Are you running toward the world or away from it?

The Rapture, ICE, Gaza, TikTok, and participating in reality

If you’re reading this, I’m sorry. It means you weren’t chosen for the rapture this week. Apparently none of us were, somehow. I would’ve thought some of us were pure enough to be lifted up into the heavens either Tuesday or Wednesday, the two rapture days listed in the uber-viral rumor started by pastor Joshua Mhlakela. Maybe next time you’ll be so lucky to find yourself slowly floating away on the appointed day — and don’t worry a new rapture will surely be announced before long.

It’s a nice routine, the regular announcements that the end is imminent. Sometimes it’s a positive conclusion we can look forward to, like being lifted up into heaven. Other times the announcement is an asteroid coming any day now, and people seem to love them both in different ways. It’s probably not a great sign that the idea of the end strikes a lot of people as thrilling, regardless of what form it takes. It might indicate something that the rapture and the asteroid both go viral, capturing the imaginations of millions who dream of being relieved of the burdens of this life.

It’s worth noting that it’s always been this way. At least, for a long time people have fantasized about various apocalypses, raptures, all encompassing disasters and blissful ends to this mortal coil. The desire to escape, the desire to imagine the end of the world, is not new. And yet, at the same time, this inflection point feels different.

The eagerness to leave reality, to run from it, is everywhere. Rapture, distraction, World War 3 fantasies — everywhere you turn there’s another method of detachment from this world. And this comes as no surprise. People are dissatisfied, they rightly think that things are headed in the wrong direction, the once unstoppable myth of progress now finds itself full of holes. It’s difficult to imagine a bright future today, which hits especially hard when we were all promised a better tomorrow as our birthright.

Photo by Bruce Christianson on Unsplash

Fascists rely on unreality. We know that. Every day millions and millions of people consume deliberately misleading information disseminated by the highest levels of the U.S. government, and countless other sources. The President, the Vice President, the Director of the FBI — each of these men and many of the people in their employ work around the clock to deceive us.

Wednesday, when multiple detainees at a Dallas ICE facility were shot, far-right politicians and law enforcement both ran to frame the event as “far-left” violence. JD Vance, Kash Patel, and Kristi Noem all commented on an investigation that was mere hours old, trying to shape the story before knowing the details, or even anything about the shooter. What would have once been an unprecedented move, tweeting out sketchy evidence in a developing case, is now the norm for the MAGA head of the FBI. As Paul Blest wrote, “The director of the FBI’s job is now to justify a crackdown on an *organized* violent left that does not exist.”

This is when we are. The fascist movement is premised on distancing us from reality. Whether it’s outlandish pseudo-science about Tylenol, lies about the latest shooting, or attempting to fabricate our perception of the economy, pushing us further from the truth is fundamental to their aims. Fascism wouldn’t work if we were in touch with reality. It requires us to believe billionaires are benevolent, it requires us to believe the poorest members of society are so powerful they’re responsible for our problems, it requires us to believe the powerful are peaceful and the powerless are violent.

It’s all a house of cards. Building a movement premised on unreality will eventually fail as the gravity of the real world pulls us back down. Trump can rant and rave about how there’s no more inflation, something he’s said repeatedly, but groceries will still get more expensive. In fact, they’re rising at the fastest rate in three years. But the lies continue.

Photo by Let's go Together on Unsplash

Nothing but defeat will stop fascists from spouting ever more absurd lies, nothing but the collapse of the house of cards will bring them to their knees. For now they continue to double down. They’re trying to hand TikTok to another Trump billionaire ally, Larry Ellison, and a conglomerate that includes Rupert Murdoch of Fox News. Musk already owns Twitter, Zuckerberg owns Facebook and Instagram, Bezos owns the Washington Post, and the list goes on. For now the strategy is doubling down on misinformation, on controlling and distorting the story, on taking us further from reality.

Because they have nothing else to offer. Fascists and their corporate backers refuse to offer us real concessions. They refuse to raise wages or provide housing or improve healthcare. In fact, this regime is determined to strip the government for parts and sell off anything that benefits the working class. That is their aim, and because they refuse to make our material conditions better they instead invest in shaping the narrative and causing as many of us as possible to misunderstand our situation.

It’s worked in the past, but the bill is coming due. Trump’s approval is tanking. In areas where people once had faith in him, from the economy to inflation to immigration he’s now underwater:

Reality is reasserting itself. Seeing masked agents kidnap our neighbors is unpopular. Housing being increasingly expensive is unpopular. Groceries skyrocketing is deeply unpopular. And yet all of that is still not enough. It’s not enough to let reality hit people over the head. We have to work with these facts and make this moment matter. We have to actively run toward reality and present a way of doing politics that doesn’t lie to people, doesn’t urge them to ignore reality, doesn’t seek to escape from this world but instead seeks to change it.

Maybe the clearest example of brave people presenting an alternative to our brutal reality comes from the Global Sumud Flotilla. This fleet of boats, laden with humanitarian supplies, with food and medicine and the necessities of life, is moving toward Gaza as we speak. They’re attempting to break the siege, to alleviate the mass forced starvation, and to spur the world into action. Despite repeated attacks, they’re determined to run toward reality and confront it rather than burying their heads in the sand. They’re refusing to accept the things they cannot change, and instead doing everything in their power to change this sick world and halt a genocide.

And the flotilla has already spurred people into action. First Italian dockworkers launched a 24-hour general strike that swept across the country. They cite the flotilla and say that if Israel stops its advance, they will launch a much longer strike to halt the flow of goods and force Europe to cut off Israel. Then, in the aftermath of the initial strike, Italy and Spain sent naval vessels to escort the flotilla. It’s hard to know what happens next, but we can already see the impact of the brave people running toward reality, running toward Gaza in an attempt to stop a genocide.

We each have a choice to make right now. On the one hand, the most powerful people on Earth want to lure us away from the truth. They want us to believe their lies, they want us to live in an artificial reality while they steal the land beneath our feet and take the water beneath the land. The ruling class is betting trillions on AI, they’re betting trillions on fascism, they’re doubling down on a system that requires infinite growth on our finite planet. Instead of dealing with reality they tell us we’re all going to Mars one day. Instead of meeting our needs they’re telling us to blame the most marginalized people in society. Instead of offering us truth they offer us a series of lies, a series of imaginary carrots dangled to take us further and further from reality while they pillage the real world all around us.

It’s difficult to imagine changing this paradigm. It can be hard to imagine confronting the brutal nature of our reality and building something better in its place. As Mark Fisher said, “It’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” For countless people it seems easier to imagine the apocalypse or the rapture than it is to imagine a better world. And, in fairness, imagining heaven is simple. Imagining the restructuring of society, the construction of egalitarian systems, the implementation of real justice is complicated.

But we don’t need to figure out a perfect world right now. What we need to do is figure out how we can participate in reality. We need to stop seeking escape and seek instead plug in, play a part, take some action out in this world that so desperately needs us. It’s time to accept reality, accept that it’s ugly out there, and accept that we’re the only ones who can change this world. The forces of fascism rely on you tuning out, running from reality, indulging in their fantasies. We have to reject their lies, reject the carrots they dangle, and instead run toward reality and toward active participation in this fucked up world. - JP