white, male, evangelical Christian, you ain’t in the club. You bein’ used. Played by the playa.
We become vulnerable to that type of predatory con man when we have such a huge populace that doesn’t understand the fundamentals of our government, immigration, asylum, elections, economics, taxes, inflation, and so on. They become “marks,” easy to convince that the good guys are the bad guys. Easy to convince to not believe their lying eyes and ears. That’s how cults and dictatorships work.
1. Target the uneducated and bigoted.
2. Create a scary boogieman (Look over there! Immigrants tryina take ya jab and rape ya ol’ lady!)
3. Fear creates hatred. Stoke that fire! Jews will not replace us!
4. Convince them you're the only one who can fix it.
5. Convince them you're the only source of info to trust.
6. Take full control. Shut down all other sources of information.
7. Take the guns so there's no dissent, then take the money.
Of course, that’s the strategy for the folks on the low end of the totem pole. This is why Trump said, “I love the uneducated!” There are also plenty of rich people on board, though. They know the deal, they’re not stupid (well, some are…). They’re in it for that spot on the oligarch roster. Putin achieved loyalty quickly by sending anyone with wealth and power who dared dissent off to a Siberian work camp, then seizing their assets and sharing them among the ones who had been loyal. That recipe quickly locked in his team, both out of loyalty and fear, a very strong and lasting combination. This is what Trump is trying to emulate.
Back to Hitler. Sure, pure evil dude. Where did he get all those sick ideas? Well, actually, right here in the good (?) old USA. He was inspired by our campaign of genocide against Native Americans, and used it to go after Jews. He was inspired by our great “control” of minorities through Jim Crow laws, police brutality, and racial segregation. Pretty sad, amirite? We’re better than that. Let’s prove it this Tuesday. Let’s not go back.
So, here we are, sigh. History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes. Last time things were this bad, civil war busted out and over 850,000 men, women, and children died on our soil, by our own hand. Four hundred thousand were imprisoned, our citizens, in our country. Countless were maimed for life. It seems the pump is being primed for a sequel—the language and tactics being used already are open and clear.
There are people with machetes already showing up at polling places to intimidate voters. Mass disenfranchisement is happening, aided by the very much corrupt Supreme Court. Ballots are already being burned in postal and drop boxes. They want an evangelical, fundamental, strict, severe White Christian homeland, and they want it bad. This might be their last, best chance, so they’re all in, no matter what it takes. With the Supreme Court compromised, they’ll likely never have this chance again.
Therefore and forthwith, as promised, Giavana, Pia, and I are gonzo. We leave our beloved USA on Monday, intending to return but carrying our papers and our essentials in case we don’t, at least right away. We aren’t those frogs boiling in the pot. Not that we think thermonuclear war will break out on Tuesday, we just don’t want to be around for even the minor violence that will likely occur. We’re overdue for a getaway, and thought the perspective of watching this world-critical election go down from another country would be pretty cool.
That said, don’t forget we’re double-agents here in hillbilly Trumpland. They could be on to us, and that could easily get ugly if my inner demons are summoned from their long slumber. We might be staking out our new home and exactly what asylum entails in another country. We’ll be finishing the details of that second citizenship we’ve been working on. There’s been a ton of stress, of course. It’s at the point that Giavana and I are watching serial-killer documentaries to relax. Now it’s time to take a well-deserved break.
My prediction? Hey, I’m an optimist. I think she’ll win. Big. We can’t be that evil (right?). That hopeful opinion and $7 will buy you a Starbucks, maybe. I might be dreaming, trying to stay sane (too late?). I think a volatile period of lawsuits, violence, and dirty tricks that make 2020 look like child’s play will follow. The “little secret” Trump and Speaker Johnson have been hinted at is to manipulate the elector system, as spelled out here. If that succeeds, essentially the USA and democracy here are done, sorry.
Hopefully, on January 20th, President Harris is sworn in, and we can get back to normal, maybe get a break until history and human nature get around to rhyming again. That said, we’re still left with that 40% in dire need of cult deprogramming, a corrupt Supreme Court, and other problems. I think she’ll straighten things out, along with our help. Here’s a great short video on how to prepare for post-election violence, from a prepper’s perspective. Because, there may well be violence no matter who wins. Prepare. These may be our last, true days of innocence. Almost 250 years, what a ride!
We started this pioneer journey over a year ago, and this was a major reason why. We saw it coming waaaay back then, and here we are, at the crux of world-changing history. Our first ever post in August 2023 listed, among other reasons for taking on this pioneer life:
“The climate, planet, and democracy seem to be crumbling around us. Half our freedom-loving democracy has joined a cult—fanatics for a guy who openly lusts after fascist, authoritarian leaders and yearns to be one.“—Me
Not that we can hide forever. If Trump wins, he’ll award Ukraine to Putin (as he promised), after which Putin will take Poland and begin his march across eastern Europe to rebuild the USSR, as he has openly dreamed. This, of course, would begin World War III, with so many unstable countries and leaders now armed to the teeth with nuclear weapons, just one of which is capable of ending life here on Earth.
That sucks.
But, we go knowing we’ve done all we can. We have phone banked, written letters/postcards, tried to deprogram cult members online and in person, started up our own local organization here in our critical state. We go with good conscience, and hope to God good triumphs over evil once more. This pitch to you is my last effort to help the cause.
Have you done all you can? You can make a difference in these last few days, even from home! Please help fight this horrible authoritarian fascist any way you can at moveon.org, swingleft.org, or indivisible.org. Talk to anyone in your life to make sure they’ve voted or have a plan to on Tuesday—early! Inform them about provisional ballots and their rights. Let’s not have to answer to our kids and grandkids when they ask how much of the horror of their lives could have been avoided if we’d done more in this very moment. Like, today.
“Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer. If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide.”—Abraham Lincoln, Lyceum Address
“The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature”—Abraham Lincoln, Inaugural Address
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."—Sinclair Lewis
"Women's productive purpose and industry form the backbone of Gilead, even as men determine how each woman can best serve Gilead's goals"—Margaret Atwood, Handmaid’s Tale
This pioneer journey continues…
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Intro music is Stormy Blues by Arne Bang Huseby.
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