What's next for us?
The other side is being pretty clear. Our turn.
Pulling NIH funding, loosening gun laws, scrubbing the CDC site, installing himself as chairman of a national performing arts center... it's been a week. Some of us weep; others laugh.
Let’s make some predictions.
First, the facts:
Trump, Musk and their crews aren’t driven by helping people; they’re driven by money, power, anger and revenge, and ego.
That many egos can’t get along forever.
Agreed? Get ready for in-fighting (H/T Andrea Pitzer). But don’t grab the chips yet.
This week, Trump voters took to social media, proclaiming victory by “cutting wasteful spending and corruption.” (Putting that in quotes because, literally, those are the singular talking points ev.ery.one is using. Marketing: Republicans have it down, and Democrats should take note. Messaging matters.)
Of course, this charade can only go on so long before at least the poorest of his voters want to see results in their own pocketbooks.
Next prediction: Checks are coming in the mail.
Another charade of course; Trump is a master of marketing and a slick showman. I’d suggest Democrats get ahead of this — start saying Trump and Musk are gonna give you $2K (make it bigger than what it actually will be, so the actual check is a letdown), while Trump and Musk are going to give themselves $2,000,000,000. (We’d be wasting our time if we addressed corruption because, sadly, no one cares.)
Third prediction: Women are going to get it.
Have you heard the term “natalism”? Or is it just me who noticed this weird word for the first time this week? A little research reveals Trump, Vance, Musk, Musk’s father were all “natalists” — people who want to increase the birth rate [implied: for white people.].
Note: Trump’s father and Musk’s fathers were @$$holes. It’s hard to have sympathy for them, but apparently they were raised by men more broken than they are — abusive and awful. Musk’s dozen kids — not to mention the world — should be thankful Musk isn’t parenting. At least not until he’s able to get some serious mental help.
In addition to “cutting wasteful spending and corruption,” Republican men I know are talking about increasing the birth rate. Did you know Trump is tying transportation grants to places with high birth rates?
“Distributing transportation funding based on marriage and birth rates is bizarre and a little creepy.”
-Senior Director, Infrastructure and Housing Policy at American Progress
But do not be mistaken, fair women. As if we didn’t get the hint with Roe v. Wade being repealed, this birth rate thing is not about honoring women and mothers. It’s about controlling them.
“Often the policy around birth rates is trying to address challenges or barriers to people not having children. This seems more focused on rewarding people for already having children.”
-Sarah Hayford, sociology professor and director of the Institute for Population Research at Ohio State University
Yeah, I mean… would free, high quality childcare make you move to a community? Yomama. How about family leave? Hello! College tuition covered? Say no more. Okay, how about more roads?
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Maybe if you wanted to do more…commuting?
Because as Zuckerberg says, there should be more “masculine energy” in large companies. It’s probably just a backlash against blue states.
Keep up the fight, women and allies. Do not obey in advance.