It gets said over and over but the country is huge and your experience can vary greatly. If you are a govt employee work is likely more chaotic, some more than others. Telework people coming back to the office, looming layoffs, people resigning/staying, big organizational shifts etc.
If you know a person deported of who may be deported you are probably very concerned for them and the world feels turned upside down.
But for most people the gas prices are about the same, groceries are about the same and their life is about the same. If it wasn’t for the news/internet most people probably couldn’t tell the difference between administrations so far. It takes a big event you can’t easily ignore (Covid 19, Hurricane Helene, LA fires) for even ONE REGION of the country to focus on a problem for a while.
And even then if you are outside of that area people probably won’t change their routine beyond posting about it.
But conditions everywhere are bad. Just because we’ve grown use to it doesn’t mean the constant drain on your heart, body, and mind has gone away. I’ve never lived in a time where the world around me wasn’t eriely cold and uncaring.
I guess it’s storytime! The rural area I grew up in was full of unionized industry jobs that shut down in the 80s, and then the auto industry followed in the 2000s. Many moved and for those that stayed life had sucked for a long while.
But the local mall stayed relevant (there’s not a whole lot else to do) and is now being filled with all kinds of new restauraunts and stores where old dead ones were. This was to meet demand since electric vehicle factories were built as well as amazon warehouses and other stuff. Then the taxes led to libraries and schools being built and upgraded.
Now it’s not all sunshine and rainbows of course but for the people there the world seemed cold and uncaring for decades. Now in their eyes it’s starting to come back and the federal government had little to do with it. I guess what I’m saying is that it’s all pretty subjective
“electric vehicles factories were built” “the government had nothing to do with it.”
These people deserve trump, Amazon, and poverty if they can’t see the connection between the inflation reduction act and electric vehicle factories.
That’s the only good thing about democracy. You generally get the government you deserve.
The inflation reduction act was in 2022, everything but amazon was built and operational prior but I get what you mean. I should have phrased it better.
Yes the federal govt likely had some role in getting favorable conditons for factories to be built. For people living there the following years (and years) of company cash flow caused a lot of the actual second and third order effects, not federal programs aimed at the region specifically. That is what I mean by “the fed govt had little to do with it (from the residents’ pov)”
Thank you for the clarification.
A sense of entitlement and superiority I would imagine.
I don’t know. Talking to everyone in this thread no one has told me they feel superior or beyond reproach. Mostly they just say their drawn too thin.
It is an ingrained attitude seen through statements like “leaders of the freeworld”, “the great american experiment”, “the most powerful person in the world (potus)”, etc.
Americans have too much pride in a shithole country. There just isnt much justifiable pride to be found in modern america yet the leading party over every part of government maintains this greatest countrt ever bs.
I don’t know, there are lots of really good things about America. I am happy to be here rather then a laundry list of other counties.
Great, a lot of times this attitude comes from having not been elsewhere but maybe not with you. I cant personally see any great benefit.other than weather and landmarks but that is just down to size and ability to travel negates it.
They voted for it, so why would they be mad?
Why would they be mad? Why would they be mad about DEI when they are still the most catered too and entrenched class with access to generational wealth. I will go on if you press me further.
Gaslighting?
We’re all mad
Nothing. Everyone I know is very mad about it. The people who aren’t mad about it aren’t mad because they’re being lied to and told that all their racism, homophobia, xenophobia and just plain mean spiritedness is somehow normal and good.
I assure you that anyone who isn’t a monster is very unhappy about the whole situation
I dunno, I walk through my day and most people’s demeanor hasn’t changed in the slightest. The way we suppress all this is very severancesque. Like sure we have our outies memory’s but seems we don’t have their emotions.
Most people won’t talk politics unless they know the other person’s opinions already. I’ve had discussions about every day with my friends and wife, but there is no way I’m going to get into a discussion with my parents or maga coworker. I don’t have the energy to debunk every stupid thing they say when they won’t change their mind.
I mean, you don’t just randomly bring up politics. You never know if the other person is a nazi that would report you for “being a communist”. Also, if you do this at work, you’d probably get fired because you get reported for “harassment” and now you’re evicted and on the streets, and starving.
