“Debilitating paranoia” and severe mental illness are the supposed reasons why an apparently psychotic father killed himself and his family because of Obama re-election fears. But that’s just part of it. Our political culture is so toxic, divided, and confrontational that it almost invites violence now. Both parties feed on creating division and mistrust because, hey, demonizing the other side is a great way to raise money. Our entire political culture is deranged and both parties are to blame. And it’s getting worse.
Albert Peterson shot dead his wife and two sons hours after going to church because he dreaded the thought of Obama winning the election, a family friend has revealed.
Would the media be as understanding of mental illness if Peterson had been a poor African-American rather than a wealthy White defense contractor? I doubt it.
I know people who have that level of fear – often inspired by Fox News and other “news” sources. I don’t understand it. The candidates are two peas in a pod. Obama has a record George W. Bush should be proud of, and Romney is no better.
Up here in Utah, preparedness is part of the local culture. We are taught to keep a year’s worth of food on hand, as well as plenty of other supplies (including firearms and ammunition). Now more than ever that makes sense, since we are almost certain to have a President who will continue to drive the economy into the ground to benefit his corporate masters, ignore climate change and the environment, increase division, rollback our civil rights, inflate the dollar, and fail to improve our national infrastructure. We are a nation in increasingly rapid decline.
We talk a lot here about what the local economy and society will look like after the dollar crashes and the federal government ceases to be effective. The time is coming. It could be a few years off, or it could be sooner. (The Parowan Prophet believes it will start this December, but most people don’t take him seriously.) Barring a miracle candidate (or a miracle transformation of a candidate after the election), it’s a topic we should all be exploring. On its present course, the Union as we know it is doomed.
The fear is on both sides too. Crazy times we live in.