As an outsider (I live in Belgium) it feels very weird and dystopian to see everything happening in American politics with Trump and Musk.
On one side, it’s very interesting and almost entertaining; on the other side, it’s scary. I can’t imagine what it must be like to live in the USA.
Americans, how do you cope? What’s your take on the situation?
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.
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
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.
That American Exceptionalism is a real bitch, huh?
Many of us never believed in American Exceptionalism, since we could see this country slipping backwards while the rest of the world continued to progress.
It feels like American Exceptionalism was only seriously being challenged post-9/11.
Has it ever not been weird, or are people just too young to remember. Like people lost their shit when obama wore a tan suit, or like dijon mustard. He got a nobel peace price while drone striking schools and being in 2 active wars. Bush was maybe a bit smarter than trump, but he was still an idiot son of an asshole. And just overall buffoon, that gor elected twice. I was too young to really care for clinton, but we all know how this went down. But every president you read up is either just a straight up criminal, or a spiteful asshole or both. And the ones who weren’t comically evil just got fucked.
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.
Would this be the military that could only reach a standstill in Korea? That lost in Vietnam? That lost in Afghanistan? That ran away scared from Mogadishu? That “won” in Iraq by generating the world’s largest collection of terrorists until the blowback lost you two large towers and a smaller one?
That military?
I think you’ll find, as a regular civilian or a VIP in the target country, that you’re making a distinction without a difference.
Ask Saddam Hussein’s opinion on the US’s loss in Iraq or the hundreds of thousands of dead civilians how they feel about winning in Afghanistan.
The one that is only currently setup to drone strike any human on earth yes that one.
I’ve got some bad news for you…
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.
I don’t have a take on the situation; I’m just making sure I stay informed about the news through reputable sources and nonprofit news networks local to me and other places. And I try to combat the situation by boycotting mega corporations every single day by voting with my wallet. By prioritizing mom and pop shops and Etsy stores, we can hurt Donald Trump and his greedy pals.
For anyone feeling small: Take a stand, join us. Masters are merely men.
The no spending/not buying from amazon is hilarious. Not only will people in general not do it, even if they see a dip in profits, they’ll have record profits the next day.
I wonder if ya’ll read this before you post. Its a display of unity. Its a warning.
As a Canadian, I and many others have been boycotting Amazon for over a month.
I don’t understand why people just can’t stop buying shit form Amazon. At some point a few years back, I had had enough. I stopped buying stuff from Amazon. I…didn’t think it was that hard. If anything, I’ll browse Amazon for something vague I’m looking for, find it, search the company names and buy it direct.
Amazon is just straight up bad. I have to be super desperate to buy something from there. Even when it was “good” i mainly used it to find something and compare it, and read reviews. If you do that now, you’re an insane person. Amazon video or what it’s called is really really bad. They show a lot of shows that you have to click on, to tell you that it’s not available in your region. It would be hilarious to just stop using amazon and see Jeffrey losing his shit. But not gonna happen.
Well a lot of it is just rage bait. Our journalists aren’t very honest.
For example, USAID was giving money to ridiculous things, like a musical in Ireland. There’s no reason for it. You start digging into it, we were paying billions of dollars to even more nonsense.
Yet people are defending it because some people are now getting fired over it.
It’s simply just stupid tribal fighting
USAID is a know corruption hot spot.
It was jobs for people of certain backgrpund, contracts awarded to certain companies, then there is classic over charging…
To be fiat this normal in all government contracting but US AID is specifically bad at it.
Most of the money is so that some people can have good jobs and live their best lives.
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.
The way I see it, even if our lives are basically worthless anyway, we ought to at least give them in glorious revolution. Better to die on your feet for what you believe in surrounded by comrades than by your own hand alone. I’ll go on living until that happens, and you should try to survive too.
this coming off an europe union country citizen is amusing
what do you mean?
that your house ain’t clean either.
I’d like to understand what you’re saying, but you’re not saying much at the moment
You’ll find that happens a lot when Americans comment on things abroad. Victims if their own educational system that they are, they really don’t know anything about the world outside of their borders so they just make vague pronouncements and nod as if they’ve said something wise instead of having just shit their own pants for all to see.
I absorb what i can through the media. I accept that i cant trust most information that reaches me. I keep track of what is right to me compared to what the news shows regardless if the event happened or was accurately portrayed. I try to understand how others feel about stuff too without being a bummer.
I have faith in myself to act according to my beliefs if/when the opportunity presents itself.
This is my disinformation cope. It takes the edge off of alarming news and keeps me engaged.
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.
Someone told me recently “People don’t want to think. They want to be ruled.”
Same. My parents tell me to just stop reading the news so I’ll feel better. I can’t look away from the train crash that is our country, how can you guys?
Exactly. I would feel this way, even if I didn’t know people affected and I may be as well, but I do and I might be, so that doesn’t help. I was told I stress too much. Fucking absurd dismissive bullshit. This is how we got here. People thinking the American way is to only give a damn about yourself and the people right in front of (assuming your uninformed political beliefs don’t conflict with caring about those people). Maybe it is the American way but it didn’t have to be.
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.
Shit’s pretty fucked right now, and yeah, it’s scary, distressing, and absolutely disturbing.
I live in a small, rural ex-urb. Plenty of people here definitely voted for this. I don’t interact with my neighbors and keep to myself. I live below my means and am financially sound, at least.
I can’t do much about any of this. I donate to my local food bank monthly because hungry people are angry people, and folks gotta eat, regardless is political leanings. And I donate to Wikipedia because I value information.
None of this helps with the insanity and the politics, but hopefully it helps somebody.
and folks gotta eat, regardless is political leanings
Nah. Fuck the filthy fascist supporting magats. They deserve to starve for their extreme stupidity.
From above:
A large portion of Americans only have 2 brain cells and they’re both busy fighting for 3rd place.
And here we have a case in point: an American who can’t read history.
So… we war with each other forever and that’s the end of the country? Just head straight for civil war? Your attitude does nothing to make things better. I understand the anger, it’s righteous indignation because this shit is just absolutely wrong and completely fucked up. But the problem is class warfare and kleptocracy, and you’re feeding right into it, picking the wrong enemy.
Powerless people in bad situations make bad choices. They’re idiots, sure, but many voted on kitchen table issues, which Trump addressed, while Harris did not. Granted, once elected Trump promptly fucked off on that because he’s a grifter and that’s what he does.
I can’t stand the Trump cult, and yeah people are idiots for falling for it again. As another idiot leader once said, “fool me once, sh…uh, c-can’t fool me again.” But as I noted previously, hungry, desperate people aren’t rational actors.
I don’t pick who my donations go to, I just make sure I donate so food is available to those who need it.
I agree somewhat with your last 2 sentences, but their kids don’t deserve knowing hunger. Hungry kids don’t / can’t pay attention in school. And I know the future of our education system is circling the drain, but kids don’t deserve to be condemned for what their parents have done.
