Run away if you can is the only practical, actionable thing one can do at this stage. And few people can actually do it.
I have, myself, rejected all mission offers to the US since January, but I have the luxury of not living there.
From the other side of the pond, the US future looks very grim, and I have no knowledge at my disposal that lets me see a path toward reversion that doesn't go through a violent phase.
It's a systemic problem; the POTUS is a symptom. And I don't see how such a large and complex system is going to get fixed fast enough to prevent something terrible from happening.
After that, it will go back to something more peaceful. But I wouldn't want to be there during the transition.
The time to act was 20 years ago I'm afraid.
24 years ago, and someone did act. I see this all as a result of 9/11 and Bin Laden & company giving the US just what it needed to end up authoritarian. Effectively he won that day and managed to damage the USA in ways that it did not have a mechanism to effectively deal with. As a result the USA has made one own goal after another and it does not look like they've decided to stop doing so.
The forces that created today, are deeper - to the point that they used 9/11, as opposed to being defined by 9/11.
The crux of the issue today is fundament information economy on the right, that can support any narrative, even if it contradicts anything that came was said before, or has no basis in reality.
Trump has a 92% approval rating amongst republicans from a recent Fox poll. Other polls have him at 80%+.
It is a party truly running on faith, and had no need to traffic in facts.
This is the fountainhead of all the power that allows the situation to continue.
You too ?
I’ve been looking at this and have stopped talking to friends in the US, because my urge is to tell them to GTFO.
And I feel like I’m going to sound crazy to them.
But the thing I keep remembering is a conversation with a student in the UK, post Brexit, but while they were figuring out how to do execute.
They were so earnest and hopeful, that the country would find a way through. So much so, that even with a background in finance and macroeconomics, I felt that maybe they would thread the needle.
I don’t see a path to the midterms, forget anything beyond that - and it seems so extreme to state, that I am quiet.
> And I feel like I’m going to sound crazy to them.
I'd talk anyway.
Even just hearing what it looks like from the outside may help, even help those who don't leave, even those who may have voted for Trump.
I don't know what will happen. An incompetent dictator may be stopped before becoming a dictator, or be easily overthrown, but if they cement their power… then my reference point is Pol Pot.
Kicking out all the undocumented migrants and finding local political undesirables to force onto the same farms feels very plausible, and will lead to famine.
>It's a systemic problem
Some people argue turbo-capitalism is inherently unstable and will lead to fascism. A systemic problem id like to see more discourse about, or what is the systemic problem you meant?
Marx argued about the inherent instability of capitalism.
> Some people argue turbo-capitalism is inherently unstable and will lead to fascism.
I could even agree with this. The only problem is that ALL opponents of turbocapitalism, if you look closely, suggest simply skipping a step.