I'm so tired of people telling me I was overreacting or being alarmist when I said...
- That Kamala was going to be a repeat of Hillary
- Trump wants to implement Project 2025
- Trump wants to be a dictator. He will seek a 3rd term (and a 4th, a 5th, and so on).
- Trump will deport innocent people, including permanent residents, or even citizens
- His admin will target political dissidents and opponents
- DOGE is just an excuse for Elon to do a power grab
- on and on and on
Now it's: Detention centers and Ecuadorian prisons are just the start. They are testing the waters for something much, much worse. (Edit: And to be clear, I wasn't the only person saying all these things. This isn't some sort of humble brag. I just listened to the countless experts, historians, and others much smarter and more well informed than me.)
I feel like I got gaslit by the media and Republicans saying that everything was going to be ok. That it was business as usual despite the rhetoric and to hunker down for the eventual pendulum swing back to the left. "Maybe I am overreacting, there's too many good people, systems, and checks that would stop the worst aspects from happening, surely..."
The best time to act was 4 (or even 8) years ago. The second best time is NOW. "It could never happen here" is so damn entrenched in the subconscious of our society people refuse to see the evidence in front of their eyes.
"But we don't make it illegal to be homeless. We just put spikes on all our benches, shut down all the shelters, and had police crack down on "loitering." You can be homeless if you want...just do it over there. I have my property values to worry about."
This country makes you sick, because it IS sick.
The problem with this is there are actual Neo-Nazis in the government and MAGA militias. Regardless of what bad actors or the twitter mob that doesn't know any better say, if it looks like a Nazi, shouts like a Nazi, and salutes like a Nazi...
Have you checked The Big List of Protests for your local area?
Good comment.
Only have one thing to add: Americans are woefully out of practice when it comes to protesting, or being otherwise politically active. Most have never even been to one. Many can't even conceive of the process of going to one, let alone where to start to find information about one. And this is after decades of protesters being demonized or mocked (or misconstrued, to your point about demands being obfuscated) in the media.
I think foreigners, especially ones from other wealthy countries, don't realize how powerless the average American feels. "You're the wealthiest country in the history of the world!" Sure, but that's all bundled at the top. Most of us are struggling to stay housed (hell, half of us are literally one missed paycheck away from homelessness--and this is in a country with dystopic care for the homeless). Hard for someone to imagine traveling 12+ hours away (assuming they even own a car) for a single protest in a major city when they are hungry.
Of course, this is by design and we should fight anyway. Doesn't change the harsh reality of the hurdles in the way.
Reminds me of grade school again. Get bullied, nothing happens. Fight back, get punished.
Only in this case the school is Reddit, the bully is DOGE tearing the country apart, and fighting back is posting memes. What a world.
Still can't get over the Republicans out there with "Support Tesla" signs. Do they know it is an EV company?
Gee, they really can't stop proving how small-minded they are with their constant projection, huh?
"The liberal meanies keep accusing me of doing a propaganda...well, I'm gonna tell everyone THEY are doing a propaganda instead!" This is how a child's mind works, jfc.
Very well put.
Yeah, this is why the term "scientific racism" grinds my gears so much, including when people balk at the phrase "race is a social construct". If these people actually cared about the science, the notion of "scientific racism" would last about as long as it takes for it to enter their head. They cherry pick studies and sources to confirm their pre-existing prejudices.
In 2024, Spartz voted against a crucial $60 billion aid package for Ukraine, shortly after being accused by a primary challenger of prioritizing aid to Ukraine over domestic Republican priorities including the border wall. Her vote against the U.S. aid for Ukraine came just three days after a Russian missile strike on Chernihiv, where her family lived, killed 18 civilians and injured 78. Having previously been lauded in Chernihiv for her life story and as "one of their own", some inhabitants reactions were described as pride turning into "anger" and a "sense of betrayal" due to her vote against the aid, intensified after the Russian bombing during rush hour on her hometown.
This is after years of advocating for sending aid to Ukraine. Wonder what changed?
It is deeply frustrating that the vast majority of Americans agree on most things (at least we did a few years ago), and yet we fight each other over arbitrary nonsense anyway.
I'd also mention that the Dems are profoundly unpopular right now. I can't tell you many Trump voters I've talked to the past few weeks that have a short circuit when I tell them that I hate the Dems too, probably more than they do. Many Trump voters (and non-voters for that matter) are as Anti-Dem as they are Pro-Trump, if not moreso.
I'm not sure how to convince these people to vote for a Democrat in the short term. Even if in the long term the goal is a new party or a radical restructuring of the current one.
Seeing the numbers laid out, even though I already knew it was bad, is profoundly depressing.
I hate that Americans are so "war on terror" pilled that all we need to be ok with civilian casualties is that there was a single guy that the government says was a terrorist there.
Terrorism is...checks notes...taking material actions to stop a genocide (as required by international law)?
Edit: I realized this comment might be getting misunderstood. I am not saying that this is what the American government is doing with regards to the OP. I am saying this is what the people our government is currently accusing of terrorism are doing.
So, what you are describing is the false dichotomy that proponents of scientific racism rely on to convince people.
The accepted scientific consensus agrees with your take. It isn't radical to say "there are biological differences between men and women, including in how they think." Quite the opposite. The issue is science isn't very good at promoting itself (partly due to how precise scientific studies are--"men are better at spatial awareness in this specific circumstance, with these specific parameters, but our study is not conclusive in the general case. More work is needed." That kind of thing. People want more concrete answers than "hormones definitely affect how we think, but figuring out precisely how is more difficult."), so grifters come in with half-truths and "common sense" takes that convince people that don't know any better that scientists are dumb.
More to the point with regards to race, there are differences between ethnicities. They just aren't what proponents of scientific racism say they are. The actual differences are mostly aesthetic or related to things like body type, eye/hair color, and height, that kind of thing (I should also mention that even defining a specific "race" is a significant hurdle in and of itself--we say race is a social construct for a reason). And, to reiterate, this isn't a radical stance in the actual scientific community. "Scientific racism" is a misnomer--there's nothing scientific about it beyond aesthetics.
Edit: I've edited this with clarifying statements like a dozen times already, so I should stop lol. I hope you all get my meanings.