Productive Apocalypse

I have long argued that (unfortunately) things sometimes need to get worse before they get better. It is in this sense that Trump the disrupter has succeeded in shredding many of the fantasy illusions Americans have never truly had challenged before. This process is what Paul Butler, African American author of Chokehold, calls "productive apocalypse". Along those lines, the current brouha over a Trump coup is "productive" in the way it is forcing to the surface uncomfortable questions elites would prefer stay repressed and buried. There won't be any coup attempt. All the same, the very notion lays bare the ugly truth that we are just another bannana republic with lipstick. Armed camo knuckleheads roam the streets protecting our liberty. Their ass clown leader retweets nonsense about Bin Laden to those still hoping to find the weapons of mass destruction. No doubt people will get hurt in isolated, useless confrontations and the aftermath of a "peaceful transfer of power" is going to be a full display of uniquely American wierdness. But as Mao put it: "Everything under heaven is utter chaos. The situation is excellect." What the Left needs needs to figure out is how to describe capitalist "democracy"; that is, to what degree, if any, it is still useful for creating positive change. All too often, well-meaning leftists tell us we live in an oligarchy and then ask us to work for progressive legislation, all in the same sentence. They are pumped up about defending the mythologized "sacred" institutions and rule of law blah blah, instructing oppressed people that "the best thing you can do is vote", poking fun at the "patriots" while promoting their own nationalist fantasy. A stylized kubuki theatre of the absurd that is dissolving into discordant chaos as the band plays on.