Yesterday (3/7/24) somewhere around the time the (American) State of the Union Address was to be delivered by President Biden, I was hit with an enormously powerful wave of grief. As I sensed this was not my own grief, I posted a quandary on Facebook, “Anyone else just get hit with a wall of grief.” The overwhelming and universal response:  YES! I did what I normally do in the face of disembodied impersonal grief – I prayed.

This morning, the grief was replaced by what I can only call “The Rumbling” (reference Attack on Titan – IYKYK!).  I felt the rumbling like a disturbance – a collective energy of both anxiety, and anger. It felt/feels like the stirring of something very unpleasant, even catastrophic. If you are familiar with the manga or anime series Attack on Titan, you know of what I speak.

This rumbling seems to be made up of years/centuries of anger, frustration, resentment, of needs going unmet, feelings of being silenced and unseen. This does not feel like the same kind of frustration often experienced by women or people of color, instead, this feels like an underbelly kind of energy – human beings who have historically felt rejected, unseen, and unheard, but who have not had the support to find healthy ways of expressing these needs or of getting those needs met. These are the humans who have languished on the fringe of economic demographics, and who, it seems, have never been given the chance to get a leg up in this world. These are the humans that instead of finding a way through the perceived (or real) obstacles, are seeking someone to blame. They believe it is someone outside of them who is at fault for their plight, and they are seeking a way to get back at those they perceive as having it better than them.

These folks have been given a mouthpiece, and his name is Donald Trump. Throughout his presidency and in the years since, he has given voice to all the foul vitriol of the projections assumed by his followers. In their minds, it must be the fault of women, people of color, homosexuals, non-Christians, immigrants, etc. that they are not getting their needs met.  DT is providing an example that they can follow in speaking their vile hatred of anyone that might have it better than they.

At the same time, DT has demonstrated to the world that wealth makes one immune to the law and the consequences of despicable and illegal behavior. The very wealthy of the world, and the wealthy wannabes, see in DT permission to be as horrible as they can possibly be for the sake of their money, and that there is no consequence to their actions.

I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but Donald Trump has taken control of the Republican party, distorted their once noble beliefs, and turned it into a platform for hatred and greed. Another four years of Trump will be the end of the American empire as we have come to know it….but he isn’t the cause of the end.

Before we point all fingers of blame at Donald Trump, the democrats are not innocent. The current administration’s continued participation (by supplying money and arms) in the genocide in Gaza and in continuing to ally with Netanyahu’s Israel, they have proven that the war machine, and the money to be made through it, are more important than the loss of innocent lives. The youth of our nation are rightly disillusioned by the White House rhetoric as it relates to Gaza. These are the youth whose votes will be lost if Biden’s campaign doesn’t do something to right this wrong.

Where this leads us is to the fact that neither of the candidates for president are appealing – for a variety of reasons. What this further illuminates is the very real fact that the form of governance and the vehicles through which our governmental leadership is chosen is flawed – a flaw that was present from the very beginning.

The American government was NEVER formed to support the voice of the majority. Neither was it formed to provide a platform for the minority. Instead, the representative government was created solely to meet the needs of wealthy, white, landowners. Period. Those who benefit from our current form of governance will argue this point. But the face remains, the US government was never set up to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population of people made up of every race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and belief.

It might be time for a change.

Beyond the circus clowns, and those making a big noise, is the true source of The Rumbling. It’s not about DT or JB. It’s not about the people for whom they speak, or who they believe they represent. Instead, it is about a system that was flawed from the beginning.  The clown show that we are witnessing is not the cause, but is instead a symptom of a system that is collapsing under its own weight – a system that has proven itself unsustainable. As such, at the end of the day, I’m not sure if the winner of the 2024 presidential race matters. Whether it is Biden, Trump, or some other character, the empire is collapsing, and we are being given the opportunity to witness its collapse.

It is really surreal to be witness to the collapse of an empire.

(PS I wonder if the Roman’s knew what they were witnessing as it was happening or if it was only in hindsight that they understood?)