On Tuesday, the United States will elect a new President.
I do not consider myself a Democrat or any other kind of partisan.[1] I'm a deep-ecology proponent who looks at many of the things in the liberal order with a certain disgust. The future I look toward is not one of nation-state confrontation or of economic growth or of the thunder of industry, but of people working together on small scales. I don't think I'll have much ideological common ground with a hypothetical Harris administration.
One thing I am confident of, however, is that a second Trump administration would be drastically worse. Former President Trump does not possess the moral temper to be entrusted with power ever again. He clearly separates the world into "his people" and "enemies" - and the latter category includes vast segments of the population (black people, Latinos, immigrants, gays, women, trans people, Jews, Muslims - the list goes on.) It would be irresponsible to entrust a petty and vengeful man with the instruments of State authority to unleash against his perceived enemies.
I have significant differences with Vice President Harris on issues important to me. The Democratic Party remains a thoroughly corporate creature. I do not expect a Harris administration to advance the kind of policies I believe are necessary. I can say, though, that I'd rather spend the next four years thinking about how to bring about degrowth and environmental dignity than facing a second (and likely unrestrained, this time) onslaught from former President Trump on myself and people I love deeply. This is the common ground - "I don't want the former President to cause harm to me or people I care about or people I've never met" - that creates the shaky coalition around the Vice President.
There are a number of arguments that advocates of the former President deploy at this point. One is that Donald Trump speaks in hyperbole or exaggeration, or that his words are taken out of context. I don't believe this is true, and those who worked for him have presented almost uniformly negative assessments of his character."But they're all just opportunists or swamp creatures", the Trumpists counter - but what does that say about the judgment of the man who hired them? If a company has one star on Glassdoor, is it really convincing when the CEO insists that the former employees are all just lying opportunists? I think not. Either the former president is everything his advisors say he is, which I believe to be the case, or he bears responsibility for uniquely terrible judgment of character. Neither possibility recommends him for a return to high office.
An aspect that is especially concerning this time around is the collusion between the Trump campaign and some of the most powerful and visible figures in the tech industry. I haven't made any secret of my dislike for the industry I used to love. Some of the most detestable figures within that industry - Musk, Andreessen, Thiel - are openly backing the former President. In Musk's case, his support seems linked to a direct quid pro quo arrangement in which he would become some kind of government "efficiency" tsar.[2] Even previously non-Trump-linked oligarchs - the Zuckerbergs and Bezoses of the world - seem to be cozying up to the prospect of a Trump administration. This is an extremely disturbing prospect; regulatory capture is already a dire problem in the US.
The consequences of a victory for the former president are dire. He would be a threat to every group I listed above. He would amplify the worst aspects of the growth-capitalist system - environmental destruction[3], the carceral system, exploitation of workers, demonization of immigrants and the poor, and so forth.[4] If this occurs, the next four years - at minimum - will be deeply dangerous, and I believe it is incumbent upon US citizens to do what we can to prevent it.[5]
What's left, then? This election seems less to me about a choice between candidates than a referendum on two choices - either the preservation (at least for now) of a deeply flawed status quo, or the nihilistic surrender of the State to an immoral and angry man backed by the bastard oligarchs of the tech industry. This isn't a difficult choice to me. Trump's return would be too harmful to too many people to ever countenance.
[1] I also have deep reservations about electoral democracy in general. Trust me, writing this post did not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling - but I feel it is necessary.
[2] Realistically, the primary aim here would be deregulation of the tech industry. No good can come of this.
[3] Note the recent claims of "climate change is about a eighth of an inch sea level rise over five hundred years." Meanwhile, seas have already risen four inches sice 1992, and the signs of ecological collapse and mass extinction are all around us.
[4] Honorable mention: The former president's bizarrely-worded defenses of the animal system from Vice President Harris's supposed ambitions of banning it. If his claims that Harris wants to abolish the animal system were actually true, I would find a great deal more enthusiasm for her in my heart.
[5] And, if it comes to pass (and even if it does not), we should do everything in our power to affirm the dignity of every person in this world - especially those treated unjustly - and provide assistance to those who need it.