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I mean, it's true in regards to the Republicans, all their ideas of "strong men" actually exemplify deeply insecure and weak mean.

However, I think these remarks attributed to Karl Rove speak to why they're effective, politically, despite that:

The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. "That's not the way the world really works anymore." He continued "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors … and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."

I mean, to be fair, that's pretty spot-on for how the entire Republican apparatus has operated for the better party of 30 years or more. That's when they really threw out the book on the hand-shake norms that were "expected" in governance. People act like Trump refusing to concede was something shocking, but rather to me, it seems like the end of a long-worn path that was always going to lead to the outcome of a Republican refusing to accept an election loss. Even without Trump, they've been growing into a regressive regime seeking religious Monarchy for quite a long time now. It's been an incredibly effective play and shows that while they are weak, they understand the execution of power within the system as it exists. Without the system as it exists, they flail, but they're not really concerned with the future because they're weak and can't conceive that far ahead. In the meantime they're willing and effective actors for destroying the system on which they rely so deeply.

This is something I’ve thought a lot about in my life, and I’ve gone back and forth as I’ve gotten older. I believe in anarchism. I consider myself an anarchist. But—and although this is quite unpopular in anarchist circles—i agree with Chomsky. I don’t think voting is a betrayal of anarchism.

The problem with the American left is we don’t do anything. We aren’t a force to be reckoned with in any way. So not voting doesn’t help anyone but the person not voting, because all it does is put you on a higher road than even the democrats. You’re just washing your hands of the blame when all we leftists do is turn around and bitch about voting on the internet.

Praxis. It’s the only way. But in the meantime, there are far right, well, fascists trying to amass more and more power.

I get it. It’s frustrating. But we only have ourselves to blame if not voting is about all we are offering. It’s not helpful. It’s just doing nothing.

Thanks!