Is being a liberal/neoliberal (doesn't matter, they're the same thing at this point) in our day and age just a massive cope? I've been thinking a lot about the psychology of modern American liberals lately, especially since I read this great article about the liberal obsession with Russia.

Seeing the liberal reaction to the protests, RGB's death, the decline of American hegemony, and the growing resurgence of left-politics, I am starting to wonder how much further things will deteriorate before they realize we are no longer living in that golden "end of history" era from 1990-2015, or if they will at all. Liberals want to blame all our problems on Trump, Russia, BernieBros, China, Jill Stein, whatever. They think American glory will be restored when we get Joe Biden in office, or there's asshats like Matt Yglesius (or whatever his name is ) that think if we just have more (1 BILLION!!!) Americans than everything will be solved again. They're living in this technocratic bubble, where the solutions to our problems aren't addressing certain structures/systems, but pursuing "sane, rational policy" and voting our way out of everything, and if this approach (which they've upheld for decades) isn't working, it must be the reluctant "radical left" voters (of which there's simultaneously none of but also enough to change the outcome of an election), Russian bots, etc. They use this framework as a coping mechanism to shift the conversation away from systemic analysis to "Well Liberal Democracy is actually still the best, if it weren't for those pesky [insert boogeymen]. If we just VOTE BLUE everything will work itself out!"

The thing I dislike most about many liberals is how they talk about themselves. They see themselves as the rational, enlightened, balanced people, who understand that all we need is good policy, and that, above all else, civility, decency, and the rule of law must be respected. And that's why it's so funny to see them cope with the rise of fascism in Trump and his supporters, because they don't give a shit about any of those idealist values, and are able to wreck everything without consequence. The illusion of the rule of law, the illusion of democracy, all that has been destroyed by the late-capitalist rise of the fascists and liberals have had to cope with their entire worldview getting upended in a matter of months. Trump Derangement Syndrome is very real, and it's only gotten worse since 2016.

This is really more of a rant than anything, but I feel like liberals are living in this weird reality where Trump (or more broadly, what he represents) is an anomaly, rather than a logical step, in American history. I think one reason why I obsess over this so much is because I too was a vote-blue-no-matter-who Hillary fan type in 2016, and with Trump's election and further historical education, everything fell into place, and I was radicalized. Like, if I was able to understand and predict all the dumb bullshit we see, why aren't these other liberals? I don't want to sound condescending, because I hate that, but it feels like time is a flat circle, and the liberals aren't learning anything. Are they even going to notice if Biden gets into office and does absolutely fucking nothing, as the contradictions heighten and the situation deteriorates? Is it going to be like the 2010 Democrat super-majority all over again, but with worse conditions and more organized fascists?

So I guess is the question is really just, why are liberals like this? Why are they incapable of moving beyond their idealistic West Wing-civility-politics brain and understanding the roots of the issues? I feel like I'm screaming into the void, especially with the isolation that has come with the pandemic. Y'all are like an oasis in an ideological desert, and I really appreciate it. Much love.