Bread and Circuses: The Meaning
This phrase refers to a superficial method of appeasement used by those in power to distract the public. It is meant to make the public forget issues or grievances.
The Romans used the gladiatorial fights in the arena to keep the people entertained. This kept them pacified instead of revolting in the streets. In general it uses peoples selfish desires against them. The Romans were not the last to use this tactic. Rulers throughout history would use festivals and tournaments to both celebrate their power and distract the populace.
Bread and Circuses: Modern Style
Donald Trump seems to be essentially a TV President. The idea of TV presidents might evoke the image of Jed Bartlett of the West Wing. In this case it is more like Jersey Shores White House. Trumps approach to the Presidency has always been the theatrical. In his first term there were professionals who helped keep his more insane ideas in check. Now in his second administration there is no such guard rails.
Surrounding himself with sycophants who are brutally incompetent the protections are gone. I can’t help but wonder if he thinks he looks smarter if those around him are dumb. The most recent example would be his recent musing of hosting a UFC, Ultimate Fighting Championship, event at the White House. Such a thing would have been unthinkable before. Now we live in a world where the White House is used to sell Tesla, or Teslers as President Trump called them. The scene is easy to imagine now. Stands filled with a mix of business suit wearing legislators and MAGA merchandise wearing supporters. A cage set up on the lawn with McDonalds food trucks off to the side. Naturally the media would be putting their own spins on the event.
This all of course distracts us from little things his administration does such as:
- Cutting SNAP benefits to millions of hungry people across the country
- Cutting Medicaid access to people who already have trouble keeping their benefits
- Making ICE the largest police force in the country sending people to concentration camps
- Locking up and revoking citizenship status for people who dissent
- Having agents with no identification, uniform, and wearing face masks grabbing people off the street and throwing them into unmarked vehicles.
- Shipping people off to be imprisoned and tortured for the rest of their lives with no due process
- Cutting educational programs for children
- Stopping food shipments from American farmers to starving families around the world
The list goes on and on. Sadly his strategy seems to work in large measure with a media all too willing to cover his every move. Right wing outlets covering these moves celebrate him while telling their viewers who to be afraid of. Left wing outlets go their own way telling their viewers to be afraid of the right. Both sides seem to push the idea of the other as the enemy.
The recent military parade in Washington DC to ostensibly celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army is another example. Of course being held on the President’s birthday was just a coincidence, right? The President wanted a show of his power with his military showing it’s might. It seemed he imagined serious faced troops looking battle hardened and ready to destroy his enemies. Instead he got smiling troops who were enjoying being part of a parade. It really feels like President Trump got a book called Bread and Circuses for dummies. Of course that can’t be true since apparently he doesn’t like to read. Maybe it was a segment on Fox and Friends.
The people have been turning out in the millions to protest all over the country. They clearly see the things that are happening and they are saying in no uncertain terms it will not stand.
Bread and Circuses: How To Stop The Madness
This seems like it should be straight forward right? Survive until 2026 and then go to the voting booth and vote out the bums who allowed everything. Is it really that simple? Will there be elections in 2026? Republicans control both houses in the legislature. They have, with very limited exceptions, shown themselves to be spineless. They beg Trump for crumbs to take back to their constituents. The same constituents they have either avoided or simply disregarded.
The courts which have shown a willingness to stand up to Trump have been effectively neutered by the U.S. Supreme Court. The recent decision that courts can’t issue nationwide injunctions is quite a course change.
At the state levels Republicans have done everything to keep themselves from ever losing another election. The idea that no election is valid unless they win seems to be the general consensus for them. They have:
- Redrawn voting districts to favor themselves
- Restricted voting rights
- Given themselves power to set aside local election boards if they give a result the legislature doesn’t like
- Encouraged armed right wing individual to act as poll watchers to intimidate voters
- Created an environment where nobody feels safe
If that wasn’t bad enough the Democrats can’t get their act together and decide what they actually stand for. There is no real obvious leadership. Nobody who isn’t deemed as perfect can stand up and take a leadership roll.
Elon Musk is jumping in to further destabilize things by creating his own party. Sadly some people will join it just because of their frustration with the two established parties. In the end I suspect this will simply result in pulling votes from the other two parties making it harder for anyone to have a “mandate”
In My Opinion
I despise election season. It is the time when I upgrade my streaming TV package to no commercials and I avoid social media. That said I think we need to get things rolling. Democrats need to get primary season started. Candidates should be announced, run the process and select who will lead the party. Don’t wait until October. Trump started running just months after he left office and didn’t even bother to show up for debates. He just made himself the candidate. Democrats can’t wait any longer.
Once we have candidates they need to focus on what is important to voters. Kitchen table issues as they are called should be front and center. There is nothing wrong caring about issues like transgender, racial justice, etc. It is just these issues aren’t what win elections.
What American’s Care About
Take the price of groceries. That is an idea Trump used so successfully in the last election. That is an idea that matters to anyone who isn’t rich. Remind people that not only are prices still high they are actually higher in some cases.
No Taxes on Tips was a theme both sides agreed was a good thing. In the end the version Trump and Republicans passed as limited and temporary. Democrats need to campaign on fixing that and telling people why it needs to be fixed.
Immigration is another hot button issue. Democrats need to point out how the administration is basically kidnapping productive members of peoples communities. They need to talk about the focus should be on criminals not hard working people. Trump is going after the easy targets to show results. Af the same time leaving dangerous criminals who are harder to find on the streets. Trump is soft on criminals and hard on communities.
The Most Important Action Items
When all is said and done if the Democrats get control of both houses of congress they must take action. They need to forget keeping issues to run on in the next election. Too often parties choose not to fix issues simply so they can run on them in the next election. As we can plainly see there are those who are determined to make sure there won’t be future elections.
In the first 100 days Democrats need to codify:
- The end of the Emergency Powers seized by the Trump Administration
- Voting Rights
- Abortion Rights
- LGBTQ+ Rights
- Limits on Executive power to deploy the military.
- Limit the Executive power to deploy military against U.S. Citizens
- Reduce ICE budgets and scope
- The rights of people to sue gun manufacturers
- Give power to the lower courts to issue national injunctions
- Restore FEMA, USAID, Voice of America
- Creation of an non-governmental organization with a fixed annual budget tasked with investigating public corruption
- Standards of Conduct for Supreme Court Justices
- Standardize all national election cycles to no more than 90 days for general elections and 60 days for primaries.
Actions speak louder than words. The MAGA right has spoken clearly with their actions. It is on the rest of us now to hold them accountable. The rest of us need to remember everything they have done. We need to stay in the streets until the next election. We can’t be distracted by Bread and Circuses! We need to give a mandate to the non-MAGA faction to fix what Trump and his cronies have broken.
Bread & Circuses: What Can I Do?
It can feel exhausting just thinking how long it is until the mid-terms. More so to think of the end of Trump’s second term. Pace yourself. Stay informed, but don’t glue yourself to the news. Get on Mobilize.us to stay connected with others. Check out resources from Indivisible at indivisible.org. Look at the No Kings website found at nokings.org.
Look around your community and find people who are passionate with good ideas and solid morals. Encourage them to run for local office. I’m not saying you will find the next AOC. Yet you can find someone who does better than the current representative who won’t show for a town hall.