“Mad Max Theory” Pre-election Diary: 137 days to go.
“We can choose to go through this intelligently or we can choose the Mad Max theory of denial and chaos.” Jeff Goodell the author of “The Heat Will Kill You First” said that this morning on MSNBC.
I was getting on the stationary bike, (I am getting on the stationary bike) when I heard this and it stopped me in my tracks. He nailed it. He gave me a clear window into what the bikers and the dissociative Trump voters in my little town are feeling and why they’re so enthusiastic about Trump.
We live in a part of America where people have cobbled together the resources they need to survive for the last 40 years. Before the museum came, the people of North Berkshire County were enduring similar conditions to the people of coal mining country. There were no jobs, social progams did not seem to extend to this area. Housing and welfare authorities in the greater Boston area routinely sent impoverished families here to be housed while they waited for an available apartment in the social housing developments of urban areas.
Impoverished single mothers, often visited by abusive boyfriends from the city, became a visible part of the community whilst never really becoming part of the community. They were here to wait. Why would they get involved? While they waited, many, if not most of them, smoked and drank and…
