(Disclaimer: I voted against Trump and anyone who supported him in my state.)
Well, they want to dismantle a lot of the stuff that protects the middle and working classes. The country will be fine. The people will suffer. Democracy? Judgement is reserved. If he follows through on his idea of a third term without a legitimate amendment to the Constitution then it’s very very dead. But we won’t know that for years.
Fuck you people will literally die.
It’s business as usual.
I was talking about your Russian statement. Lool
The goal is to remake the US into something else. A Christian Patriarchy + Oiligarchy with sham voting every four years. The biggest wild card in their plans is Trump, but as long as he gets to pretend he’s Putin 2.0 – which literally means being able to point his finger to see someone killed – he’ll be happy and easy to play.
Overall, there’s no limit to how fucked we are. There are no brakes and there’s no steering wheel.
Think militias deputized as enforcers.
Think protests put down by the military ordered to shoot to kill.
Think indoctrination of children and political/militaristic organizations for teens.
Think history books rewritten, science education dumbed down, evolution and global warming illegal to even mention.
Think marriage rights taken away.
Think voting rights taken away and voting laws rammed through to ensure Republicans win.
Think Republicans getting enough state legislatures both to call a Constitutional Convention and to ratify a slew of amendments to rework citizenship, enshrine Christianity into the constitution, and generally butcher the Bill of Rights.
Think “real Americans” going after and imprisoning and/or killing hundreds, thousands, millions of other Americans.
Think purity tests and identification papers, total surveillance, digital tracking of every word and action and movement.
Think of your street with a dead body in the middle of it and everyone afraid to go near it.
Think of being terrified for your own life if you accidentally hear someone say something against The Party.
Think of this very comment used as evidence to lock me up or have me killed.
There is nothing, nothing at all, standing in their way. Like in most one-party systems, the competition among the players will be to see how extreme they can get in order to prove themselves to their party, while the rest of us who vainly hope they’ll show restraint will pay the price.
I hope I’m wrong about most of the above. It may not get that bad. But, again, we’ve gone over the cliff and there’s nowhere but a helluva lot of straight down.
II think it’s entirely possible the world is fucked. Climate crisis won’t come during his 2nd administration, but the 4 years we lose in national and international regulation is going to make it impossible to prevent.
It’ll be slow, but before 2061, I expect the death of the global Internet, and global shipping, and most air travel. Electrical grids will fracture or fail and the pieces used for smaller (at most regional) grid. Cities won’t be able to maintain the sewer pumps, and Cholera will start killing people again. Gas lines will stop maintaining pressure.
I don’t plan on sticking around that long. My BP has always been bad, so I figure just indulging my vices will make this no my problem, and I don’t have a partner or descendants.
If you prefer not embracing despair, I suggest looking into how you and your dearest can survive without infrastructure. Local food production, local power and medicine production. Don’t count on supplies you can’t retrieve within a day of travel, and don’t count on the state to maintain roads. “Solarpunk” might be a good search term. Also, might prepare for unpredictable shifts in the local climate, like preferring indoor growing.
If anyone has data that says we can avoid climate collapse with no new national or international regulation before 2029, I’d love to hear it. Please.
Multiple regulatory bodies are going to get disbanded. The EPA is unlikely to survive, whole departments of the FDA are about to get gutted. Anything involving industrial safety is going to get its funding cut. Unconstitutional crackdowns on free and independent media is almost certain. Large scale damage to the functions of many government institutions can be expected. Massive economic damage due to reckless deregulation ( that’s even before they start putting tariffs on everything and wind up in multiple simultaneous trade wars). Funding for education and infrastructure maintenance will be reduced to allow tax cuts for the already wealthy. Massive loss of global influence and a massive gain in influence by hostile autocratic nations is also something you can expect.
I could go on and on but even if you were to assume they weren’t serious about project 2025 (if you haven’t read that you should) it’s real bad.
