This week's terrifying reality of being both Israeli and American...

Once upon a time, it wasn't that often that we feared for the end of democracy. Today, with horrific elections looming in both Israel and America, both parts of my identity are equally terrified.

The words I seem to be hearing most often these days are, “This is the most important election of your lifetime.”

Which elections are we talking about?

The one on Tues, 1 Nov, in which there is a very real possibility that the Trump-wannabe Bibi Netanyahu will return to power and install the racist, neo-fascists Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich into key ministerial roles that will make the lives of certain members of society a living hell? That election?

Or are we talking about the American midterms on Tues Nov 8, in which there is a very real possibility that Republicans will retake the House, the Senate, and zillions of key state-level roles that will control the outcome of the 2024 election, no matter who actually one the election? Where the likes of Marjorie Taylor Green — who seems to hate Jews, Blacks, and Democrats with equal measure — will be in charge of the agenda, and plans not only to block Biden’s agenda but to also actually call for his impeachment?

Again, I’m not sure I have enough space in my brain for all the panic.

I suppose if I wanted to stop panicking, I could look away and try to enjoy the weather… Oh, wait….

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Beyond the specifics of destructive policies that stomp on human rights and threaten democracy, there are some deeper ways that the events since 2016 have propelled humanity into the downward spiral to where we are today.

The Trump Effect has to do with the ways in which forces of narcissistic, violent, greed reinforce one another. It’s not surprising that the likes of Trump, Elon Musk, and Ye all support each other. It is also not surprising that Bibi and Ben Gvir are in this whirlpool as well. Trump emboldened all these narcissistic, abusive, megalomaniacal personality types, and they are all going for what they ultimately want — which is ultimately one thing: Power.

What we are experiencing now is a series of event that began when trump was elected.

When Trump was surprisingly elected in 2016, several thoughts immediately crossed my mind, each of which has proven to be worse than I feared.

(1) That trump supporters would be emboldened.

This has proven itself in both the macro and micro levels. In the macro, people like MTG or Ye would not have had the guts to say the kinds of things that they say in the pre-Trump world. The volume of outrageous lie-filled hate speech is beyond anything that I think most of us could have imagined. This affected the micro as well. I cannot tell you how many head-spinning exchanged I have had with trumpists who will call you names to your face and spew head-spinning lies. I did this for nearly five years in my work as Media Chair for Democrats Abroad Israel, going onto Israeli television and radio opposite trump supporters. I am still recovering from that work. The complete lack of accountability to fact, reason, or basic morality left my soul reeling.

(2) That autocrats of the world would be looking for tips.

We have to look no further than Bibi to understand how this works. Both as PM and as opposition leader, Bibi played from the Trump playbook. (Some people would argue that trump actually learned many toxic tactics from Bibi; That may be true, but trump mastered them more effectively.) Bibi has done lots of head-spinning trumpy things, like attacking the media and calling them enemies of the state, like saying one thing and then completely denying it and gaslighting us, like calling into question elections in which he lost, like calling on his followers to threaten opposing voters. His people may be completely ready to do a Jan 6 in Israel, to storm the castle if they don’t like the results. That is a very real, very terrifying possibility.

(3) That a lot of people would be sinking into depression.

This happened immediately. For months after the 2016 election, many people were depressed. It’s not because Trump exists. It was because of the reality that so many people voted for him. The fact that 70 million people are just fine with a whole bunch of ugly things — from immigrants to women’s bodies to Jan 6 violence; there is no shortage of ugly, hate-filled violence coming from the trump world — this was and is hard to wrap one’s head around. That so many people who we thought were reasonable, caring, normal people are somehow okay with all of this, for whatever reason they use to justify it, was and is one of the most devastating realities that I think I have ever had to face in my life.

In the world in which we live today, reason doesn’t matter. Facts don’t matter. Humanity doesn’t matter. Democracy doesn’t matter. It often feels like there is nothing that we can say or do that will move trumpists — or bibi-ists — from holding up their monstrous leader.

This makes it very hard to act out of hope and optimism.

It makes it hard to fight for a better world.

It often feels like, you know, what’s the point?

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And yet, here we are. And not just one, but two elections in one shot. Two crucial elections. Each one a mirror that we as a society will be holding up against ourselves. To see whether we still have any sanity or humanity left in us.

Anything can happen this week.

Anything.

As hard as it is to watch this, I have only one thing to say now:

VOTE!

There is nothing else more important to do right now. If you are American and/or Israeli, vote.

Vote for democracy.

Vote for humanity.

Vote for compassion.

Vote as if our civilization depends on it.

Because it does.

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