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Pretending it doesn’t exist hurts the most vulnerable.
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Depends. Are you a rich, white, straight male? You will be fine and can ignore everything. But if you are any shade of brown, an immigrant or belong to any minority group or are female or have loved ones belonging to anyone of these groups, then you should pay attention as they might genuinely be in danger.
Are you a rich, white, straight male?
Good list. Need to add “healthy” to it, too.
Somewhat redundant. He already said “rich.”
A terrible diagnosis can deplete savings rapidly in this shitty country.
You could also Steve Jobs yourself with a treatable but deadly disease
upvoted and downvoted.
This is probably my fav comment here because he absolutely could have been saved. What a shame.
I’m not riding his dick. I just think Apple was less awful under his leadership than under Tim Apple. I know the software would be in better shape.
Rich white dudes have great health insurance.
UHC would like to decline your treatment
I’m not so sure I’d call someone that would have to dip into savings for healthcare all that rich. Well off, maybe.
okay so perhaps “feeling lucky”
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Eh, if you are rich you can travel and get socialized medical care in a real country
If the US keeps its current direction of antagonizing any place that isn’t a dictatorial shithole, the OP’s freedom to travel can get restricted very soon.
I keep hearing this “if you’re a straight, white male, you’ll be fine.” I’m a straight “white passing” male (half Cuban, with no Latin origin names).
When people say this, I ask, “what about my friends? What about my family? What about the people I love?” Does that not affect me? Are we supposed to ignore their plight?
I don’t see what we can do to combat Trump short of organizing and fighting back. We all know how good the left are at that.
If you can get out do so and I hate the idea of more guns on the streets but if at this point everyone that’s at risk or has loved ones at risk needs to be armed as much as possible and have a go bag ready to go. If goon squads are coming for ya don’t go quietly with them.
I don’t see what we can do to combat Trump short of organizing and fighting back. We all know how good the left are at that.
How do you think we got anything good at all, ever?
The left lost its way. BLM and Floyd protests were the closest we’ve gotten to the anger the left displayed for the Vietnam war.
Did you just stop reading after the first sentence?
Also, bullshit. You think climate change doesn’t affect us? The damage to NATO? Threatening Greenland?
I get your point that a lot of hate is directed at immigrants and minority groups, but you don’t need to be dismissive to such a large group of people, many of which are on your side.
Don’t try to make extra enemies. No war but class war.
Rich, white, straight, christian male. Given recent events, that second-to-last part is especially important :/
I think rich, white, straight males should also pay attention due to the power that class holds in driving social norms.
Pay attention to “events that actually happen” and “things that people in power say.” Pay far less attention to “kvetching and predicting.”
If you stop paying attention entirely, you’re going to end up with a whole lot of Shocked Pikachu Face in your future.
If you stop paying attention entirely
This is the part which normalization works to accelerate. Every message is crafted to rally supporters and repulse opponents; enough to get one to tune out and stop paying attention. Do it long enough and whatever they want to do will be done without any scrutiny.
This is one of the reasons the consolidation of mainstream independent media is a serious problem.
I read something long ago that I can’t find anymore that said something to the extent of, pay attention to the movement of money, troops and people. I struggle to understand what stuff that the news reports on means, so I like the deeper stories that report on an expert’s opinion of what somebody said means or shows like 60 minutes over the Nightly News. I avoid the bloggers and vloggers since they are not experts on the important topics.
Part of it is a war on information and memory, so it is important to stay aware. With the American Civil War, almost immediately after it was over they began rewriting history (the Lost Cause).
There’s a historical debate about the extent of which German civilians were aware of the Holocaust. I found Hitler’s Willing Executioners convincing myself. I think people knew what was happening in the camps, but allowed themselves an out - plausible deniability. (And again, the war on memory - that the deaths were all typhus, or the numbers were exaggerated)
I’ve already been living as an oppressed minority in a state that had already started implementing Project 2025 before Trump was even elected. The one thing that’s hardest to deal with is the gaslighting. I’ve just wanted to be seen.
I don’t think they’ll put trans people in death camps, but I believe they are planning on weaponizing the mental health system against trans people. Forcible institutionalization for most AFAB at least. Trans women they might declare sex criminals and use the increased powers of capital punishment on - we’ve seen moves towards this in Florida. I think it’d be like Nazi’s and the original eugenics program - some trans people do have families who might protest if a bunch of us disappear.
I do believe they will start killing immigrants. Texas has volunteered land for this purpose, and if they are already placing barbed wire along the Rio Grande, they are willing to kill.
So how does this knowledge help? What is the point of keeping up with the fear and terror?
Perhaps to try to help the lesson stick this time. To keep screaming that this is not normal. To ensure that when it is all over, there won’t be “it was all about states rights!” That we saw this coming, that we kept saying it was coming, but America was too scared of a black woman in power and too obsessed with trans women’s penises to say “no” to Stupid Hitler.
You can stay aware to know where small places of action are - can you print out cards with information on what to do when ICE arrives and leave them in places? You can stock up on mifepristone or estrogen if you have friends who might need it. Find local mutual aid networks and pitch in. Provide emotional support to your queer/immigrant/woman friends. Tell children that this is not normal, this is not the America we grew up in.
Action is how to combat trauma. It’s the feeling of helplessness that “causes” PTSD - a situation where you know that nothing you do has an impact on the outcome. Mental health under fascism is learning what you can do, and focusing on that.
