I don't understand what it's going to take for someone to do something. Protests are not going to work when they're holding all our money, services, rights, data, etc hostage, and threatening all our public servants. We already had a hard time protesting before this, because health care is tied to employment. It's not a coincidence that they're going after Medicare and Medicaid. They want an entire nation of indentured servants. Unable to own anything, including our own freedom. When we can't work anymore we can just go die in the wilderness like animals I guess. Hmm where have we heard that before?

Everyone is terrified and exhausted. It seems pretty evident that the election was outright stolen, and I have a hard time believing nobody in power suspected something that many of us immediately called, not with the mountains of evidence that's been stacking up for months, years even. So why didn't they do anything? Why did they wait until Trump was sworn in to even talk about it?

I see Canadians online talking about Americans like we chose this. But we didn't, it was forced upon us, and we're begging for help! Who can we turn to if not our allies? What is going on???

[–] RootAccess@lemmynsfw.com 14 points 5 hours ago (11 children)

You did choose this through decades of inaction, apathy, laziness, fecklessness. The world kept telling you that something was wrong in your "democracy" and the canned response was, "Haha, not in America - land of the free, home of the brave!" Then one day, with your rights stripped away you all finally say, "Not my fault!" It was, it is, and it will be solely Americans fault. And the longer it takes you to own it and fix-your-shit the more costly it's going to be. As always. Imagine how much easier it would have been had you just mass protested after Citizen's United, for example.

No one is coming to save you. The people who have been standing up to fix it couldn't motivate the rest of you to get off the couch. My suggestion is to stop parroting excuses like, "We are too exhausted to do it", and do it. Look to history for examples on how, and for what real exhaustion looks like. The first steps are usually meeting with organizations already doing something and ask what you need to do.

"But I'll lose my job!" If 50% of the country loses there job then there will be a lot of job opportunities. "But my family!" Ok, then sit there and let your fear keep you from action. Keep waiting for someone to save you. Watch how bad it gets as Americas military falls under the control of a facist regime. Watch as your educational system becomes even more of an indoctrination engine. I wonder which, if any, heinous act by your government finally motivates you enough. The kids-in-cages wasn't enough, I wonder what could be? Possibly nothing.

"Home of the brave". Fucking ha ha ha. "Land of the free". Sure. I have no sympathy for people just waking up now. Where the fuck have you been?

[–] JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca 5 points 5 hours ago (4 children)

If I lose my job how am I supposed to heat my house, feed myself and my wife, or treat my chronic illness? Employers don't look kindly on job abandonment, especially to go protest the thing businesses stand for...

[–] RootAccess@lemmynsfw.com -4 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

I apologize to American readers that I was not able to summarize my response into a witty, 30-second sound clip. I see these assumptions made in your response:

a) the only thing you can do is protest. b) you will have to protest during your work schedule. c) all employers will fire you for job abandonment if you protest. d) no employers are equally concerned with the downward spiral that is your country. e) even with the mass job loses due to job-abandoning protesters you will not be able to easily find another job. f) no one is doing anything already you can help with. g)your job/health coverage will be fine as things escalate if you do do anything. h) no one in your position has found a way to contribute. i) no need to look at the situation or ask questions because you no you can do nothing. i) history shows that the safest bet for you and your country is to sit there and do nothing.

The reason Americans don't have the ability to see through flimsy talking points is b/c your educational system is shit, tbh. We told you this too, every year. They are ranked. ie. we put them in numbered order from best (#1) to worst. Maybe you would have heard about it if you stopped yelling about how America is number #1 all the time. Spoilers: They aren't number #1 in education. Clearly.

I don't have the energy or patience to dismantle each possible excuse every American can come up to justify their inaction. They are #1 at that. So the simpler approach is from my initial response: find the people already doing something in your area and ask what you need to do. Do this instead of coming up with reasons not to do it. Do it as an act of faith in your country that you can do something. Do it as an act of freedom and bravery. Dare to do the impossible, like skipping your internet browsing time, to get in touch with people who are doing something. Read books about the sacrifices previous generations made for you to have the chance to sit and post on a non-censored platform like Lemmy. If internet posts can stopped facist governments the you can rely on us non-Americans to get the job done. Unlike us foreigners, you still have the best chance to turn this around.

Also, if you manage to waddle to meet up with some like minded individuals do post briefly here telling other Americans that it's actually not impossible. They are an obstinate people living on the southern border of my country. And although I enjoy ridiculing their weaknesses I would prefer to celebrate their successes, as has been our tradition until very recently.

[–] JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Ahh, so you aren't even American. How is your opinion relevant then?

[–] Drivebyhaiku@lemmy.world -1 points 35 minutes ago* (last edited 31 minutes ago)

Because they are a Canadian and your dumbass president keeps trying to start the process of annexation. Do you have any idea how angry folk up here have become?

We are a tiny country in terms of people and a massive one in terms of land. We cannot legally participate in your systems of government in a meaningful way but we have always been effected by US political decisions and the lack of co-ordinated resistance nessisary from it's citizens to fix the issues that affect all of us. We've been Cassandra warning you of what doom is about to befall us all and so often we've been dismissed.

I have compassion that you guys honestly didn't want this. That this was a co-ordinated attack on your freedoms.

But I am also angry that it was slacktivist feel good measures of defiance that was the go to for so many on the left when a lot of folk on the right were using the system against you directly because finding the way to apply and lobby and interface with the system directly gets poo pooed as having to deal with and act like a Democrat...but is how the system is designed to function.

The truth is that other countries can't help you. The only legal interface we have is through proper channels because there are bodies of law and military systems that keep us in check from interference. Technically your country hasn't tripped the switch where we can directly meddle because that would mean a war during which we would need be defending because we have a total citizen count only slightly larger than California.

You have no such restrictions. You can use sabotage, soft resistance, legal avenues, press to leave the union, show up at your municipal and state governments with petitions, organize into actual milltias like your own constitutional documents say is a good thing for when your country had gone rogue. Your founders were edgy mistrustful bastards who designed your country with the idea that it might need to be overthrown. None of this is easy. Up here a lot of people are preparing - taking relevant coursework, getting firearm licencing and training proficiency, working with aid programs to assist refugees and using measures that change our behaviour, sometimes at personal cost to future plans or to pocketbooks.

You can ignore Canadian and Mexican voices in this squabble. Let's face it, we're used to it as most of your discourse likes to pretend we don't exist. But everybody gets an opinion here and we are relevant... Because your country will crush us with the combined weight of individual inaction eventually.

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