Trans-America

 I am not quite sure what to say about the US election. A few random thoughts buzzed round my head last night and I dumped them here.

I am not looking forward to having the world's noisiest narcissist dinning his grotesque ego into all our ears and having it amplified to megaphone pitch by the world's media every goddam day until he finally dies. 

The best way to silence a malignant narcissist like Trump is not to point up each and every single lie or abusive remark or crime or fraud and explain its wrongness. That just keeps him and his narrative constantly in the news, not you and yours. Opponents still haven't understood this. To silence a narcissist, a liar and a bully you should turn off the mike. Ignore them. Without the oxygen of publicity they die.

I think a very large part of the rest of the world has begun to have had enough of the USA. Even here in Italy, a US ally where most families have distant relatives across the pond. Just for instance, and only in terms of US soft power, Italy has a growing Slow Food Movement as a direct reaction to American fast food, which is deemed to be degrading. Eating is a daily pleasure and should be savoured, preferably with family, friends or colleagues, not gulped on the hoof. It's why businesses close for three hours in the middle of every working day here. Not so great for profits but the work/life balance can't be bettered. This week I have heard strong complaints about the import of US Hallowe'en consumerism. Even my recent prizes from the supermarket are US icons: Peanuts character dolls ... and they've not been popular (which is why I got given another). People are tiring of the US Kulturkampf. If the USA wants continued influence, it needs to cultivate friendship and co-operation, not appoint a leader who screams abuse and threats.

Soft power

I'm not sure what to advise trans people in the USA. We'll have to wait and see what actually develops. Like immigrants, trans people are now first in the line of fire. I take in refugees BTW. By analogy, the Brexit referendum led to significant abuse against me by former friends as my work involves liaising with Europe. The rise in crime against LGBT people was immediate, too. So I left. Be prepared to move if you feel safer doing so. That said, I note that one openly trans person has been elected to the House. Well done, Sarah McBride. The one terrific advantage the trans community has in dangerous times is that the overwhelming majority of trans people are too nervous to come out as trans and step out in public even when times are normal. So they are out of the line of fire since they are all but invisible. Maybe those trans people who are out and are worried about increased threat need to buddy up more for enhanced safety (although I appreciate that the bigger the group, the more noticeably trans they are). And seek closer support in communities and among allies, of which there will remain plenty.

Humans direct their lives according to narratives. We are story tellers, and story livers. Most people can't cope with bare facts and raw reality. There's no point in trying to reason with irrational or emotional people, no use presenting the real situation to people set on beliefs. Reason is the wrong tool for the job: it breeds shame in believers and so a need to defend and dig in their heels. For some reason, Trump's half-incoherent narrative appeals to a wide range of Americans, even though he himself is an appalling person. But we look at the brutes of history, the Hitlers and Putins and Napoleons and Caesars and it's the same thing. But I've talked about the importance of stupidity and lies before, in the context of transphobia.

Never underestimate the need for hate. A lot of people like to see other people hurt, especially groups they've decided to take their malice out on, not necessarily for any coherent reason. The conclusion of some historians as to why the Turks massacred the Armenians in 1915 is that some people like nothing more than an excuse to kill their neighbours. It's wasn't rational as the Armenians were a bulwark against Russia with whom the Turks were at war but this natural feral animal instinct took precedence. It was similar with the 1994 Rwanda genocide. I recently read Frans de Waal's book on gender with reference to humans and chimps. It left me disconcerted as extreme mass violence is regular human (and chimp) behaviour, a need even. The group you pick on is just the official public excuse. So, yes, some people will have voted Trump not because of economics but because of an instinct that hate would be tolerated and even encouraged. Inciting hate is also a great way for leaders to distract attention from their incompetence, corruption and robbing. My sister who hates LGBT people has been persuaded to do so by her religious leaders, whilst they have been doing dodgy business deals and assaulting children, which she refuses to believe. Trump and his cronies will rob the USA blind, as Johnson and his chums did in the UK during the pandemic, but as long as trans people are being pointed out as the enemy, the public aren't going to concentrate on the theft.

Well, I've dumped what was in my head and I'm going to watch a silly comedy on DVD. I think that's the best coping strategy at the moment. Although I feel galvanised to fight transphobes after yesterday's disturbing news.

Sue x