Really minor side note. I don’t think comparisons of Trump to Hitler really help that much, there’s too many differences between the two men. What I think helps much more overall is comparisons of Trump to Benito Mussolini, who he much more closely aligns with, and who predated Hitler in the interwar period as a fascist dictator. The term fascist is originally an Italian word, even.
Mussolini comparisons capture Trump’s smallness and bumbling nature while still highlighting his ability to do great harm much more accurately. Trump is an American Mussolini.
But in the US, the average reading comprehension stopped around 6th grade. I don’t think a good chunk of Americans under 35 have more than a VERY passing knowledge of Mussolini (and they probably confuse half of it with Stalin)
I’ve literally seeing the rights of myself and other get taken away in the last week. I’m moving cross country to get out of the state I’m currently in because it does not recognize who I am.
They want to open up people like me to descrimination and hate crimes. I’m wondering what will happen with my job if this stuff keeps happening.
There are real world consequences to politics and people sticking their heads in the sand is the reason literal fascism is on the rise.
If you are privileged enough to feel you don’t have to worry about politics that generally means you aren’t the current target.
WA? DE? At least there’s a few states you can still be ok in…
don’t tune it out. there are people being deported, people afraid for their rights and their lives. people not paying attention is how we got the Holocaust
If you “don’t do politics”, politics will do you. You don’t need to be the one to single-handedly fix everything, but please do what you can. We need everyone.
honestly, regardless of what you do, vote in the midterms. It’s the only way to mitigate somewhat what’s been done. it’s November next year and every seat is up for grabs in the house, and 33 seats are up for grabs in the senate.
As a “peon” there isn’t much you can do until then about it. So really it all depends on if you wanna be blindsided by the changes or live in blissful ignorance.
This is the best answer.
I’ve been paying REAL close attention for the last 20 years and things have devolved so much I’m pretty much ready to stop paying attention and live in blissful ignorance as things collapse around me. But I still plan on showing up to vote every 2 years. It’s our duty. It’s the only thing I can really do. I thought trying to fight misinformation online would help, but clearly that isn’t working.
So yeah, live in blissful ignorance as much as you can to maintain your mental health, but show up for the only actual things you can do to actually make a difference. At least then, if total collapse happens, you can take solace in knowing you maintained your duty as a citizen.
We’ve tried telling people to vote in midterms for about half a century. Any better ideas?
Vote in the primaries. That’s the most important part. The Democratic establishment has failed it’s constituents and is clearly interested in serving only themselves and the wealthy. At this point it’s not just a matter of beating the Rs. We need actual progressives that care about the working class running the Democratic Party if we want any hope at bettering this country and not simply slowing down the current trend to the right. We need more folks like Bernie and AOC in the ranks. And that only happens if folks get involved in the primaries and support the most progressive candidate they can. Simply showing up and punching D on Election Day won’t get us anywhere.
I’m genuinely worried it’s yet another deliberate denial of service against our ability to detect evil. I work extra hard to only pay attention to what is actually done that seems like it could stick.
Mostly I trust that good people in positions of trust (e.g. ACLU or EFF) will call out when there’s an opportunity for mass mobilization to make a real difference.
This is a great point. If we only have bandwidth to listen to a single news source, we could all do worse than choosing the ACLU or the Electronic Frontier Foundation!
Didn’t ACLU support Citizens United?
Yes, but what-abouting them right now goes against the greater good. And since they realize their mistake and hopefully won’t repeat it, we shouldn’t give up on them.
I’m not what abouting ACLU. They have done great work. Your article points out that AU has not changed their stance, but former leaders of ACLU believe their Citizens United stance is now wrong.
All I’m saying is, EFF has CONSISTENTLY done good work. ACLU has shown that you have to take their work with a grain of salt. Most of the time they get it right, but some of the time they get it really really wrong
Technically yes. They are basically constitutional fundamentalists and have decided giving money to a political cause counts as free speech and are against any limitation of free speech.
That is dumb af. Why does Musk have more free speech than I do?
Be connected to your local society. Join a group. Do things. Meet people.
Some people in the near future will start to suffer a lot. They’re going to need caring neighbors they can trust.
I think you pretty much summed up why I am a nurse. Well a traveling nurse
If you haven’t noticed that a lot of things in your life are political, I feel sorry for your lack of grasp on reality. The taxes you pay are political. The laws you have to follow are political. Decisions on how your kids go to school are political. How you work (you payment, your job- and personal safety) - guess what, it’s political. If the CDC will protect you against the next pandemic, if the FDA will protect you against being poisoned - it is all political.
Tune out reality at your own risk. You should have paid attention to this ages ago.
Join your local DSA and tend to local issues. The things that the national level are indeed serious, but spend your time and efforts where you can make the biggest difference.
Donate a few dollars to your local land trust to keep land out of the hands of big business.
Join local housing boards or City Hall meetings, wherever decisions on zoning and housing are decided. Anytime someone tries to blame something on bigger buildings designed for more people, and better public transportation, fight them tooth and nail. Single residence zoning, parking minimums, etc. are one of the reasons homelessness exists.
Show up to protests
Make friends with your neighbors
Please do anything but just vegetate. You are important. But only if you help.
Life is political. Don’t bury your head in the sand.
Removing news from your regular feeds or taking a break from them for a week is chill, everyone should do that here and there. But don’t bury your head in the sand, you should keep an eye on it even if that is only browsing a dedicated news feed every week or two. Ignorance and complacency is how we got Trump 2024 with people actively voting against themselves.
If you don’t turn on to policies, politics will turn on you. - Ralph Nader
