Casual Conversation

I am trying to ignore it. It’s like all the worst fears I could have coming true. The richest man in the world, a naked fascist and virulent transphobe, is gobbling up all the sensitive data the government has and is feeding it to AI so he can tear down the government and usher in techno-feudalism.

Meanwhile, I still have to go to work and pretend that everything is fine and normal, while the government is trying to define trans people out of existence, help Israel ethnically cleanse Palestine, and threaten every ally we’ve had.

I want to leave, but it’s extraordinarily difficult to uproot your life, and there’s no guarantee that finding a viable way to move elsewhere is going to happen.

So I’m just trying to imagine myself as a tiny individual, trying to hide from the brutality and eke out a good life with my little resources and community, and pray that whatever happens doesn’t happen to me directly.

Maybe I should be out protesting - I feel like I should - but there isn’t a mass movement right now, and there’s no leverage in government to stop them. So things are feeling pretty bleak right now.

I smoke a lot of pot. Probably the strangest part is how...I still have to live? I still have to go into work tomorrow, I've still got bills to pay. People just go about their day like nothing is happening. You sit in the office and joke about the ongoing hostile government takeover. Meanwhile, federal employees are getting fucked, trans people are getting erased, they're building fuckin camps down in Guantanamo, people are fuckin starving outside shuttered USAID depots, and I still got work tomorrow. It's like I'm just sitting here waiting for somebody to put a gun in my hands and tell me "the revolution starts now." My local organizations are very focused on making sure people survive right now, which is a very good and noble focus to have, but I haven't really heard of anyone planning something serious to fight back.

As a 50something American, it has never been weirder. While I saw this building during most of my life, I didn’t think I would actually live to see Americans voting to get rid of democracy.

But here we are - no longer a functioning democratic republic.

For anyone feeling small: Take a stand, join us. Masters are merely men.

I'm trans. I don't have the luxury of ignoring it.

I have been fighting against this bullshit for ten years. I even got arrested protesting Trump's bullshit once. Met some fantastic socialists and amarchists in jail.

Yeah, entertaining, isn't it? Seeing that every warning bell that was rung was ignored? That every day I waved a sign or shoved a cop, was just a day delaying this from happening?

Has it all been futile? Have I wasted ten years fighting the same fascists my grandfather fought in WW2?

The scariest thing is that the only reason we haven't done the violent uprising thing yet is because the only way it would succeed is if the military instigated the countercoup. We won't survive under American martial law, and they're bullbaiting us into giving them an exuse to kill and imprison us all. We must fight back, but we can't fight back.

This is hell. This is hell. Never, ever, ever let it happen in Belgium. For the love of any god that gives enough of a fuck to listen, care about politics. Care about politics before they decide they don't care about you.

Because in ten years, those of us who aren't in prison camps are going to be starving and freezing. Take a good look. Take a good, long look, and be smart enough to get up and do something dangerous and crazy once in a while when it matters most.

American here. Terrified about what's happening and even more terrified how unaware people like my parents are. The department of education going away is, to my mom, something that won't happen but if it does, they had good intentions. This is from someone who has always claimed "both sides are bad". But suddenly now the most nakedly evil people in the history of the country have taken over, it's out of our hands and just stop worrying.

It's not a good time, let me tell ya.

Americans, how do you cope? What’s your take on the situation?

Trying not to think about it. It very well may lead to my death, but so does every avenue radical enough to avert it by my personal intervention.

I think the hardest part considering it is how okay people are with everything that's going on. Despite the high levels of copium from liberals and leftists about how there's TOTALLY a grassroots movement ready to rise up, the fact is... there isn't. The protests are smaller this time 'round than they were last time. Public opinion is more in favor of Trump than it was at the start of his last administration.

Many of us noted that this country isn't as left as many of the "Trump will make the moderates SEE that fascism is BAD!" types wanted to believe it was. We were ignored.

People live in a bubble, where what they want to believe is true, and goddamn reality.

Anyway. I'm fucked, and just trying to stay alive until I can't avoid dusting off my old suicide plans.

I'm not really sure I am coping. I've been seeing a decline for a long long time, but even though I knew it was possible I really didn't think we'd reach the point were we're pretty much going to be living under a dictatorship.

I knew that capitalist interests would continue to decrease everyone's standard of living, and I figured there would be some kind of reaction, I just never in a million years thought it would be the dumbfuck duo of Trump and Musk that actually harnessed the reaction in such a destructive manner.