It all depends on whether they’re competent and can act together for their goals. Many of those goals are truly horrible, but
- Trumps first term was incompetent, fractured. Despite all the chaos and destruction, they did nowhere near as much damage to peoples lives and democracy as they wanted to
- My conservative brother is all too typical, dismissing the worst statements as “he’s not serious. He’d never do that”. We have to hope people like my brother are right
- their goal is narcissism and their methods are stoking outrage: is it possible they’re not actually evil, don’t actually pay attention to what comes out of their own mouths? Are they even capable of working together? Making Trump rich and stoking his ego would be a travesty, but far less damaging than what he says he’ll do
Let me put it this way: we will see the true beginning of WW3 in the Baltics. Trump will predictably not act upon that and the response will be 100% up to Europe itself.
That response better be an armed one, and quick too, or we all better start practicing cyrillic here in W-europe.
Regardless if we are lucky, “only” tens of thousands will die. More likely it will be millions.
So yeah, Trump kinda bedazzled us there, no way around it. Won’t be until the people who voted him in will start hurting personally that they’ll finally realize they’ve been conned. But too little too late.
Oh he’d act. He’d assist Russia and be the other Axis power.
Germany’s fatal mistake in WW2 was not being America instead.
Who, exactly, is to take its place along with the British Empire and USSR in holding back fascism?
Won’t be until the people who voted him in will start hurting personally that they’ll finally realize they’ve been conned. But too little too late.
Cute that you think they won’t just blame Mexicans when they do start hurting.
As long as they have a group to scapegoat
With AMOC collapse underway, the entire planet is fucked. Hope this helps
most problems are state level problems, so generally unaffected, but any interstate, constitutional amd international problem is up in the air
The truth is it’s unlikely anything historically big is going to happen in the US. We saw what Trump did last time he was in office, and it was really bad, but it was recoverable. The fear isn’t that it’s likely, but that it’s far from a non-zero chance, and there’s very little we can do about it. That uncertainty is scary when we’ve had a relatively good time in recent decades.
Will we see a sudden shift toward a state where you can get jailed or murdered for being a dissident? Maybe, but probably not.
Will we see an escalation of the wars involving Israel, such that we see a WWIII and/or the first nuclear strike since WWII? Maybe, but probably not.
Will we see economic collapse causing widespread hunger and homelessness that we haven’t seen since the Great Depression? Maybe, but probably not.
The only thing that’s really a guarantee is that we’re another four years away from dealing with climate change, and while that’s massive for humanity down the line, individuals currently living in the US are probably going to be mostly fine. Not to say nobody will be affected - hurricanes, floods, fires, and so on - but it won’t cause catastrophic failure of society in the near future.
We saw what Trump did last time he was in office, and it was really bad, but it was recoverable.
Except putting people in cages at the border and separating children from families. Many families still have not been reunited.
Except the million people that died from Covid-19 due to the government putting the economy over human lives.
Except the stuffing of judicial positions, including the supreme court, that same court that basically made him a king and free from any consequences from all the laws he broke.
Except for our air, land, food and water becoming more toxic and polluted due to Trump’s rollback of EPA protections.
Except all the pregnant women who are dying or forced to carry their rapist’s baby due to that packed court overturning roe v wade.
Except the people of color who rebelled and rioted during the george floyd protests but then the government showed up in unmarked vans and took people away, while the police shot more innocent people and busted heads, and almost nothing changed for the better regarding police violence.
Except the trans people who are now illegal in the state of Florida for having a driver’s license that matches their gender identity, or the bounty on trans people in a town in Texas, or the governor of Texas trying to get lists of trans people to hunt down and prosecute. Or insurance companies refusing to cover trans-related healthcare. Or trans people being shunned by their peers and excluded from sports. Or the violence against LGBTQ people that’s doubled in the last year. All enabled and emboldened by Trump and Trumpism.
I haven’t recovered from any of this shit.
With or without Trump, the new normal is fascism in America. Every american needs to fight every bad policy, every bad law, every bad decision, every threat – every day – until there are no more fascists in power.
Let me be clear here. If we have a global nuclear war, that’s not recoverable, because every human on earth will be dead. If we enter a fascist dictatorship with today’s technology, that may not be recoverable, because we may see the permanent end of anything resembling a democracy.
I’m not saying there weren’t horrific atrocities committed during Trump’s reign. What I’m saying is that so far, there’s a chance future generations can live better lives.
Counterpoint (and please, I am literally begging you to talk me off this cliff): Trump didn’t know anything about being President the first time. I believe that he thought Presidents could do whatever they wanted. The team he had around him, while you can call them assholes and pieces of shit and every other name in the book, understood how the government and the Presidency worked and were able to reign him in.
