Thank you so much for sharing your perspective, this is very clear and compelling. It's very difficult to imagine what things must look like from an outsider's perspective, so this is great. I often think about moving my family and I aboard for a while to experience another culture/political system, it seems like a worth-while endeavor from what you've shared!
Here in Portland, we've yet to recover from 2020's Summer of Rage. There are still shops in downtown with boarded-up windows, and the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict spawned yet another riot in the downtown core. The rage in Portland, and the damage it's done to the city I love, has fundamentally changed my relationship with my adopted hometown. There's so much lingering anger, so much homelessness...and the list goes on. Sometimes I wonder if it might not be worth moving, but every place has its own problems.
America is a nation sorely in need of some good weed....
Of all of your recent posts Stacy, this one is the most urgent and timely. 1st of all, thanks for the contact links I will definitely put them to use and will encourage others to do so too. Everything you've detailed here about the impending threats to our democracy are trenchant and sadly accurate; would that they were hyperbole. More than 4 years ago I saw this fascist storm gaining strength and recognized the hazard. For over 2 years now I've been partnering with the Houston Socialist organization, showing up for their protests because I understood that voting alone isn't enough. Those of us who are patriots and are physically able need to be present at least a few protests, every year. You are right, there is strength in numbers, especially visible numbers. Protest alone won't stem the tide. Voting alone definitely won't, since if Democrats don't protect it, Republicans are feverishly working to discount targeted votes. Calling and writing Congress people alone won't do it. But if those of us who believe in Democracy, which would be the majority, would show up to protests 2 or 3 times a year, would call Congress people at least once a month, every month, or better yet more frequently, and if we'd show up to vote in EVERY election, even the non-sexy mid-terms and all of the local ones, we could dam the flood; we could save our nation. The greatest threat that we face, the one that keeps the table prepped for fascists, is the average American's myopic, vain, and delusional apathy. The idea that politics is, "messy," that it causes discord, and that even if you recognize the threat that someone else, not you personally, will act to oppose it. People's focus on their sports teams, their happy hours, their interest in making to all the buzziest brunches, their appointments to the salon, their kids soccer games, or whatever is the trending streaming series that they must binge watch, all these things and more distract and mollify us enough to make the nation ripe for the conquest of authoritarians. It's terrifying, I too live in moral fear for our future. That said, I ain't going out without a fight, and I will continue to try, however futile it seems, to inflame others to the cause.
Thank you so much for sharing your perspective, this is very clear and compelling. It's very difficult to imagine what things must look like from an outsider's perspective, so this is great. I often think about moving my family and I aboard for a while to experience another culture/political system, it seems like a worth-while endeavor from what you've shared!
Here in Portland, we've yet to recover from 2020's Summer of Rage. There are still shops in downtown with boarded-up windows, and the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict spawned yet another riot in the downtown core. The rage in Portland, and the damage it's done to the city I love, has fundamentally changed my relationship with my adopted hometown. There's so much lingering anger, so much homelessness...and the list goes on. Sometimes I wonder if it might not be worth moving, but every place has its own problems.
America is a nation sorely in need of some good weed....
Of all of your recent posts Stacy, this one is the most urgent and timely. 1st of all, thanks for the contact links I will definitely put them to use and will encourage others to do so too. Everything you've detailed here about the impending threats to our democracy are trenchant and sadly accurate; would that they were hyperbole. More than 4 years ago I saw this fascist storm gaining strength and recognized the hazard. For over 2 years now I've been partnering with the Houston Socialist organization, showing up for their protests because I understood that voting alone isn't enough. Those of us who are patriots and are physically able need to be present at least a few protests, every year. You are right, there is strength in numbers, especially visible numbers. Protest alone won't stem the tide. Voting alone definitely won't, since if Democrats don't protect it, Republicans are feverishly working to discount targeted votes. Calling and writing Congress people alone won't do it. But if those of us who believe in Democracy, which would be the majority, would show up to protests 2 or 3 times a year, would call Congress people at least once a month, every month, or better yet more frequently, and if we'd show up to vote in EVERY election, even the non-sexy mid-terms and all of the local ones, we could dam the flood; we could save our nation. The greatest threat that we face, the one that keeps the table prepped for fascists, is the average American's myopic, vain, and delusional apathy. The idea that politics is, "messy," that it causes discord, and that even if you recognize the threat that someone else, not you personally, will act to oppose it. People's focus on their sports teams, their happy hours, their interest in making to all the buzziest brunches, their appointments to the salon, their kids soccer games, or whatever is the trending streaming series that they must binge watch, all these things and more distract and mollify us enough to make the nation ripe for the conquest of authoritarians. It's terrifying, I too live in moral fear for our future. That said, I ain't going out without a fight, and I will continue to try, however futile it seems, to inflame others to the cause.