When I was a little girl, I must have read Little Women a dozen times. It was my favorite war novel. It took seeing three different versions of the book adapted to movies for me to finally understand most people didn’t see it that way.
It’s all there if you look for it. The story centers on a family of four girls and their mother. Their father is away, serving as a military Chaplain during the Civil War. The women live in poverty because of the war. They carry out charitable acts and suffer for it, because other families are suffering more than they are, once again, because of the war. They must get by and make do because there is a war on and they can’t afford to be frivolous, and yet they find ways to seek out their own happiness.
This was the story of Little Women for me and right now, it seems like a story that prepared me to cope with Covid19 and the current political situation pretty well.
It seems increasingly clear to me that we are living through the second Civil War. I know that sounds dramatic, but it’s really just a fact. As a culture we hang on to antiquated ideas of what war is until we’re proven wrong. But the people who wage war don’t do that. They think of new ways to wage war in order to make the best use of the element of surprise.
It used to be, when I thought of “germ warfare” I thought of missiles landing silently on American (or Canadian) soil and releasing a deadly brew of toxins into the environment. This is the “Get Smart” school of espionage, I realize, but it is how the idea was painted when I was growing up. Even now, when the subject of biological warfare is raised, there are certain preconceived rules of engagement we all seem to assume must be met.
We assume the biological agent must be man made or altered by scientists in order to qualify as a weapon. That’s like insisting there is such a thing as peace socks and war socks, or guns made for peace and guns made for killing. The socks don’t care where they’re being worn. The guns are manufactured the same way no matter what use the shooter intends. Viruses don’t care if a political leader uses them to his advantage, and they don’t withhold their effects if they occurred naturally, they just want to reproduce. The effect of a virus is the same whether it is passed between lovers or mortal enemies. And I would argue using a virus that already exists to wage war against a population is potentially more effective than “releasing” your own, designer disease and hoping it will take hold.
In the beginning of the Covid 19 crisis, America responded as we do to a public health crisis, more or less but very quickly, Mr. Trump was successful in shifting the focus of our national strategy, such as it was, away from public health to the economy.
Using a bifurcated strategy of neglect and economy as national priority, Trump weaponized Covid 19 against Democratic states and voters.
When the Floyd George protests erupted, Republican strategists seized on the opportunity to multiply the effects of the virus amongst the anti-trump voting public. Tear gas exacerbates the effects of the virus and creates ideal conditions for the virus to spread. The time lag between infection and the emergence of symptoms means that by the time we understand how many Democratic voters have been infected, or killed by the virus, it will be too late. The Covid 19 task force has been disbanded in all but name. Dr. Fauci has said publicly that he has not met with the task force or been consulted by the President in weeks. McConnell has refused to entertain any further relief, leaving blue states too short on cash to mount effective testing and tracing programs. All of the states feel forced to open both by public pressure, Presidential pressure and the blunt knife blade of economic pressure. No state can afford to go without revenue forever and the Senate has made it pretty clear, help is probably not on the way. Meanwhile, cases of Covid 19 are simmering under the surface and ready to surge.
Trump is firing into the crowd, not only with rubber bullets, pepper bombs and with tear gas but with targeted Covid 19 attacks.
Meanwhile, every day, he makes another appointment of another official who sets to work dismantling the American system of safeguards and regulations. He is attacking health care in the courts, holding immigrants hostage at the Southern border and revoking public protections on a daily basis.
This is a war being waged by a new Confederacy under the flag of the Trump dynasty. Every day, I feel as though I am living in my own version of Little Women. We read the stories of despair in the news, we try to help where we can, we rein in our expectations and minimize our needs. We are careful, we are frugal.
When a country is at war, only a tiny fraction of the citizens are wearing uniforms and storming fortresses. Most of war life takes place in peaceful settings. We have our lives and we make room for war within them without ever speaking the word. That is how it was for Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, and it is how it is for us, for all of us.
We are living through a war for this country. Either we can do whatever it takes to keep our Democracy or by this time next year, we will lose the country and the idea of America, as a place for everyone, will end.
We have never been perfect. We have always had injustice but right now we are fighting for our ability to address injustice and move forward into 2021 together. Without that, we have nothing. We are at war. We need to see it and do something to protect our people, or we will lose the country.
The police are on Trump’s side. They’ve said as much officially, their union endorses him. The Republican Party has the power of government and they are using it against the American people. That is self-evident. We need to fight back, but not on the streets. We need to be on the computer, and on the phone, but really? Mostly we need to overwhelm the right wing trolls and bots on the computer. This is where the second Civil War is being waged. Do not listen to people who tell you social media is trivial. It’s their best weapon.
We’ve proven our might and our numbers on the streets, now it’s time to take back the desktops. Read Mueller’s report. This is how the Russians gave our last election to 45. Don’t let it happen again.
We need to stay aware and awake on social media. We can do this but we have to realize, this is it. We are in the middle of a war, you are on the battlefield right this minute. I know it doesn’t feel like it but then, for most people, it never does until it’s too late.