All of those people are now gone and he will be surrounded by purely yes-men. He will promote the Generals who will be loyal to him, not the country or the Constitution. Couple that with the newfound Presidential immunity, and Trump has all but free reign to do whatever he wants. He will also appoint judges, like Aileen Cannon, who are loyal to him. Those judges, thanks to the Supreme Court overturning the Chevron deference, will now be the “experts” instead of federal agencies.
I do agree that there probably won’t be a sudden shift, but there will be a shift and we will feel it in almost every aspect of our life. He supposedly promised to put RFK Jr in charge of numerous health agencies and campaigned on getting rid of the Department of Education. And I very much recall at least two instances where he said this is the last election you’ll have to vote in. Is he going to find/create a way to suspend the 2028 election and stay in power? Who’s going to stop him?
On top of what you just mentioned, rather than Trump surrounding himself with incompetent toadies and yes-men, I think a lot of smarter, more powerful, and more dangerous people have taken the last 4 years to worm their way into his ranks.
He’s established himself as a useful idiot. During his first 4 years we saw the idiot part glaringly. It was scary and embarrassing, but we scraped by and experienced a few years of relatively boring politics. My big worry is that we’ll see the useful part exploited much more effectively this time around.
It is worse.
Trump started with either incompetent yes men who didn’t know how to govern or competent yes men who tried controlling the damage that the President caused.
You now have a group of coordinated people who see Trump as willing to agree with whatever as long as he looks good enough.
And I very much recall at least two instances where he said this is the last election you’ll have to vote in. Is he going to find/create a way to suspend the 2028 election and stay in power? Who’s going to stop him?
That’s why I said it’s possible, I just don’t think it’s probable. People are loyal to Trump until they’re not. Nobody’s loyal to him because they like him or they think he’s a good guy, or because they think he’ll bring the country prosperity. They’re loyal because they think they can get something out of it. Most people aren’t in a position where they’re willing to give up literally everything to help this particular asshole become a dictator. Those that are are typically incompetent - see anything and everything related to stealing the 2020 election. They tried a LOT of things, but nothing came even close to working.
So they’ll try again, and I don’t think anybody’s doubting that. And I don’t think our institutions are particularly strong, but they’re probably strong enough to stop that kind of incompetence from leading to a dictatorship.
Finally a level-headed take. The world isn’t ending overnight, it’ll just get shittier
If you’re a white Christian male you are the shit.
Anyone else is losing rights
Also Trump will declare martial law after 4 years with presidential immunity and every position of power stacked with handpicked loyalists.
Unless there is a revolution of some kind the US will probably go the path of Nazi Germany after Hitler achieved total control
What happened to the Iranian left after 1979’s revolution:
The Iranian left played a significant role in the 1979 revolution but was ultimately suppressed and marginalized by Ayatollah Khomeini’s Islamist forces in the aftermath. Here’s an overview of what happened to leftist groups after the revolution:
Initial Collaboration and Support
Many leftist groups initially supported and collaborated with Khomeini’s movement to overthrow the Shah:
- Various Marxist-Leninist, socialist, and communist organizations participated in the revolutionary coalition[5].
- Some leftist groups like the Tudeh Party (pro-Soviet communists) and Fedayeen (urban guerillas) attracted many student members[5].
- The leftist-Islamist group Mujahedin also gained significant support among students[5].
- Many leftists viewed Khomeini’s movement as anti-imperialist and hoped to push it in a more progressive direction[1].
Gradual Suppression
However, Khomeini and his allies soon moved to sideline and suppress leftist forces:
- In March 1979, Khomeini declared “do not use this term, ‘democratic.’ That is the Western style,” signaling his opposition to liberal and leftist ideals[2].
- The National Democratic Front (a leftist group) was banned in August 1979[2].
- Universities were purged of leftist influence starting in March 1980[2].
- By early 1981, the government had closed MEK (People’s Mujahedin) offices, banned their newspapers, and issued arrest warrants for their leaders[2].
Violent Crackdown
The suppression of the left intensified into violent persecution:
- Between 1981-1985, nearly 8,000 political opponents were executed, many of them leftists[3].
