Do you agree? 2025 is not 2020 part 6 - it has reached a whole new level of notoriety to stand the test of time all on its own
So... there's that, at least.
no, things are different now that they can actually make laws if they want to.
so far Trump is doing the stupid thing and relying on executive orders to make his changes, which can basically be whited out by the next administration, but there are still 200 more weeks for them to pass laws that destroy people's lives more permanently.
Plus he has legal immunity for literally any action.
also the Supreme Court is majority conservative extremists.
and he's literally replacing every federal worker he can with a loyalist, since he already took over the judicial branch last term.
so yes, you guys are in way more trouble than last time.
I don't think there will be a next time.
Although at the same time, the entire system of government computers has now been placed under the control of AI, so magas themselves have been replaced now by the Musk, who if he decided to could hold those hostage?
I don't think I've drank enough tonight for that to make sense yet - I better keep going!😜
Here's the thing:
2025 is 2021.
No, it's not. At this point, it's entirely clear that 1/3rd of the country is terminally stupid, 1/3rd is too lazy to do anything about the terminally stupid, and 1/3rd too busy screaming at each other over purity tests to do anything to convince the lazy that they shouldn't default-allow the stupid to lead everything.
I've reached a point where, frankly, I don't care anymore. This year is going to be about me, and frankly, screw whatever other people want or think.
I've done some minor things: I carry now, got a motorcycle license and a bike, am spending rather a lot more time and energy around getting laid.
Long term, though, I cannot see a way that the US is going to survive in it's current state, and I also cannot forsee me ending up as involved in things as I have been becasue it's absolutely crystal clear that unless we magic up a way to solve stupid and lazy, this is going to be the default going forward.
And, just for clarity here: the 'default' does include Team Blue winning the occasional election, because it's basically just being told the Stage 4 cancer that's going to kill you is in remission, but probably only for 2 or 4 years and at random intervals. At some point the cancer WILL kill you, and the occasional moment of pauses in the destruction are not saving anyone or anything.
And yes, I know this is absolutely coming from a position of privilege: I may be gay, but I'm also white, cis, and can absolutely pass as straight, and while not being rich, I have a house, a reasonable nest egg, and the absolute unqualified glorious privilege of not needing to work 40 hour weeks to pay my bills.
But, well, I've paid for that privilege over the last decade of working 60 hour weeks, and I cannot see any reason why I shouldn't exploit the shit out of it and stop making some corpo shareholder richer while I sit there stressed and upset over shit that does not matter. (I worked in IT: none of it matters, at all.)
I’m trans, intersex, and can’t really pass definitively as either binary sex. I’m also quite disabled.
It’s a coin flip if I live to see the nation that comes after the United States of America. I’m fighting like hell for my life.
But I’m glad you can blend in.
I've written a couple of replies, deleted them, wrote some more, and deleted those and then debated replying at all but finally came up with what I think I want to say that doesn't come across as being an absolute raging asshole.
TBH, that kind of response is a good portion of why I'm tired of trying to engage. I'm perfectly willing to use my privilege in any way that's going to actually make a meaningful difference, but frankly nobody can provide a useful thing. It's just neoliberal snark that I'm just plain not doing enough and really should be doing better, without any useful guidance into what I should be doing than the typical usual crap that comes out of neolibs.
It's always just 'go vote!' (which I've done, and will continue to do), or 'call your senator!' (which I have and is utterly worthless), or maybe 'don't buy things on this day because that'll show them!' (it won't), or even the always popular 'go protest!'. Which again, I have, but showing up with 25 other people is not going to be something anyone in power cares about, at all.
If anyone has an actually useful impactful thing to do, I'm all ears, but frankly, I've yet to hear anything that strikes me as likely to actually either effect change, preserve something, or otherwise improve anyone's life more than me getting focused on myself, friends, and family.