
Survival during Donald Trump's second term.
I am absolutely TERRIFIED about what a second term of President Trump will mean. I depend on section 8 and other govt programs to survive. I work but I make like half Portland's poverty rate.
I wake up scared and angry and go to bed the same way. I could lose *EVERYTHING* shortly after I finally get my life together. F-cking sucks.
So, what now?
I’m so sorry Drazzil. All I can say is there is going to be a lot of crap, half of which nobody seriously wants to do and a bunch more those bastards want to do but can’t figure out how to legally.
Try your best to focus your energy on making sure the evil they can do won’t hurt you.
I'm in the scared camp but not so much for myself. We're in Newport and moved from Portland (assuming Oregon). We are probably gonna be just fine. I have had to check out from news whether it be comedic or whatever for my mental health. I get enough sideways through coworkers and GWJ.
Just gonna focus on us getting by. Focus on local stuff. Focus on helping anyone who needs help.
Local includes online communities to me.
Im really not planning on surviving fwiw. And that’s ok - I’ve been shit on and bullied my entire life. For a long time I bought into the gaslighting of relatives who abused me and a military that helped ruin my body and soul.
Now at least I might have a chance to make a difference before I go out.
Im really not planning on surviving fwiw. And that’s ok - I’ve been shit on and bullied my entire life. For a long time I bought into the gaslighting of relatives who abused me and a military that helped ruin my body and soul.
As a 5’4” male veteran, I can definitely relate. I don’t know that I would go as far to say I’ve been bullied my entire life, but I definitely dealt with a lot of it up to and through high school. Since then (I’m 47), I’ve just had to deal with the constant workplace and social discrimination that comes with being a short man.
On the military front, I joined with the ideology that I could fight the bullying that I grew up with on a global level. I’ve had nearly 30 years to not only see how faulty that ideal was, but to also watch many of the people I served with shock the hell out of me by jumping on the Trump bandwagon and/or showing hateful, racist colors.
I still work in the government sector and the future (or lack thereof) of our country scares the hell out of me.
There’s a middle-aged local media guy who used to do morning radio back in the 00’s and when that ended just resumed the same exact show as a podcast. I’ve been listening to him for like 16 years and he’s always been sort of an “apolitical” centrist libertarian dude and while he’s never been MAGA, he has been gradually getting more conservative over the years, to my consternation. He just released the final episode of the show he’s been doing forever, saying that everything going on with the administration has him shook and rethinking his positions, and he feels like he can’t just keep doing the same things anymore. He’s ditched all social media, stopped using Amazon and Google, and says he’s going to refocus on mutual aid. It gives me a little hope, at least.
Robert Reich has a great set of 10 things to do to get active in the Resistance and protect your family, friends and neighbors.
f*ck him - I'm not letting his bullshit corrode my daily life if possible.
Things I will do:
1: Not spend all my time worrying about things he MIGHT do.
2: Focus on my monkeysphere, keep the people I care about happy, healthy and thriving. This isn't to say "f*ck everyone else", just a realistic recognition of my bandwidth and capabilities. For the purposes of this list, Goodjers are in my monkeysphere.
3: Roll with the punches. Cos they're coming. Duck and weave, don't take it on the chin.
4: Live a better life IN SPITE of him.
Some reading for people feeling hopeless and unsure what to do. You don't need to fire bomb cop cars.
ICE Watch Programs Can Protect Immigrants in Your Neighborhood — Here’s What to Know
Building Resilience - Identifying Community Solutions to Targeted Disinformation
Some reading for people feeling hopeless and unsure what to do. You don't need to fire bomb cop cars.
ICE Watch Programs Can Protect Immigrants in Your Neighborhood — Here’s What to Know
Building Resilience - Identifying Community Solutions to Targeted Disinformation
Thanks MrDevil and everyone else for the links . I’m still not sure I think any of this will turn out OK and I want to be clear I’m not saying I want to go fight in the streets. Well, not unless it goes completely south. I just figured I will likely not make it if Trump looks to seize all power.
One thing I’d like to add courtesy of family that survived the LA fires - now is the time to gather all your docs and heirlooms/valuables and keep them somewhere you can grab them in less than 30 min. Oh and have a week or two worth of food and water.
Am I going crazy or has almost every action from this administration seemed like it's aimed at tanking the US economy and forcing a recession.
Musk and others said during the election that it would be tough (for others than themselves) for some years as they would crash the economy so they could build a, uh, better economy on the ashes. So probably.
Oh, so THAT'S why Brexit is a "success" - we just haven't gotten to the magical bit where everyone is richer.
Better for the people controlling it, not everyone living in it.
Also, crashing the economy will make more people desperate and angry, making them more willing to listen to Trump's comforting lies about who is to blame and go along with his "plan" for how to fix it. The same people who caused searches for "did Joe Biden drop out?" to peak on election day won't have a clue that Trump caused their problems in the first place.
