The only real hope seems like enough wealthy people realizing that they need the poors to spend money to keep their investments valuable and nobody is going to do that if they can’t afford anything. Everyone knows Republicans won’t be convinced by the suffering of their constituents, but they’re usual open to bribes.
You know, I’ve developed a twitch in my left eye the last week or so, and I feel like every day, I see more reasons why that might be.
I think the “with a massive arsenal” is a big part of the problem for a lot of people. I am absolutely certain Trump, and most of his administration, wouldn’t think twice about using that arsenal against Americans. He would love that shit, frankly, and the vast majority of Republicans would cheer it on. Shit, they’re threatening to send people to El Salvador for misdemeanors because it’s hurting Elon’s fee-fees. How do you get people motivated to fight what feels like a completely futile battle when the danger isn’t really hypothetical and the odds of success are far from guaranteed?
Plenty of countries in similar states don’t rise up for many years because it takes that long for desperation to kick in, or there’s an initial fight that’s brutally put down and then those that are left put their heads down and focus on survival. Our first civil war happened on relatively even ground. This one would be so one-sided that it’s not even funny.
I don’t say this to discourage people or suggest we shouldn’t at least try to make a difference. But it is the reality and it’s something I’m struggling with. I don’t know how willing I am to die for a country I’m only sometimes welcome in.
That’s the thing - this is only barely not normal. It’s definitely more in your face, and a lot tackier, but the US has never been great, at least not for anyone straight, white, male, and relatively well off. Our history started with theft and genocide and continued on in that vein. While there have obviously been improvements over the last few hundred years, large portions of the population have had to be dragged kicking and screaming toward every bit of it. Even most of our best presidents have been responsible for atrocities, and then the pendulum always seems to swing back toward the worst of us for a while.
Now we have a population that has been systematically under- or uneducated and fed a steady diet of propaganda about how incredible this country is without any critical thought, and they blame anyone not just like them for any of their problems instead of ever paying attention to the wealthy ransacking the place. The vast majority of them cannot be reasoned with, because Republicans have spent decades making sure they don’t have the skills or desire to look at new evidence and change their minds.
It’s hard to come to terms with the fact that at least a third of my fellow Americans don’t think I should exist as a queer person, and another third don’t give enough of a fuck to bother taking any kind of stand. It’s hard to watch every institution we’ve been assured would provide some kind of checks and balances fail as soon as someone decides they’re no longer going to abide by any norms. Any meaningful action is likely to end up in a lot of death and if I thought this was a bizarre one off instead of something way too many people are rooting for, it would be a lot easier to think that sacrifice was worth it. It feels pretty hopeless at this point. My only real motivation is trying to use the little bit of privilege I have to try to help my community, but I know it’s not enough.
I don’t speak to any of my extended family, but I’m hoping the fact that there’s been so much shitty behavior that none of them would want to expose any more of it via DNA. My mom already has 8 siblings she knows of, it wouldn’t be a surprise if there were a couple more out there, and pretty much all of my uncles are the type to have affairs.
Mine’s about 14lbs, so delivery people usually just laugh at her. I always pick her up or otherwise restrain her before opening the door, though. Regardless of size, it wouldn’t be cute if she bit someone’s ankle.
My dog definitely disagrees with that. She would prefer if no one outside of our house existed or at least never walked anywhere within about a 3 house radius because that’s obviously intended to be disrespectful to her. We’ve tried to train her to stop, but she’s a very vocal breed and we kind of knew what we were getting into.
You know nothing about me. I haven’t eaten meat since 1995 and I’ve been fully vegan for several years. I’ve been sharing information with people about the realities of factory farming and our current food system for literal decades. I know for a fact that way more than one person has changed their diet as a direct result of those conversations.
But when ICE is rounding people up down the street, and trans people are in my office trying to get passports and telling me they’re afraid they’re going to end up in prison and forcibly detransitioned, and my mom came home livid because some racist old fuck cornered her coworker in an elevator and demanded to know where she was from and she’s terrified because her cousin was “deported” and no one has heard from her in a week, forgive me if conversations about veganism are not my priority right now. You know who can’t be convinced to change their habits? People who are dead or in prison camps or who don’t get a choice because their diet is “whatever the food bank has this week.”
Conservatives don’t fight like this - they say they feel some type of way and then they go and vote for the person with an R no matter what. Meanwhile, liberals and leftists will hold out for a perfect candidate, fight over everything, and then turn around and act shocked when our garbage electoral system doesn’t work out in our favor.
I’m not blaming it on vegans. I’ve been vegan for years. I think more people should try it. I’m blaming it on the fact that people can’t shut up about stuff like what we’re eating long enough to be effective. Right now, there are an awful lot more people than usual in my community seeking out food banks and I don’t give a shit what they eat as long as they’re fed. I’m running a food drive and I don’t care if people bring beef stew all day.
And the people who see the word “vegan” and feel compelled to rush in to shit on the idea are equally at fault. Like, nobody asked you to come in to the conversation and start complaining about how annoying all vegans are. Or worse, posting about it out of nowhere. How is that productive?
How about people eat what they want and we can argue about the moral and environmental ramifications of those choices when we stop living in such interesting times.
To be clear, veganism is not THE issue. It’s one of many leftists can’t seem to stop arguing about long enough to make concrete changes.
Can people please shut the fuck up about veganism for 5 seconds? Jesus christ, the dumbass infighting is why conservatives keep winning. Elon Musk and his nepo-baby “employees” are ransacking the federal government, ICE is rounding people up and trying to get neighbors to snitch on each other, several million people don’t know how much longer they’re going to be employed, and apparently we’re about to build and then subsequently bankrupt casinos in Gaza, and leftists can’t stop nitpicking over things that, yes, are important, but are the kind of thing we can slap fight over when the US isn’t on fire. I swear to god, I’m gonna start smacking people upside the head.
Yes, but then you have to live in central Wyoming, which is a trade off that’s only worth it for some people
Can’t. Eggs have to be cage free in CO since January 1st. The law passed 2 years ago, so of course egg companies are acting like they couldn’t possibly have prepared for it to take effect. The plus side (for me and like 5 other people) is that this makes the vegan egg alternative seem WAY more reasonably priced these days.
Liquid Death is trash. It tastes like the can. I like Bubly and the Target brand though. Bubly orange cream is bomb.
Huh. Have any of them considered a job? If the mom was capable of driving her child to another state to murder some people, I bet she could drive for uber or something. Or be a getaway driver for other criminals, idk.
I should’ve said I have zero faith in the wealthy to actually do anything useful. I just figure if things get too bad and their investments start losing significant value, some of them might speak up out of pure self-interest. Snapping up properties dirt cheap is only worthwhile if someone can afford to live there.