In a way, it all makes sense, because it’s a strategic attack on anything that can oppose authoritarianism: journalism, the courts and the ability of ordinary people to stage a protest
But it’s also overwhelming, with the destruction of all these agencies, the schools, funding for research, the ability to even acknowledge history… It’s hard to figure out what to respond to, which I guess is also the point
And then the question... what do they imagine will happen next? What's their destructionist view for a few years from now? I don't see what they're going for really.
I think that both you and I got to a similar breaking point just today.....I posted this 5 hours ago: I am asking a serious question here, NOT hyperbole. With all of the zone-flooding incompetence, chaos and intentional destruction, how long until we are a truly failed nation?
I keep trying to figure out where to focus my attention, what’s the most logical, most efficient way to respond, resist, blah blah blah. And the rest of my life is going pretty well, which somehow makes it all feel even more sad and surreal
It is too paralyzing to try to figure out the most logical, efficient response. I follow all the news, but I act by participating in local indivisible group, by blogging to explain litigation, and organizing on Mastodon. I can do these things effectively, so that’s what I do.
It's bit like being in a film where the house you are in is being torn down around you but you still gotta make breakfast, respond to the mail, pay your bills and work etc
Hey...I feel for you all dearly. I'm on the other side of the planet and it feels like my best mate is having multiple psychotic and irreversible breakdowns happen and all I can do is watch from afar in horror.
Thank you. We need to say what we see, be it overwhelming, painful, frightening. Renew our personal strength with all the good moments. We are living a societal event that needs our strength and will for collective action- fascism and tyranny have no respect for borders or boundaries
I sincerely think this is how most informed people are feeling rn and I can't deny that the phrase ignorance is bliss has crossed my mind a few thousand times since Jan 20
And there's the sleight of hand element: if they lob multiple figurative incendiary elements, it distracts from what isn't being said, what's missing, or less flashy assaults on foundational linchpins. Yesterday: Yemen flashy images - but also, Radio Free Europe. I'd argue latter = a linchpin.
Partly bc of Radio Free Europe connection to Navalny and other resistance amplification; bc RFE was labeled an "undesirable" org by those who opposed him; bc VoA/related initiatives impacts 300 mil listeners globally; and bc RFE has an 80-year history spanning 3rd Reich & Cold War.
Reagan? Clinton? Ohhh the one that told his golf bestie to run in 2015 so he'll split the votes in open primary states where Bernie was making traction.
I contemplate the (conspiracy) hypothesis that many levels in your government have dirt (blackmail) on them. There have been large shifts in strong recorded opinions (interviews) in a relatively short period in time.
That would imply it isn't strategic. There is a strategic nature to the fires they are lighting in government offices (figurative and literal, some vacated offices have to have small fires set to ensure secrets don't get leaked)
We’re aboard the Nostromo with dripping Xenomorph acid blood heading for a hull breach. Xenomorph will survive the vacuum of space but we are fucked. End credits.
Honestly I've come to the conclusion there's nothing anyone can do to influence things at a national level. However, you can act locally: volunteer, give blood, be a good human.
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It's eating through the cats.
I keep trying to figure out where to focus my attention, what’s the most logical, most efficient way to respond, resist, blah blah blah. And the rest of my life is going pretty well, which somehow makes it all feel even more sad and surreal
And there's the sleight of hand element: if they lob multiple figurative incendiary elements, it distracts from what isn't being said, what's missing, or less flashy assaults on foundational linchpins. Yesterday: Yemen flashy images - but also, Radio Free Europe. I'd argue latter = a linchpin.
but proactively amplifying other dissenting voices can aim beyond the flashy incendiaries & strike at the core of authoritarian demand to be centered.
For now, the RFE site overflows w/stories of resistance. Let's honor them.
The racists, enraged by adoption of diversity by all the core pillars of society, have determined simply to tear down those pillars.
Scorched earth approach.
Sorry for your country tho
Rust belt, various cities, depopulated rural areas, etc.
Then add 35 years of RW propaganda radio & TV.
He is knocking down a building that had serious termite damage.
I didn’t understand it until I read about it today.
It DOES NOT entitle him to act as a king.
He CAN NOT call for the military to mow down civilians for PEACEFULLY protesting.
Now that we know this, let’s get to DC if you can.