I mean, if you have a pride flag or some other symbols that you wear, I might talk to you because I think you’re safe to talk to.
So, if you want to have conversations about this nazi government, wear a pride flag pin thingy (idk what those are called) or something like that, to signal you aren’t a magat.
I walk through my day and most people’s demeanor hasn’t changed in the slightest
I’m unhappy and angry at the situation. But, am I supposed to mope around all day or have depressing conversations with everyone I meet? Should I start fighting every Trump supporter in my small town?
I don’t know. I just know maybe we hold back when we shouldn’t. Doesn’t that just demonstrate their control over us?
It’s hard to truly internalize this but no matter what you think about something and/or how wrong you think someone else is, we are walking through life with imperfect imaginings of what other people think and feel. Trying to make sense of people is even harder than making sense of a person. And we are quite literally incapable of truly knowing what goes on in someone else’s head.
Definitely ask these questions but don’t drive yourself crazy if people don’t make sense. The behaviors and actions we witness in others are only the emergent characteristics of a lot of brain activity that we aren’t privy to.
Maybe it’s time to be a little crazy. If “a little crazy” is not living in an autocracy.
For some reason your rhetorical question about fighting everyone reminded me of this very important quiz. Know thyself or something.
Because most people are blissfully ignorant. They’re going about their day and if anything they’re possibly reminded that Trump is president by some news channel they pass over on their way to the newest true crime show or whatever the hell is on tictok.
Most people couldn’t be forced to care if you had a gun to their heads as evidenced by our disgusting voting numbers. “Didn’t vote” would win every election if it was a candidate.
Most people “aren’t political” which is nice if only politics didn’t affect your life so deeply. :/
I guess that’s true but who is watching the news then? Who is posting online?
Not enough people unfortunately, although I’m sure there is some overlap between those that don’t vote but still watch the news. I think we overestimate how many people are “politically engaged.”
I’m mad, but what? Once we pull out the guillotines there’s no going back, so right now I’m hoping that checks and balances thing starts to kick in soon.
I agree. I fought very hard for harm reduction. I just think the time for that has came and went. Now we have to mobilize the population and that’s like a 10 year ordeal, if it’s possible at all. It’s slow going but we gave the democrats 8 years to do something I think 10 years for the people to get their act together might be doable.
Culture war.
We are mad and we’re getting madder. We just haven’t hit the fever pitch yet. There hasn’t been a catalyst.
But eventually there will be one and we’ll be able to coalesce around it. Seems like Moscow Musk is starting to be the foil, but so could a number of other things: egg prices, bid flu, new Hoovervilles. Something will make it happen.
Now is the time to plan and prepare.
I’ve gone through all the stages of grief and I don’t live there. I honestly don’t know why it does or even should bother me. I guess there is some part of me that hates injustice and has some nostalgia for an America, real or always imagined, that was trying to do its best for the free world (even though that was, in many cases, found to be objectively not true later).
If anything, it seems like they may finally get rid of some of the stuff that makes it difficult to impossible for US people living overseas to use certain retirement vehicles without committing tax fraud (PFICs; PFICs everywhere and I can’t put income into my US tax-advantaged vehicles due to rules on that side), but potentially doing one thing that helps me does not do anything to assuage my revulsion and rage at the current situation.
Decades of very effective propaganda combined with intrinsic ideological biases.
What makes you think we are not mad?
You just don’t seem mad. Maybe upset but like you’ll get over it in like 4 years or what ever.
I’m optimistic that in four years we’ll have an opportunity to start rebuilding. I can only hope our friends abroad have patience while we go through our meltdown, that somehow there’s enough economic inertia to control acceleration of climate change, and that most of us can keep our heads above water.
Then again, I’m trying to figure out how to tell my son we can’t afford his first choice college because of financial aid changes made by republicans during trumps first term, taking effect now. Sacrificing the future is getting personal
I’m telling you now, four years will be to late. There is no world where you let authoritarians walk all over you for four years and they just go away.
Nothing? We’re furious. We just can’t do much to stop it.
bread and circuses, mostly
Ah. Well it was worth it then.
I honestly have no clue
Yeah, it’s pretty complex .
