“What is it with you, huh? What are you looking for? C’mon, Max, everybody’s looking for something. You’re happy out there, are you? Eh? Wandering? One day blurring into another? You’re a scavenger, Max. You’re a maggot. Did you know that? You’re living off the corpse of the old world.”
Pappagalo, The Road Warrior – 1981
I find life’s transitions very fascinating. Personal transformations sometimes build for long periods of time with actions, intentions and expressions until they explode into the world in a moment of becoming. Becoming happens in that instant regardless of the build-up of intention or expression. No matter how long you talk about something it does not occur until the instant of becoming. Until the instant of action. What separates a shooter from someone on the brink, is the action of pulling the trigger. That person does not become that evil until the instant the trigger sets off the vilest of cause. Pleading and cajoling have the potential to stave off becoming the violent actor. It may be stopped until the instant of becoming.
Life is a series of these becomings. Constantly occurring moments of becoming. We see these transformations in our lives all the time. We see heroes emerge in the instant of the home run, the touchdown pass or last second buzzer-beating 3-pointer. We see villains, criminals and cowards emerge in the same instant of ill-advised aberrant action. These becomings are events that express themselves in ways that cannot be reversed.
People that supported the current occupant of the White House went through their own Transformation to “becoming”. What would make someone who prided themselves on being a button down conservative support someone that denigrated war heroes? What could that person see that brought on that instant of action that transformed them from someone that enjoyed the evening CNBC Business Update and supply side to someone that chose the side of people that are fine with slandering and maliciously bashing POWs? What kind of mind numbing propaganda transforms a middle aged man or woman into someone that supports a man that bragged of grabbing women by their genitals? It pains me to have written that sentence, let alone ponder the thought process that enabled someone to support this. What makes a coward secure their eyes with blinders and actively support the dumpster fire that is this administration? These supporters certainly included people that were not vile, or bigoted or hateful or oppressive to women, minorities, the poor, refugees, or foreigners. Until they were. Pulling that lever for Trump was a becoming. I felt as if we watched these cowardly intentions build as the Orange man hit a resonant frequency of hate, misinformation and dimwittedness. His signal was broadcast loud and clear. In attempts to save people I knew from their own disastrous “becoming”, I begged, pleaded and cajoled people not to become this dread, which would surely have them cast forever on the wrong side of history. The hate was too strong, the destiny calling out too loudly, the tuning to resonant rebuke of decency to the primal strumming of the hate vibe was too clear-channel. While they find themselves aligned with the KKK and with Nazis and more modernly outfitted and marketed bigots, hate mongers and women haters, they certainly weren’t all deplorable. Until they were.
Deep down, the constant belching of the Orange smoke of hate on their screens every night had them tapping to the pipers tune. Slowly, slowly their inner grievances built up. We’ll show them. They think they are better than us. Our God is superior. This has become a country of freeloaders. This is our country. They don’t love America. The subtle stroking of the grievance of power and privilege slipping away ringing in their heads. We’re strong. Don’t believe the experts. Men rule. The propaganda churning up what they hate about respect, decency, courtesy, dignity, intelligence, learning. The thoughts continued playing in their heads until the point of violent outburst on Election Day. They couldn’t help it. Their action that day was more of an eruption than a measured decision. It is always easier to yell at the quarterback from a bar stool, than to the throw the pass yourself. Always easier to pull up lame, than to cross the finish line. Always easier to quit and make excuses, than to compete and win. Suddenly we see republicans that are devout capitalists, decrying competition for few dollar an hour jobs. We see the churn express itself in their actions to whine about raises, while not taking action to improve their station. We see the ugly resentments being expressed at people and groups that are willing to develop themselves. We see the anti-intellectual expression pouring out as they fear someone will advance past them.
These people have the same fears and anxieties we all do, but instead of working to improve their lives, situations, and communities, they chose to defile it. Their expression showing itself in Trump’s dimwitted, unmoored pettiness, ugliness and outright corruption. A stain that is a real world embodiment of “Deplorable”. The inner world fully expressing itself into creation. A faux macho fear expressing itself in a blustery anger, and spewed hatred with the broad beaming of spurious radiation in all directions. The people that supported this now undeniable defilement of America, may not have started out with awful intentions. Maybe they were the Grandmother whose religious dogma led her to believe zygotes have rights. Maybe they were the Doctor that was making less money due to new insurance oversight by the ACA. Maybe they were someone that just always voted Republican, and wouldn’t be allowed back in the club if they strayed. Maybe they were a man, who feared he would be less of a man if he voted for a woman. Maybe they were a Fundamentalist that believed in Theocracies. Their intentions didn’t necessarily start out awful. Until they were. It sickens me that decent people could be duped this way. As if a real life Milgram experiment played out in the 2016 election. I am sure they don’t see themselves as enablers, but now we clearly see that they have ushered in dimwitted, corrupt, grifting traitors to manipulate America. They have lessened America in the world. They have shown what no integrity means in our daily lives. They have shown what incompetence brings. They have shown what bigotry and misogyny and xenophobia look like to our communities. They became the embodiment of the expression of ignorance and hate.
They weren’t really that way. They weren’t Deplorable.
Until they were! And it all happened in an instant!
— V. M. Smith