A Carnival of Hope: Trump, Harris and the Death of Liberalism https://beiner.substack.com/p/a-carnival-of-hope-trump-harris-and For progressives, the MAGA insurgency heralds the end of democracy. As a consumer, it doesn’t matter which you choose, as long as you choose. Capitalism will happily take your rejection and sell it back to you. Don’t like extractive consumerism? No worries! We have a shampoo just for you.
Modern elections are no different. They are consumer culture’s attempt to sell the most sacred gift in the human soul back to us: hope. At the heart of every election is the promise that things will be new. In a polarised society like the US, this newness looks radically different depending on the tribe you belong to.
These tribes are no longer defined by ‘left’ or ‘right’, but by pro or anti-institutional. For those in the Trump insurgency, the political establishment represented by Kamala Harris is an existential threat. For progressives, the MAGA insurgency heralds the end of democracy. As a consumer, it doesn’t matter which you choose, as long as you choose.