United States of Prophecy

I wrote this before reading Rebecca Solnitn's Between the Impossible and the Inevitable: The Case for Defiance (aka Never F**king Surrender) which has me considering some things about following a prophecy though not completely throwing it out. I'll write up more when I've had time to think about it.

When you search "how long do empires last", you get an AI summary that starts:

Empires historically last an average of roughly 250 years, or about ten generations, according to studies of imperial lifespans.

Is this accurate? I don't know. It feels like one of those facts that circulates blogs and news outlets, with each referencing the other as a source. It doesn't matter if it is or isn't. This is America. If it feels right then it is right. Right enough to get us into the next prophecy.

America has run on prophecy. Divine providence from the start. Our growth was certain and needed for the rest of this country. This kind of belief can do wonders for the future as well as the past.

If you're certain that you are meant to rule over a new land by the right of God then why would you not blanket the history of your new country with that belief? Roll it back to the very start. Beyond the start, when this land was founded by pilgrims. Discovered by Columbus. These were no accidents. They were destiny. We can see that now, in hindsight.

That's the story we have told ourselves.

MAGA, the same. A belief built around a past idea of what America was. An America that few alive today were here to experience. MAGA looks to the past for greatness and in that greatness, as skewed as it was, they find destiny, prophecy.

The weakness of prophecies is that they crumble. The time comes and nothing happens. The prophecy must shift and a new divine path is communicated to the chosen ones.

The beauty of MAGA is there is no time. It will happen in the future by looking to the past. MAGA watches the future and past. With attention split, there's nothing left for the present and the present is where the work is done.

That's not to say that the administration isn't working in the present. They are. It's followers who are lost to the past and future.

I think under any normal administration we would be talking about the upcoming celebration of America's 250th birthday. I think for every day people, it's a significant point in time. When things could come to a head.

For the administration it's an inconvenience. A date leads to unfulfilled prophecy. Ambiguity keeps destiny alive.

Pete Hegseth keeps pushing that the war with Iran is part of God's plan. This constant prophesying can only lodge itself deeper into the American mind. Dates of rapture have already come and gone. Given out by tiktok influencers. It's only a matter of time before July 4th gets connected to the next great spiritual warfare.

You may find this talk of prophecy to be woo-woo. I feel similar, but it is no secret that the administration believe in higher powers, prophecy, and revelations. They couch their decisions in that belief and so, often, find that the decisions they make create the outcome they expected from that belief.

Whether they do so internally or not, doesn't matter at this point. Only that they do it, and it is happening. The decisions of the Middle East are part of those beliefs.

They will continue to pray for insight which will come in poorer decisions that cost more lives. They will say it's all part of the plan. Every significant choice will be wrapped into it until they can watch the world blow itself apart in the hopes that Jesus will come for them.

My hope in all of this is that everyday Americans will attach timelines to Armageddon. That the constant stringing along of a better future with shit results will become tiresome. And eventually, the prophecies of doom will make way for prophecies of a better tomorrow.