Art

Like many college students, I too woke up at noon PST to see terrorists and fascists (do not besmirch the Spanish Anarchists who fought and died against Franco by comparing them to this beta uprising) crawling over our Capitol, the beacon of our democracy, like ants.  I was in disbelief.  I will be turning 22 in a few weeks, and I realize there is so much I have not seen and cannot hope to truly know.  The Vietnam war saw fusillades against college students and other horrible acts.  Knowing that I cannot truly know this event, on the 4th I took to the web to ask people older and wiser than me of what they expected today.  The general idea was there were a few internet tough guys and really it would be a sadder version of the Area 51 raid.  Remember that, gosh that was like the Tumblr equivalent of what happened today.  In short, the idea was there would be a few tough guys who get arrested and a bunch of very cold people who have never had to deal with a DC winter.  We were not expecting this.

Through amazing history and social studies teachers, the discourse of politics and the edifice in which it takes place was sort of sacred to me.  I had never understood that until I saw it violated.  Like maggots, writhing worms on festering meat they spilled through every orifice.  I call these people betas because this is the insult they understand.  The beta uprising is basically all the nerdy, awkward guys (yes, specifically guys) rising up against the “alphas”, “chads”, and “stacies”.  Fascism appeals to these people by providing an out where they can be the chads.  I will not give them that out.  And when I saw these beta red hat fascists commit an act that I had thought impossible.  Not just physically, but I truly had not considered the building in which history is made very day, where our country is governed disturbed me.  We saw nazis, confederates, traitors all smear this place where our democracy must flourish with their filth.  When I saw these people had been cleared out and proceedings could be continued, I nearly cried.

You may have noticed the references to Rome.  Our country was founded on many ideals, some of them Roman.  Behind the Speaker of the House we see the fasces as they were intended.  The fasces, the very same worshipped by fascists, were the only weapons allowed in the governing portion of the city of Rome.  The fasces was a bundle of sticks, occasionally with an axe blade, meant to represent how a stick individually is broken but together they are strong.  These fasces were wielded by those tasked with protecting the senators and democracy.  Along with these cudgels of liberty, many references were made to the fall of the Republic and the rise of Julius Caesar, and the Octavius in his stead.  We must heed these warnings, but another lesson as well.  When Rome lost whole legions to Hannibal at Cannae, Rome called up more.  When Rome itself was under siege, Rome held out.  Rome held through these events, traumatizing to the young power, because in all of these, Rome did not fall.  Rome would not concede until the city fell.  Even under siege by one of the greatest generals in history, the Romans did not give up.  Well, I think we all know how the story turned out because we speak a Latinized language.

Rome has not fallen.  It was close, but even after this blight we have senators and congresspeople debating.  Do I like these debates?  No.  Do they like these debates?  It’s like 2:30 AM there and those guys definitely have a bed time, so probably not.  But these debates are occurring.  Trump is not president for life.  The electoral votes were saved from the mob.  While the count is being needlessly disputed (party who advocates states’ rights suddenly conflicted when states use rights), the terrorists were cleared out and it can occur.  We survived the vengeful British, we survived the slavocrat Confederates, we survived the Axis powers who not only invaded our Pacific island holdings but even shelled California and attempted espionage and sabotage in Florida.  We survived the menacing presence of the Soviet Union.  We survived even our own internal conflicts and enfranchised millions of Americans as we sought to create a more perfect Union.  We will survive this because we must survive this.

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As one final thought, throughout history, those yearning for freedom have seen America as a beacon of liberty.  One branch of my family tree, the Rosemans, saw the United States as a place of respite from the anti Jewish pogroms of the Russian Empire.  If they had never left Ukraine, they would likely have been gassed by Hitler.  In the revolutionary war, our military was only able to stand toe to toe with the British because it was trained by a Prussian aristocrat too gay for Paris.  Yes, he was kicked out of Paris for being too flamboyantly gay and so he came to America where he helped us gain our freedom.  In the civil war, another Prussian offered his services.  He was a communist so radical he saw Marx as a revisionist.  He led an American unit as the first army to fight under the banner of socialism in pursuance of the freedom of mankind.  I may not agree with his politics, but you gotta admit that some zealous anti slaver German dude coming to America and leading his non German regiment in German army drills is pretty funny.  And in more recent times, the people of Hong Kong have used the flag of America in defiance of the CCP.  We cannot fail those who have seen America as a beacon of liberty and those who currently see America as a beacon of liberty because that as happened too much already.