These have been my thoughts since 2017: You might remember I studied US-Soviet foreign policy. I learned how the US government overturned democratically elected governments on behalf of American big business. Well, it's finally our turn. Our number is up. Perhaps we shouldn't take it personally. Those companies are now multinational. The idea of the nation-state no longer means anything to them. We're pawns on a chessboard. So really--we DO know what to expect if we study US foreign policy. Trevor Noah reminded us again in 2017. We just thought we were different. Privileged.
One group you might be inspired by, however, is the Bangladeshis. I've had a few of them comment on posts I've been in. "Look how we did it," they're saying. "We overthrew our dictator! You can too!"
We Americans tend to think we're the center of the world and we forget to learn from other countries. The problem is that it is going to take work. Organizing. Compromising. Talking to people. *Sitting through boring meetings following Robert's Rules of Order.* Batman and the Avengers aren't real--Iron Man won't save us either. Only WE can. Whining that "the Democrats didn't give us the magically perfect candidate" is insulting to all the volunteers who do the scut work. That's what I'm most angry about: TN legislator Justin Jones faces down White supremacists every day, standing there with his hand up, being ignored. But most people won't even go to meetings.
The work of democracy is boring. Candidates need to be recruited and protected and supported--especially if you don't want corporate money in politics. I guess young Leftists [other than my kids] have never watched Monty Python, or they would know that even members of anarcho-syndicalist communes must take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week, but all the decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special biweekly meeting by a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs but by a two-thirds majority in, well, other cases. Accelerationism is a cop-out.
Listen to Exvangelicals. Reach out to secular and decolonizing homeschool moms. We've been on the front lines alone, and we're tired. [Seriously, check out Faithful America's FAQ page]
Went to bed feeling anxious, got up at 3, turned on the TV and saw how things were going. Tried to accustom myself to what another 4 years might be like for the country, awakened to the reality of it all at 6 a.m. and thought long and hard.
There are about half the people in this country who do not want the things that Trump stands for and voted for Harris, who will push back despite the power the Republicans will hold. There are many who voted for Trump for reasons other than tax breaks.
I will do my best to be kind in word and dead to all my country's people. I think we've come a long way in learning about the LBTQ+ community in the past few years and don't think we can or will retreat from that knowledge. I think the people of this country will not stand for a mass deportation that separates parents and children. I think our democracy will hold.
I understand that many people voted for Trump for reasons other than tax breaks. There are lots of Trump voters who could not name a single one of his policies and who wouldn’t benefit from GOP tax breaks anyway.
Of the people who do have a good understanding of the GOP platform, it’s hard for me to imagine their rationale for supporting a policy of mass deportations. This is not a side effect of a policy in the way that women dying while seeking abortions is a side effect of “pro life” policies. Mass deportations is the explicit policy. What makes a person vote for that? What are they getting that is worth the price of destroying other people’s lives in that way? I know conservatives who are decent people in the context of their families and in their communities, which is what makes this so hard to reckon with.
I will be one of the people fighting mass deportations, one of the people who won’t stomach this, as well as other things that are short to come in the next few years. But I’m not sure how much we will be able to do to stop it.
It's good to hear your voice today. I have the same questions and fears. Thanks for your succinct and clear overview. It's good to talk and feel all the feels.
These have been my thoughts since 2017: You might remember I studied US-Soviet foreign policy. I learned how the US government overturned democratically elected governments on behalf of American big business. Well, it's finally our turn. Our number is up. Perhaps we shouldn't take it personally. Those companies are now multinational. The idea of the nation-state no longer means anything to them. We're pawns on a chessboard. So really--we DO know what to expect if we study US foreign policy. Trevor Noah reminded us again in 2017. We just thought we were different. Privileged.
The School of the Americas was renamed WHINSEC and now trains domestic forces such as CBP and ICE. And local police have access to military surplus and tear gas. https://www.opb.org/article/2023/04/17/study-2020-portland-oregon-protests-tear-gas-concentrations-far-exceeded-safe-levels/
One group you might be inspired by, however, is the Bangladeshis. I've had a few of them comment on posts I've been in. "Look how we did it," they're saying. "We overthrew our dictator! You can too!"
We Americans tend to think we're the center of the world and we forget to learn from other countries. The problem is that it is going to take work. Organizing. Compromising. Talking to people. *Sitting through boring meetings following Robert's Rules of Order.* Batman and the Avengers aren't real--Iron Man won't save us either. Only WE can. Whining that "the Democrats didn't give us the magically perfect candidate" is insulting to all the volunteers who do the scut work. That's what I'm most angry about: TN legislator Justin Jones faces down White supremacists every day, standing there with his hand up, being ignored. But most people won't even go to meetings.
The work of democracy is boring. Candidates need to be recruited and protected and supported--especially if you don't want corporate money in politics. I guess young Leftists [other than my kids] have never watched Monty Python, or they would know that even members of anarcho-syndicalist communes must take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week, but all the decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special biweekly meeting by a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs but by a two-thirds majority in, well, other cases. Accelerationism is a cop-out.
Listen to Exvangelicals. Reach out to secular and decolonizing homeschool moms. We've been on the front lines alone, and we're tired. [Seriously, check out Faithful America's FAQ page]
Went to bed feeling anxious, got up at 3, turned on the TV and saw how things were going. Tried to accustom myself to what another 4 years might be like for the country, awakened to the reality of it all at 6 a.m. and thought long and hard.
There are about half the people in this country who do not want the things that Trump stands for and voted for Harris, who will push back despite the power the Republicans will hold. There are many who voted for Trump for reasons other than tax breaks.
I will do my best to be kind in word and dead to all my country's people. I think we've come a long way in learning about the LBTQ+ community in the past few years and don't think we can or will retreat from that knowledge. I think the people of this country will not stand for a mass deportation that separates parents and children. I think our democracy will hold.
I have hope. - NGS
I hold onto all the same hopes you express here.
I understand that many people voted for Trump for reasons other than tax breaks. There are lots of Trump voters who could not name a single one of his policies and who wouldn’t benefit from GOP tax breaks anyway.
Of the people who do have a good understanding of the GOP platform, it’s hard for me to imagine their rationale for supporting a policy of mass deportations. This is not a side effect of a policy in the way that women dying while seeking abortions is a side effect of “pro life” policies. Mass deportations is the explicit policy. What makes a person vote for that? What are they getting that is worth the price of destroying other people’s lives in that way? I know conservatives who are decent people in the context of their families and in their communities, which is what makes this so hard to reckon with.
I will be one of the people fighting mass deportations, one of the people who won’t stomach this, as well as other things that are short to come in the next few years. But I’m not sure how much we will be able to do to stop it.
It's good to hear your voice today. I have the same questions and fears. Thanks for your succinct and clear overview. It's good to talk and feel all the feels.