Just read Shadow State by British intelligence expert Luke Harding about Russia’s many back room deals with both American and UK conservative leaders. Stuff like Trump getting sweetheart real estate deals back in 2015 or a Brexit lobbyist suddenly getting ownership of a rich Siberian mine.
It would be bad enough if the elites were doing all this as part of an evil genius plan. But it’s really Putin orchestrating the collapse of the West.
Personally, I'm a nervous wreck. I'm not facing imminent homelessness like so many. I do suspect my pay will effectively be reduced as a government employee. I can deal with that.
But I have a disabled child who will potentially outlive us for decades. There is no possible way he survives without government assistance for much of his life. A regular person just can't possibly save up enough money for round the clock care for that long. I was already fearful of what would be available for him to begin with, but now I'm actively terrified.
This country feels like it has just become so cruel and selfish. Maybe it was always that way and I was just deluding myself. I honestly applaud all the younger people like my nieces and nephews who are choosing not to bring kids into this world.
Am I going crazy or has almost every action from this administration seemed like it's aimed at tanking the US economy and forcing a recession.
Just read an article basically laying out that every economic downturn from the great depression resulted in huge explosions in wealth for the ultra-rich as their standard of living didn't suffer and they could buy up massive amounts of stock for dirt cheap then wait for the recovery. It's not particularly complicated.
Personally, I'm a nervous wreck. I'm not facing imminent homelessness like so many. I do suspect my pay will effectively be reduced as a government employee. I can deal with that.
But I have a disabled child who will potentially outlive us for decades. There is no possible way he survives without government assistance for much of his life. A regular person just can't possibly save up enough money for round the clock care for that long. I was already fearful of what would be available for him to begin with, but now I'm actively terrified.
This country feels like it has just become so cruel and selfish. Maybe it was always that way and I was just deluding myself. I honestly applaud all the younger people like my nieces and nephews who are choosing not to bring kids into this world.
I am in much the same boat. We finally got everything organized to get our son SSI, get guardianship, etc. And now feels like it is all being actively destroyed so the 1% can have a slightly bigger yacht.
It makes me feel an almost paralyzing depression.
I could live with being on the street, losing it all, I would hate it but I could handle that personal suffering but the suffering being shoved on him is just .... it makes me feel like I am going insane.
Agent 86 wrote:Am I going crazy or has almost every action from this administration seemed like it's aimed at tanking the US economy and forcing a recession.
Just read an article basically laying out that every economic downturn from the great depression resulted in huge explosions in wealth for the ultra-rich as their standard of living didn't suffer and they could buy up massive amounts of stock for dirt cheap then wait for the recovery. It's not particularly complicated.
It's also much harder to fight fascism when you can't eat or sleep.
I hope you get the support you need. Hell, I hope we all do.
After work I'm giing to the hospital. I suspect I need to be admitted.
Keep us posted as much as you can.
Ah, America.
The things one man will do to line his pockets, dismantling everything that propped up the rotting carcass that has shambled forward since the concessions given to the Confederates has unendingly poisoned the well of democracy.
I bet your forefathers never thought the enemy within was the unchecked free market ideology which spurred their predecessors to plunder and dispossess the Americas; ancient empires built on swords and spears all too often fell to them, and so the wheel turns and history repeats itself.
I want to say this as someone in the trenches daily fighting the good fight against government error in the adminstration of taxation laws. You might think I'm glorifying it but you haven't been outnumbered 3:1 in a courtroom just trying to get a fair result based on precedent.
Unlike your current leader and his ilk, I value the rule of law and will fight harsh and capricious results because that is the hill I gave staked out and will die upon. When the chips are down, every man and woman needs to know where they stand. Not everyone needs to be a Luigi; there are so many other ways anyone can make a meaningful difference in resistance to oppression.
If you are in need, seek support from the people around you. Please don't suffer in silence.
I am 6 hours ahead of the east coast, so my survival strategy is to already be drunk before he hits the golf course and starts signing shit from his hitlercarte.
I feel weird that as a non-American I seem to be one of the only ones trying to offer folks something concrete.
But the fact is this hurts people all over the world. The US is a key supporter of the fights against HIV and Malaria in Africa, suspending foreign aid can kill millions of the poorest people in the world.
https://bsky.app/profile/thorgisarca...
Call your representatives. Get your friends and family to make a phone call every day. Even if your rep is a Republican, if they fear for re-election they may feel the need to take a stand.
You can get your reps contact details as well as call scripts from Indivisible
https://indivisible.org/
You can get your reps contact details as well as call scripts from Indivisible
https://indivisible.org/
Also https://5calls.org/, which i have used a bunch and need to more often.
That is solid advice for pre-Trump Republicans, but not very useful now. It can still work for state-level representatives, particularly ones who live in smallish purple districs because they can't afford to alienate any constituents. At the national level, though, Republicans are more afraid of making Trump angry at them than they are of disappointing their constituents.
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