Rome Fell in a Day
A brief word about why Europeans are scared.
I hadn’t planned on writing anything about the election, but I felt compelled after spending the morning texting and emailing friends around Europe who are, in a word, scared.
If you live in America, know only other Americans and don’t travel outside the country, you might be forgiven for not understanding what the Pax Americana we are living through means to people around the world, and to you. This unprecedented period of peace and prosperity, unique in human history, was brought to us by the sacrifice of American boys and men who paid with their lives for our Western democratic freedoms—some of them men in my family.
My European friends fear yet another expanding war in Europe. With no America or NATO to check him, Putin has the power to reshape the continent's map. You might think, why should what happens over there concern me? Well, because economic prosperity at home depends on oil, goods and predictable trade with the rest of the world. Although, perhaps a better reason is that wars of aggression are vile and innocent civilians pay a horrible price.
Sadly, the brunt of the consequences from last night will likely disproportionately affect the next generation, who will face a more dangerous and unstable world.
My friends in Europe, the children and grandchildren of survivors of two world wars, know this in their bones, and they are rightfully scared of what is to come.
If you’d like to understand epigenetic trauma in Europe, my friend Tereza Kotyk’s award-winning film is an excellent place to start. It’s currently on the festival circuit, so it’s not readily available yet, but will be in LA soon. If you get a chance to see it, I highly encourage you to do so.
https://www.austrianfilms.com/films/Nebelkind
I think I’m just numb. I went to bed early last night and didn’t want to check my phone this morning because I knew what the results would be. I live in Massachusetts, solidly blue, but I saw more Trump signs this time around than I had in 2016 and 2020. Trump and the republicans lied their way to this win by demonizing immigrants, and promising to fix the economy. That’s it. I’m really quite pissed off right now.
Beautifully written...many many Americans are also shocked, scared and embarrassed that this vile man was elected. We truly are two nations these days which is very sad and hard to understand when you live in a bubble like California. For women especially this is a slap in the face. People would rather have a convicted felon who spouts racist, facist, sexist, nonsensical verbage than an intelligent woman who promised to reach across the aisle and include Republicans in her cabinet. Hopefully democracy will persevere but there is no doubt it is in danger now.