It’s Junior High School All Over Again — Forever

America seems to be trapped in an endless, idiotic social nightmare

Ah, junior high school. Most of us remember it as a wonderful, even blissful time.

Uh … No. No way!

Not all towns or municipalities had/have junior high schools, so for those who were not privileged (or cursed) to experience it, I’ll just say that junior high school usually encompasses grades 7–8, or sometimes 7–9. It encompasses the time when boys and girls are going through early adolescence. I repeat: it’s the time of wacko early adolescence.

In other words: Aaaarrgghh!

In other, other words: It’s an utter nightmare and a social and emotional disaster zone.

And that means it’s very, very similar to America’s social and political scene, circa 2023.

What made junior high so horrendous?

Here’s my idea: Let’s explore exactly what was going on in junior high that made it such a horrendous experience for many of us — and then examine how the same misery-inducing issues or problems are showing up in our society as a whole now.

I was inspired — if we can call it that — to write on this subject when I saw an article in today’s Austin-American Statesman (9/29) detailing the initial phase of Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into Pres. Biden. It reminded me, strongly, of friggin’ junior high school because this GOP ‘inquiry’ is — I’ll be polite here — petty, ugly, vindictive, moronic, and downright nasty.

Just like junior high school.

Of course, I’m not saying that junior high was always petty, vindictive, nasty, etc. — merely most of the time. That is, the overall experience was just awful. It was anxiety-producing, upsetting, even traumatic — just like today’s America.

Early adolescence — and by extension, junior high school — is characterized by raging hormones, out-of-control emotions, desperate bids for ‘popularity,’ and equally desperate attempts to ‘fit in’ and be ‘normal.’ It’s a time chock-full of fear, anxiety, group-think, mockery, scapegoating, and bullying.

Just like today’s America.

Trump validates Americans’ worst, most hateful impulses

The thing is, junior high schoolers at least have a valid excuse — they’re early teens, for God’s sake, and they’re by definition freaked-out, immature, gossipy, and even childishly malicious. Fox ‘News,’ Donald Trump, and far-right Trump followers have no such excuse — yet they keep pumping out wildly inaccurate, gossipy, malicious stories and hateful lies that they call ‘news’ or ‘political commentary.’

Here’s what happened, I think: Trump came along, ran for and became our president, and both during and after his presidency consistently accomplished one major thing — he green-lighted all of Americans’ worst and most hateful impulses and made it perfectly OK to be an arrogant, mean-spirited, vicious, and overtly nasty human being.

Trump made it not only OK but desirable to be a complete jerk and a racist, bullying a-hole. After all, if it’s good enough for our President, our ‘dear leader,’ it goddamn well is good enough for the rest of us!

And of course, since Trump’s presidency ended in 2021 the GOP has continued enabling him and supporting all his lies and devious manipulations. Amazingly, as of today, Trump still ‘leads’ the GOP (cue “Road to Nowhere” by the Talking Heads), and is far and away the front-runner for the Republican nomination for president in ‘24.

Total Insanity.

And speaking of insanity, the latest madness to emanate from the GOP-controlled House of Representatives is a twofer: we have the aforementioned bad-faith impeachment’ inquiry’ designed to slime and defame Pres. Biden, AND we have far-right GOP obstructionists refusing to negotiate at all about their priorities and demands, and pushing the U.S. toward a needless, destructive government shutdown.

In both cases, far-right bad actors are abrogating their true governing responsibilities, and focusing instead on malicious manipulations, acting out, and directly bullying the GOP, the Democrats, and ultimately all of America.

That’s right. Our own government is now being attacked and bullied into submission by a cadre of arrogant, antisocial GOP ‘representatives’ — who seem to be only representing themselves and the very worst aspects of their party and Trump’s MAGA movement.

Vengeance, retribution … and more vengeance

It’s well-known that Trump is quite sexist, racist, highly narcissistic — and also a loud-mouthed, vengeful bully. In fact, he is SO vengeful that he’s publicly informed America that when (not if) he’s elected president in ’24 he will embark on a vicious campaign of vengeance and retribution against anyone — even supposed ‘RINO’ Republicans — who opposed him, criticized him, or tried to impeach him.

He very deliberately cultivates his ‘strong man’ image, which to him includes always staying laser-focused on grievances, petty resentments, and much-anticipated ‘sweet revenge.’

He reminds me of a petulant, nasty schoolyard bully — the kind who taunts younger, weaker kids for the fun of it and tries his best to intimidate and overpower everyone around him (remember Trump’s infantile, persistent name-calling).

It amazes me that a full 30–35% of Americans seem to admire these traits and this bullying behavior, and even further, want these traits in our president. In our nation’s president!

As I said: It’s &$^*!% junior high school, all over again, in perpetuity.

Creating a devoted ‘public army’ to bully the U.S. into submission

Then there’s this: the other brutal aspect of junior high is the massive mental and social confusion that reigns. Everyone’s bodies are changing fast, and with them kids’ emotions, reactions, interactions, and self-esteem — the last of which is usually in the toilet for much of junior high.

And when kids’ self-esteem is low or sinking, they will do almost anything for approval or to ‘get ahead’ in the pecking order (and the ‘pecking order’ in junior high can feel and even be lethal. Recall all the sad, pathetic stories about young teens who were bullied and harassed until they committed suicide).

They’ll lie, cheat, harass, and taunt others, play up to the ‘popular’ kids, and generally behave like miserable, needy, screwed-up brats — that is, normal early teenagers.

Similarly, Trump — despite his ‘tough guy’ bravado — desperately wants and needs the approval of his devoted followers, and will do or say almost anything to get and keep their approval. This means he constantly plays to the lowest common denominator and works hard to keep his fans and followers riled up and ready to ‘go to war’ for him.

That’s not an exaggeration.

It’s all been happening right out in the open: he is using his bluster, bravado, and hateful words to mold a public army of enraged, manipulative bullies who are very much ‘made in his image’ — a waiting army that will go to war for him, and against our own society and government, if he eggs them on (which is something he, being a gifted demagogue, is great at).

So much for having a peaceful society. So much for actual governing and progress.

A ready-made ‘solution’ already exists

Looking back, life in junior high school was a complete mess, and a thoroughly miserable experience for many of us (if not most). It was a time of extreme confusion, anxiety, social conflict, conformism, and emotional hardship. It was a truly hellacious and emotionally perilous period.

And today, Trump and his conformist, fascist MAGA movement seem hell-bent on reducing American society to exactly this level of crazed (anti)social interaction, petty grievance-mongering, open propagandizing and deception, and fear-filled, swelling rage.

It’s everything we hated and despised about junior high school — all rolled into a horrendous, seemingly endless morass of immature, racist B.S. that calls itself ‘the MAGA movement.’

However, there’s a truly excellent solution — probably the only solution — to all this hateful, idiotic nonsense. But it’s a solution that Trump and his fanatical followers will never willingly embrace.

It’s called growing up.