Top Trump official Stephen Miller’s recent declaration that anyone who “preaches hate for America” will face deportation has ignited alarm online, with critics warning the statement disregards First Amendment protections.
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Social media users and legal analysts raised immediate concerns, pointing out that expressing dissent or criticism of the government is protected under the First Amendment. Some worried the administration was veering into authoritarian territory.
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The backlash has reignited broader debates over the limits of free speech, especially as civil liberties fall under scrutiny. While immigration enforcement remains a core theme of President Donald Trump’s platform, critics are increasingly questioning whether rhetoric like Miller’s is a precursor to more aggressive suppression of dissent.
This nation was birthed in blood and has existed parasitically on the global south for over 250 years. It is a fascist ethno-nationalist state that exists only to consume and destroy.
The more history I learn, the more I am disgusted and horrified by the place I call home. Trump is exactly what this country deserves. If he brings the whole project crashing down, its no less than we all deserve.
The U.S. government is one thing. The people who live here are another.
We should never judge someone just because they were born in a certain country. Blaming people for where they come from is prejudice, plain and simple.
Yes, Americans can be frustrating. Many seem unaware of what their country does beyond its borders. Many have failed to demand change. But instead of writing them off, we should ask why that is.
The truth is, they’ve grown up inside one of the most powerful propaganda systems in history. From the moment they’re born, they’re fed myths about freedom, greatness, and endless growth—while being isolated, overworked, and misled. Their ignorance isn’t always a choice. Often, it’s something that’s been done to them.
So instead of condemning them, let’s choose compassion. Let’s challenge the system that raised them this way—and reach out to those willing to see through the lies.
Real change means building solidarity, not more division. Speak the truth. Share knowledge. Offer empathy. That’s how we turn a misled population into a powerful force for transformation.
Broadly speaking, I agree. But at some point, we have to recognize the US government a corrupt extension of the American consumer culture. State agents, state media, and public-private partnerships that employ millions of people all operate to extract the wealth of occupied territories on pain of blockade, bombardment, sabotage, and assassination of popularly elected leadership.
This isn’t just “Donald Trump is a bad dude”. It’s multi-national industrial manufacturers, globe-spanning banks, and militarily-embedded data firms all operating as a unit to compel the entire globe to pay fealty to the US financial system. Trump just got greedy and squeezed way too hard.
Propaganda is like rabbies. It turns nice people into slobbering monsters over a long enough exposure time. And then they spread it by biting their friends and neighbors, until the whole community is frothing. Its horrifying to witness and you feel pity for anyone subjected to infection. But you can’t just wave away a rabid dog as a victim. Neither can you wave away a QAnon cultist or a blood thirsty Zionist.
The good news is that nothing cuts through propaganda like material conditions. And while the Great Depression was shit for American quality of living, it worked wonders on American politics. Perhaps a downturn will awaken more Americans from the Individualist fantasy and reawaken the kind of mutual aid and community building that we so desperately need.
Real change means finding people who can work with you and dedicating time and energy to build a new kind of organization. Right now, the only people with the luxury of time, capital, and resources to build movements are extremists on the right. And the reason they have that glut of resources is due to their blood-sucking grip on the rest of the planet.
One upshot of Trump’s tariffs is that he’s (unwittingly) cutting the Musks and Thiels and Dimons and Mercers off from the wellspring of dirt cheap foreign materials and domestic lumpen labor. That creates some opportunity for Americans who aren’t awash in blood money to begin organizing in earnest opposition.
You’re absolutely right to draw the distinction between criticizing systems of power and recognizing the ways those systems shape and limit ordinary people. The U.S. government, as it exists, is undeniably an imperial and extractive entity, and its global reach is felt through violence, finance, media, and tech alike. But that same system also crushes many of the people within its own borders—economically, intellectually, and spiritually.
The analogy to rabies is powerful but tricky. Yes, propaganda can infect people with hate, fear, and delusion. But if we begin to see our neighbors only as rabid dogs, we risk becoming cynical and cruel ourselves. A QAnon believer isn’t the same as a policymaker at the Fed or a war planner at the Pentagon. One is sickened by ideology; the other wields it with intent.
I fully agree that material conditions can break the spell—and that crises can clarify things. But that clarity won’t lead to solidarity unless we create the groundwork now. The far-right is already doing this—they’re building networks, feeding people, offering meaning. If we wait for collapse to act, we’re just ceding more ground.
The real task isn’t just to oppose the empire—it’s to build a counter-power that can replace it. That starts by reaching out to the people closest to us, even the ones we’re tempted to write off, and giving them something stronger than fear and conspiracy: a vision, a purpose, a role in something bigger.
We need to organize not just against, but for—for community, for care, for justice. And yeah, maybe even for a future where nobody needs to grow up inside a machine that trains them to be obedient or cruel. That’s a future worth fighting for
If we see them as misguided innocents, we’re going to be in for a rude awakening when they rat us out to the El Salvadorian kidnap vans. At some point, liberals need to recognize this isn’t a coffee-shop debate. It’s a matter of self-defense. Organizing means building networks of trust and support. That means taking people into confidence when they tell you their views on Palestine. That means locking arms with people who may not express the gender printed on their birth certificates. That may eventually extend to having a neighbor hide in your attic while you stare down the police. And if you’ve opened your front door to “I’m just following the law” / “They shouldn’t be here anyway” fash-curious centrists and conservatives, what kind of organization do you think you’re building?
A counter-power that rises to the point of defiance of authority. That level of opposition requires real material support and genuine sincere trust. You don’t get that without some degree of ideological orthodoxy.
There’s a test I’ve discovered as a standard issue when a retail establishment is hiring. One of the questions you get asked is some variation of “Would it be wrong to take a single penny from the cash register if <insert compelling reason here>?” And if you answer “Yes”, you’re immediately disqualified for the job. This kind of ideological rigidity is common in the commercial sector because acknowledging certain fundamental standards is central to trusting the people you put in charge of your business resources. Expecting any less from an activist political organization is foolhardy.
Why does the wage worker at McDonald’s deserve an even shittier life? You all think that if America gets punished they will learn their lesson.
Because that worker has not unionized with their coworkers and organized with their apartment neighbors to reclaim their surplus labor from their landlords.
The US is still an extraordinarily rich country. But the wealth is congealed in the hands of a tiny fraction of the total population. If you’re in the service sector and you want your fair share, you need to start pulling back on the revenue streams you are closest to. By any means necessary.
Do you believe people choose to be ignorant of what they should be doing? Blaming oppressed people for being ignorant shifts blame from those with overt power and the systems they serve. Either the system is unjust because it keeps people impoverished, which includes their ability to make better decisions, or the people deserve whatever system they operate under. If this is a matter of people getting what they deserve, then the system is just.
It Is Difficult to Get a Man to Understand Something When His Salary Depends Upon His Not Understanding It.
I don’t blame oppressed people for being ignorant. I blame selfish and self-conscious people for abandoning their neighbors in time of need. Individualism is a choice. Saying “it’s not my problem” and looking the other way is a choice.
People deserve whatever system they facilitate. You don’t get to “just following orders” your way out of culpability.
Wage slaves deserve a better life. “America” is not going to give it to them.