The following is an interview of the professor with DoRzeczy.pl.
Do Rzeczy: We are in the final hours of the presidential election battle in the United States. Could a squirrel decide the outcome of this race?
Prof. Jarosław Szczepański: The squirrel issue may indeed stir things up. Everyone wondered what Biden’s performance would be like and the issue of garbage in Puerto Rico. However, this has been overshadowed by the euthanasia of a squirrel. It did stir things up a bit because Peanut [also known as P;Nut) is a symbol of a certain oppression of the state, which interferes quite far in the lives of its citizens and in their domestic affairs.
Does the squirrel fit into the sentiments among Americans that the Democratic government has severely undermined their privacy and security through such internal involvement in what is happening at home?
Yes. There was also the issue of politicization of economic life because this squirrel case is an attempt to use the state to destroy competition. It all sounds funny, but it can be reduced to the fact that there were two entrepreneurs who made money from videos on the Internet, two influencers. One of them wanted to eliminate the competition, reduce the number of people producing these videos. She eliminated the squirrel and the other influencer using the state apparatus, which means that the state can also very deeply interfere in economic processes. This is what it all boils down to. In Europe, we joke about it, but for Americans, it is a visible sign that the state and state bodies can be used to fight on the market as well. And this is dangerous. The state should be neutral. It should not interfere so deeply in the lives of citizens that it is used to destroy competition.
In the United States, it can also be seen that celebrity support for Kamala Harris is not having the expected effect. Comments on the Internet indicate that citizens do not like this form of persuading them who to vote for.
That too. Kamala Harris, on the other hand, has incredibly bad luck. These celebrities’ connections always turn into some kind of tragedy. When Beyoncé was supposed to support Kamala Harris in Texas, most people came expecting a concert that never happened. Harris was booed when she performed. In turn, when the Avengers actors gathered, they proposed the slogan: “Down with democracy,” which can be translated ambiguously and usually brings to mind the old patriotic song “Battlecry of Freedom,” which talks about taking down the banner.
“Down with democracy” would therefore mean ending democracy. Eliminating it, not supporting it. The ambiguity of this slogan also resonated widely on the Internet. Once again, an attempt to support it turned out to be a reason for creating memes or attacking Harris and her supporters.
In your opinion, has Donald Trump made any mistakes in recent hours? Apart from the terrible make-up, which many people thought looked absurd.
Donald Trump has embarked on a campaign that I would tentatively call European or even Polish. He is very involved in various events, for example, he dresses up as an employee of a garbage collection company. This is all very cool and interesting. However, the substantive message has been lost. Trump has not given any substantive message for at least a month, which was also noted by voters and did not go unnoticed.
