This is a follow-up piece on his last one, which I believe I sent to you. He seems to have been finding the same ideas I have been -- That fascists offer scapegoats in place of solutions, that the solution to hate and division is getting rid of poverty. I should ask him about it.
--Kim
I've seen a few individuals comment on or reshare my post reflecting on the rural–urban divide, asking some version of the same follow-up: "Okay, but what can be done?" And while I won't launch into a full Chernyshevsky treatise (those who know, know), it's a fair question. One we have to take seriously.
First, the hard truth: in the short term, there's no one-and-done fix. This is generational work. Tribalism, fear, disconnection, the seductive pull of strongmen who offer easy answers to complex problems—those are deeply embedded forces. They don't unravel overnight.
But that doesn't mean we're powerless. Far from it.
The clearest, most immediate path forward is improving quality of life. And I don't mean in some abstract sense—I mean the tangible, material conditions that shape people's daily lives. Because when people are exhausted, overworked, in debt, and constantly anxious about housing, healthcare, or whether they can afford gas or groceries next week, they are vulnerable. Not just emotionally, but politically.
It's in those moments of fragility that bad actors make their move. We've seen it before—over and over. Hitler didn't rise in a time of peace and prosperity. Neither did Mussolini, Franco, or Pinochet. Putin consolidated his power by promising stability after post-Soviet economic collapse. Trump rose on the heels of a recession and decades of decline in working-class prospects. These figures—and others like Bolsonaro, Orbán, and Erdoğan—exploit anxiety. They prey on insecurity. They offer scapegoats when what people really need are solutions.
So yes, we need universal healthcare. Accessible education. Guaranteed paid family leave. Reproductive rights protected by law. Vacation time that isn't a luxury. Childcare people can actually afford. And a broader reorientation of our economy to value human well-being over corporate quarterly earnings.
Because let's be honest: this American culture of endless work, chronic burnout, and performative "grind" is killing us—physically, mentally, spiritually. People are exhausted. Isolated. Disconnected. And in that loneliness, anger and resentment start to look alot like identity. Enemies and scapegoats become easier to invent.
But if people had the time and support to actually enjoy their lives—to rest, to see friends, to raise their kids without panic, to care for their aging parents without drowning in debt, to take a damn walk in a park without three jobs pressing on their backs—if people had that kind of life? It would be a lot harder to turn them into rage machines.
And here's where the generational work comes in. We're not just trying to address the symptoms—we're trying to break the cycle. The fear, the othering, the baked-in suspicion of difference, the reflex to find someone to blame—all of that is passed down when the real world material conditions allow it to fester. But if we make life better in real, visible ways—if we reduce suffering and increase stability—we rob hate of the oxygen it needs to grow.
We raise kids who aren't taught to fear strangers or resent their neighbors. We widen the circle of us. The long arc of justice doesn't bend itself—it's pulled by generations who stop handing down the same pain and panic they inherited.
Investing in the public good isn't just some idealist dream—it's how you build a society resilient to extremism. When people have hope, stability, and time to think beyond survival, they stop looking for someone to blame. They start looking for someone to build with.
None of this is a pipe dream. It's all possible—financially, logistically, technologically. What's missing isn't capability. It's priority. And the will to act. Because what can be done? Plenty. But it starts with believing people deserve better—not just in rhetoric, but in policy, in resources, and in time to be fully human again. The rest will follow.
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