It's been incredibly depressing to see the right get what they want time and time again making things worse for everyone and yet the propaganda machine somehow manages to create more right wingers.

But then again "the house always wins" and billionaires are the house so it shouldn't be a surprise. :/

I've heard people say they've never felt more american than they ever have since the last month. It's a different perspective for everyone. But it does concern me that some people base their entire perspectives on the first ten words they hear, and refuse to think further

It’s difficult. You’ve got people that vote red or blue for no other reason than that’s what they’re told to do by peers/family. They don’t look at the possible outcomes, just that “they win”. And wanting to help people is almost looked down upon in many facets of society.

America has a critical thinking problem, coupled with an extreme lack of genuine empathy. Don’t let the “nice American” bit fool you if you ever travel here. The nice small talk is a front, and you can very easily find yourself in an uncomfortable situation. Health care is a great example. Or anything LGBTQ+.

Honestly, it’s a culture thing. It’s toxic as hell and hard to navigate.

All of the media about this stuff has felt increasingly like misleading propaganda to me since 2016, and getting an accurate, unbiased, big picture understanding of what is happening seems somewhere between a lot of work and actually impossible with so many people trying so hard to manipulate you. It is like reality television. I try to tune it out as I can but enough gets through.

I'm glad everyone is finally coming around to hating Twitter though.

My reaction is to get to work. The far-right is trying to take over much of the world, and it's going to take many of us to push it back. Don't wait for someone else to step up - everyone else is waiting too. Be the person who steps up. The people have power if we use it

There's groups like Indivisible doing directed pressure of those in government that need more people to contact their house representatives and senators. With that pressure for instance, they've started to get Democrats to use procedural tools to slow down senate confirmation of Trump's picks

There's movements like the 50501 protests in many cities in all 50 states yesterday, on Feb 5th, and there will be future protests

For anyone else reading this, don't think this can't happen wherever you are in the world, join the fight back locally. People in the US thought it couldn't happen to them too until it did. People in the UK thought Brexit wouldn't happen until it did. It can happen to you. Take what's happened in the US as a warning for you too to get involved in the push back

If we don't stop the rich from using the American military to take over the world then pretty soon the rich will come for your country too.

People have just started to realize after 50 years that both major parties, and our system undermines the formation of a third major party, stand with the robber barons against needs of the people while stoking social division to protect the robber barons from reprisal.

Kinda demoralizing. Especially considering all the "Herp derp Freedom" kool-aid poured down our throats from birth.

lol, Donald Trump ripping apart the American democratic underpinnings of Check and Balances, and driving a wedge into post war Western alliance so deep Europe can no longer rely on the US to fire at Russia ever again, coupled with threatened worldwide reciprocal tariffs which are sure to plunge the country and rest of the world into the greatest global economic depression (coincidentally) since the 1930's. Nope, not much going on over here, how the weather where you are?

I’ve encouraged my teenage children to seek employment outside of the States after college, and even attend college abroad if possible. Since the news information ecosystem is compromised, I have no hope for a future USA that is free and equitable.

Sharing a border with them makes it a little less entertaining and a little more concerning

Americans, how do you cope?

Alcohol

What's your take on the situation?

I'm leaving the country. My friends are stockpiling and getting sterilized.

Surviving.

Right now, it feels like all I can do. Keep going, keep reaching out to other members of the local LGBT community to help be a wall to lean on, keep telling my partners that I love them. Keep sheltering whatever tiny spark is left.

And making sure that spark is fed, in whatever little ways I can. Letting myself be more open, letting my colors flash a bit more. Trying to smile in the face of hate.

As to my take on the situation, it's fucked. There's no nuance to it. We're watching our siblings and ourselves being actively erased, waking up wondering when our actual existence will be a crime. Even if we make it through, things somehow get better, there's so much trust that has been completely broken.

Our government has pissed on lines that, even with a total change of leadership, will take time to repair. Both within the country and on a global scale. Many people within the country have done the same, there will be no taking back things said and done while they thought it was "okay". There's no forgetting the hate that has been exposed.

I agree with your assessment: I find it both fascinating (who would have thought each new thing was actually possible, what insane bad idea will be launched today?) and horrifying.

Still working out the coping aspect, as what’s going on directly affects me and some of my family, but mostly switch between paying very close attention and trying to game out what the agenda is, and then taking a day to not pay attention and live in calm denial.