- In 1988, a “Death Committee” oversaw the mass execution of leftist prisoners[1].
- Overall, the Islamic Republic’s crackdown on dissent was far more brutal than the Shah’s regime, which had executed fewer than 100 political prisoners between 1971-1979[3].
Reasons for Failure
Several factors contributed to the left’s inability to maintain influence:
- Lack of unity and organization among moderate and radical leftist factions[2].
- Underestimation of the conservatism of the Iranian masses[2].
- The left’s secular ideology conflicted with the religious fervor driving much of the revolution[1].
- Khomeini’s skillful co-opting of leftist anti-imperialist and social justice rhetoric into an Islamist framework[3][4].
Legacy
By the end of 1979, the “secular middle class” and liberals had been largely sidelined, leaving mainly Islamist factions in power[2]. The suppression of the left helped consolidate the Islamic Republic’s hold on power and narrowed the range of acceptable political ideologies in Iran[3]. However, some leftist ideas around social justice and anti-imperialism were incorporated into the Islamic Republic’s ideology, albeit in a religious framework[4].
Citations: [1] Ideology and Iran’s Revolution: How 1979 Changed the World https://institute.global/insights/geopolitics-and-security/ideology-and-irans-revolution-how-1979-changed-world [2] Aftermath of the Iranian revolution - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aftermath_of_the_Iranian_Revolution [3] Four decades later, did the Iranian revolution fulfill its promises? https://www.brookings.edu/articles/four-decades-later-did-the-iranian-revolution-fulfill-its-promises/ [4] What Iran’s 1979 revolution meant for the Muslim Brotherhood https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-irans-1979-revolution-meant-for-the-muslim-brotherhood/ [5] How Iran’s Theocrats Allied With — and Then Crushed — the Left https://jacobin.com/2022/10/chahla-chafiq-iranian-left-khomeini-protests-feminism [6] Iranian Revolution | Summary, Causes, Effects, & Facts - Britannica https://www.britannica.com/event/Iranian-Revolution
This is going to create the political order we will live under for the rest of our lives.
Who cares, it’s what they want and what they voted for, AGAIN. I’d be more concerned about the rest of the world. America can go off in a puff of smoke and it would be the best thing the ever did
Except your trade would be hindered. Russia would plow through Europe. The power vacuum made by America “puffing up in smoke” would be so great and horrific it would probably overshadow WW2 total deaths.
Actually delusional
You must be a confused on what it is America does around here. Forget the public distractions of television and the political discourses.
Ask yourself a question, why isn’t Russia in Europe right now? Why are pirates not commandeering trade ships? Like it or not youre asking for your securities to be removed. Or wishing it.
The fact that Russia is struggling to sustain a war with a country with relatively weak military power, should indicate why your statements are delusional. That aside, the UK and France have nuclear power. Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and Italy have nuclear weapons sharing statues.
If we take away morality, and the fact that no one wants to have ww3, what makes you think they can do any real damage to Europe?
And the pirates comment is hilarious, when Europe has the UK and France.
You greatly overestimate what the USA does for Europe, and the impact then disappearing would have on the continent, across the entire ocean from them
Fine you win. You surely are more experienced in this than I am.
No idea why you’re downvoted. You’re right. USA not existing would suck for many people, yes. Especially Israel. Europe not so much.
Especially Israel
Why? They rolled Iran’s proxies, and (if western media is to be believed) Iran itself has been shown to be a paper tiger. Their big ballistic missile attack was neutered, and the big air strike on their soil was reported to be very devastating to air defenses and missile construction.
So we have a situation of Schrodinger’s Iran. They are simultaneously super dangerous, and to quote Kamala Harris “Iran is greatest U.S. adversary.” Or they are no match for Israel’s superior technology and intelligence agencies.
Lmao these are their publicly stated goals, take your head out of the sand
The Rise of Trudeau
Lol wut? Is this a meme, or am I about to go down a rabbit hole?
Nah i was trying to make a jokes about the US leaving a vacuum
Lmao Texas, Florida and Arizona wouldn’t be able to handle the idea of that.
“UNITED STATES OF CANADA”
America was actually going to annex Canada at some point a while back too.
Listen, I hate my country right now, and am disgusted by the people who live here…
That’s it, that’s the end of my sentence.