Monthly Archives: January 2025

Above All, Love Fiercely

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We all woke up to a different world today. One where dehumanizing language and threats from a American president are being applauded. Where a Nazi salute at its inauguration is being normalized or played down. And no matter how some may gaslight you or attempt to normalize it, the fact is that the world we woke up to today is a terrifying one. And it is okay to feel that. To feel terrified about what is to come. If you aren’t, I would question your sanity. But know you aren’t alone in that fear.

The United States has fallen to authoritarianism. Bolder than anyone has seen in the States thus far. Of course, the seeds of it were always there. An undercurrent simmering for decades. Supremacist mythology and obtuse indifference. Political leaders who became more and more corrupt, beholden to corporate and militaristic hubris. Who openly aided a genocide. Rights systematically striped away. Education and intellectualism mocked relentlessly. A persistent and influential religious fundamentalism. An oligarchy that grew more and more powerful, year after year. The result of these things was inevitable: Fascism.

But we cannot afford to ignore the writing on the wall. The US is an empire in decline. Burning or flooded cities thanks to the unaddressed impacts of climate change, growing shantytowns, entrenched poverty. Stagnant services and crumbling infrastructure. A predatory healthcare system. A bloated and over-extended military.

America is a sinking ship. And it has placed a fascist in the captain’s seat. And these facts make it even more dangerous than before, not only to marginalized people in the States, but to anyone in its orbit. And let’s face it. We are ALL in its orbit.

So, what do we do now? In the short term, it is okay to hide. To distract ourselves. We may need to do this for our sanity and physical health. But in the long term, denial can be lethal. It can strip us of our agency, Our capacity to act. So, after a time, it may be necessary for you to act quickly and decisively.

If you are in the States, I would seriously consider leaving. If you cannot leave, I would consider relocating to a state with more progressive governance. I understand moving may be economically impossible for many. And some may not want to leave family. If you cannot leave your state, seek out like minded individuals and organizations. Believe me, they exist. And you will all need each other in the coming years. Build networks for assistance and protection. Reliable support for when the government is potentially denuded of its ability to provide assistance.

If you are outside the US, avoid all unnecessary travel to it. Begin untethering yourself from its orbit. Voice your dissent and object to policies that seek to normalize relations with the States. Elect leaders who will stand up to American imperialism.

No matter where you live, consider becoming active in local politics. Attend meetings or hearings. The biggest impact we can have is on the local level.

Take a good look at how and where you live and who you know. Identify individuals and organizations that seek to dehumanize, demonize or criminalize you and avoid them. The history of fascism is a history of betrayal. Hold your enemies at bay. And know who your allies are and hold them close. Solidarity is not a platitude. It is a survival skill.

Above all, love fiercely. Love is the best antidote to fascism. To its fear, its cruelty, its violence. Love with everything you’ve got.

Kenn Orphan, January 2025

*Photo is Metamorphosis by Joan Miró, 1935.

Resist, Defend, Love

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Watching the fires in Los Angeles last night, I sat back and thought about this last year. I lived most of my adult life in Southern California. I know how it changed over the years. How the fire season became a year round event. And I was flooded with a deep sense of dread.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a harbinger. That we are entering a new Dark Age. I can feel it in my skin. In my blood. In my bones. Maybe you can too. But we are constantly told to practice wellness. To be inured to the madness. The ecological devastation. The violence. The unraveling.

I thought about watching a genocide being livestreamed on my Instagram. The firebombing of children. Of the elderly. Of the sick. In hospitals in Gaza. Scorched earth, just as in Los Angeles. And the starvation. The humiliation. The annihilation. Funded by our tax dollars. All coupled with a kind of numbing agent, as if I was sitting in a chair at the dentist office waiting for a tooth to be pulled.

“It’s all ok. Make sure to practice self-care. You are doom scrolling too much!” The messaging seems constant.

Yet, everything feels surreal. As if we are in an AI generated reality. And we seem to accept it all through a tyranny of miniature screens we hold closest to our skin. Closer than we hold actual humans or animals. Closer than we hold ourselves.

We are in a different world now. A world rapidly devolving. Climate change, fascism, and the predations of late capitalism. A world where nonsense is elevated. AI generated content is taken as truth. Where starving or burning children alive is normalized. Where the unhoused and the poor are criminalized. Where the marginalized are easily dehumanized. Where billionaires are viewed as demigods. But even the billionaires are running now as their mansions are devoured by an angry earth. Oh, how the gods fall before us.

And the rise of one man to the seat of power in the strongest empire the world has ever seen is ushering in an age of chaos. Because that is what he does best. He brings chaos. He is already doing that and he isn’t even in office.

I keep seeing people say that “it will be a long four years.” And my response is no, my friend, it won’t.

I have come to believe that his ascent to the throne of American Empire signifies the beginning of the end for organized human civilization on this planet. It isn’t he that is bringing this to us. He is merely a symbol of our age. An emblem of narcissistic privilege. A personified and collective id we are afraid to acknowledge.

Hyperbolic? Maybe. But the so-called Doomsday Clock devised by concerned scientists puts us closer to the midnight hour than ever before. And what do we get in response? Lies and bromides. Platitudes and veiled threats. But the veil has been slipping for some time now.

I hope I am wrong. I really do. And I will celebrate my wrongness. But I’ve seen nothing to change my mind thus far.

Resist. Defend. Love. For some reason, these words keep repeating in my mind.

And I guess that is because, at this point, it is literally all we have left to us.

Kenn Orphan, January 2025

*Photo is a satellite image of the fires in Los Angeles.