I am not an optimist.
In fact, I’ve got something of a doomy outlook — famously so, according to one of my editors. My dad on the other hand is an inveterate optimist. I think it’s helped him create a life for himself he couldn’t have possibly expected. I admire him. But as his pessimist son, I sometimes am challenged by his “can do” attitude in the face of obstacles. By which I mean to say: I find it annoying.
That’s my problem, not his.
But I mention this so you’ll have the proper context for the theme of today’s newsletter.
I am not optimistic about 2024.
It’s the presidential election, of course. Because Donald Trump is involved, I don’t see how this year won’t be disastrous for the country — for all of us.
If he wins, it will be a disaster.
Trump has made it clear he’ll purge the government and fill its ranks with loyalists, whom he’ll then command to take revenge on his myriad enemies — Democrats, democrats, the media and immigrants among them.
If he loses, it will be a disaster.
We already saw what happened after the 2020 election — the months of lies and machinations culminating in the disaster that was Jan. 6. Trump did not allow America to continue its tradition of peaceful transfers of power. There wouldn’t be a transfer of power, of course, if Biden wins, but we can expect the lies and (I believe) the violence to continue
Between now and then, we’ll have the campaign. Which I fully expect to be a disaster. We saw how Trump campaigned in 2020 — the “shitshow” debate being a highlight. Trump is going to be Trump, which is to say loud and violent in his rhetoric, and it will be ugly, ugly, ugly.
So. With 2024 beginning I’m not feeling the normal feelings one at least attempts to simulate this time of year — the optimism, the idea that we can make things better. I’m expecting a disaster. Steeling myself for misery.
If I’m wrong, well, then it’ll be a pleasant surprise.
What I’m watching/reading
* The first time I saw Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey,” it was on a 13-inch TV, coming on after the late local news, chopped up every 10 minutes or so by commercials. It still fascinated me. So I was excited this week when my local arthouse cinema brought it back for a big-screen viewing. So much better! I took my teen son — a budding cinephile — who was properly gobsmacked by the psychedelia of the last 20 minutes or so. We had fun.
* I’m going to have more to say later about Tim Alberta’s new book, “The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism.” (I’m about a third of the way through.) For now, though, let me say that it’s the most unapologetically Christian book written for a general audience I think I’ve read … ever? Certainly in a long time. I’m curious what folks who don’t have a church or Bible-reading background will make of it.
I'm not an optimist, either in general or for 2024 in particular, but I'm not a pessimist either. One of the advantages of my particular, rather idiosyncratic but also quite serious, take on the Christian doctrines of the fall and salvation, I've discovered over the years, is that I approach everything, however frustrating or tragic or infuriating, with a combination of muted hysteria and equanimity. Kind of like a combination of "well, it's a miracle we haven't managed to extinguish ourselves already" and "well, better get to work trying this, however hopeless it seems." It works for me, anyway. Have a fun New Year's Eve, Joel!