Dear Boogie - Volume 11
Dear Boogie,
ICE raids? The National Guard being deployed to LA? Is this the end of this country as we know it? The only Civil War I want is between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. Are you ok out there?
Sincerely,
Concerned About Fascism
Dear CAF,
To answer the easiest of your questions - yes, I’m ok out here. My pasty skin and general cis middle-aged dumpiness render me pretty low on the fascist target list (for now, anyway). It’s pretty crazy what’s been happening in LA this past week, but I’ve got to admit - my bar for ‘crazy things happening’ has been pushed pretty high the last several years. Military in the streets? Just another Thursday in Southern California! But yes, I’m ok and thanks for asking.
As far as the answer to your other questions, CAF… I don’t know. The National Guard being called to LA to quell civilian dissent is pretty fucking alarming. But who knows what the short and long term effects of this whole thing will be? I know you come to this newsletter for my wisdom and dick jokes and wisdom-tinged dick jokes. But I’m sorry - this time I simply don’t know. But here’s what I do know:
LA isn’t burning down. Despite what you may have heard or images you have seen on the news or the internet, this ‘riot’ is not wide ranging nor disruptive to most of the city. For perspective, here’s a map of the area where most of the clashes with police are happening.
So while this event is certainly not ‘nothing,’ Los Angeles is not the Mad Max hellscape that it may be portrayed in the media. The narrative of a city on fire just isn’t true. There is one single video of a car on fire that seems to be getting a lot of airplay. In a lot of cities, that just means your team won the Stanley Cup. Fun fact, some images and videos being pushed right now are from the 2020 post-George Floyd demonstrations. They are having such a hard time finding violent footage that they have to resort to reruns! From my friends who have been active in the resistance, I have been told that most of the protests have been peaceful (singing and dancing and shit). The violence has been isolated to a few knuckleheads and almost always instigated and inflamed by the police and military. Shocker, huh? But even if things do grow to a larger scale…
LA is unbreakable. I’ve been out here in Los Angeles for almost five years now. Across the country and world, LA has the reputation for shallow materialism and vacuous influencers rating avocado toast for their Tik Tok followers. And while that part is not untrue, I can tell you this from personal experience: I’ve never lived somewhere in which people cared about their neighbors more than in LA. This is truly a community-focused city. People give a shit about each other’s lives in a way that I haven’t experienced anywhere else. It’s not just in action. It’s in principle. LA is a city of people who came from somewhere else to build a life and community on their terms. They will be damned if they roll over when someone threatens it.
Let me emphasize - these undocumented folks are part of our community. Most of the MAGA people beating the drum on immigration reform have never had a conversation with an undocumented immigrant in their fucking lives. But here, these folks are our neighbors. They work in the stores we shop and the restaurants we eat in. They are integrated into every business we patronize and every service we use. Their kids go to school with our kids (I don’t have kids because I can keep it in my fucking pants, but you get the point). Immigrants of all legal statuses (stati?) are woven into every part of our lives and make this city run. In my experience, people in LA rally around their neighbors. I saw it first hand during the fires when I was volunteering with SELAH. We were overwhelmed by community support for our unhoused neighbors. This latest showy gambit of ICE raids is definitely a challenge, but it’s one that LA has been dealing with to some degree for decades. There has been enough state-sponsored violence aimed at marginal communities in Los Angeles that they’re ready for this shit. Resistance is organized and mobilized.
That’s why we’re the target. LA is the ultimate symbol - Hollywood elites and trans activists pushing their woke liberal agendas to take your Jesusguns away, right? But the truth is - the people out there pushing back against ICE this week aren’t all a bunch of super extreme lefties. Many of them are just regular working people that want fascism out of their neighborhoods. Of course, this show of force isn’t really about immigration or LA. It’s about showing the MAGA followers that the administration is sticking it to those woke liberals. Which brings me to something else I know or at least believe…
Cruelty will not win. You may have noticed - there are people laughing at all this. If you’re on social media (which I recommend against), you’re likely to see some gloating and reveling by anonymous dickheads, most of whom are nowhere near LA. When we see people celebrating cruelty, it can be disheartening. It makes us feel like we are a truly separate species from these empathy-free neckbearded choads. But here’s something important to remember:
These people are fucking miserable.
Yes, they’re having a little moment of shallow joy to see their “enemies” smited. But honestly - do you think people who revel in cruelty have good, loving relationships? Are they full of confidence in themselves because of the great accomplishments of their lives? Do they feel seen, safe, and loved? Probably not. When I hear someone yell “Go back to Mexico!”, it filters itself through my little psychology translator and comes out the other side sounding an awful lot like “I peaked in high school and my dad never hugged me!” Now, I know normally I preach empathy for these broken toys, but one could be forgiven for not being in the mood right now. But rest assured - they are not winning. If you have peaceful, loving relationships and generally like yourself - you’re winning.
So yeah, CAF - I don’t know if I have a lot of hope for you today. But as Mr. Rogers said - look for the helpers. I am immensely proud of my community for standing up against this massive abuse of power. I don’t know what is going to happen but I am reassured that LA is not rolling over. Unlike that elite wussy Tony Stark. Team Steve Rogers all day.
Boogie Writes is a completely independent endeavor by one hard-working funnyman trying to make his way in the world today (which takes everything you’ve got.) If you like what you read, please subscribe, support, and tell a friend! Also - do you need advice? Of course you do! Send your queries to brendan@brendanboogie.com with “Dear Boogie” in the subject and get some solid or at least passable advice!