No Stupid Questions

I'm not American so I guess I am just waiting for this modus operandi to arrive here

I'm going to be playing the cool hand and putting a full court press with a measured response to my MAGA co-workers and roll out the slow drip of bad news to many of them who are already getting a taste of taking America back to Trump's "new Gilded Age.."

They get to play the part of the people living in filth and squalor while the Robber Barons lived high on the hog.

Will do this by reminding them that their costs will continue to skyrocket for insurance, and oh did you hear that once we're out of NATO ad kicked out of the military bases across Europe, taxes will have to rise to cover the costs of building new bases in other countries we haven't pissed off. I mean, it's too bad that the billionaires got permanent tax breaks from Trump while we get to foot the bills for them.

Trump sure loves the poorly educated, and the working class voters that voted for him, doesn't he?

I'm going to needle and do it with as little gloating as possible and try and make them so sour on the GOP they either switch to a Democrat (unlikely) or don't vote again (the better option)

Not getting hot about this and serving up resistance coldly is where I'm heading.

Hitting the gym. Exercise is good for one's mental health

Start moving.

Start knocking on all your neighbors doors and introduce yourself. Get phone numbers and set up a signal chat. Start now. Like 3 doors today.

Start stocking things like bottles of water, whistles, gas masks, high vis vests, weather gear. These are essentials for neighborhood watches. Portable chargers are also helpful. Identify places in your area that might be especially vulnerable.

Try to set up plans for people who may need to stay inside for their safety. Set up a mutual aid food delivery plan with your neighbors, especially neighbors who are not white, bc when people go into hiding they can’t go out to work or buy food. People also need things to do while stuck inside, board games, art supplies, books, etc.

Find or start training sessions for citizens on their 1st and 4th amendment rights. Monarca is active in MN, there might be something similar near you.

Have a place where people can upload videos and document everything.

Contact your representatives, now. Actually call them, you can just google them and they will have an office phone number. There are scripts online if you’re unsure, but just tell them what you think and the urgency of the situation. Start with your city council person and go right through to your senators.

These are all things that will make you feel energized instead of listless, connected instead of isolated. Relieve your stress by working to plan to fight back now. I hope the time never comes, and if it doesn’t, you’ve channeled all the crap into something productive and come together with your communities to get educated, get organized, and get more caring to one another.

I write poetry in my free time. (I sometimes post them on here !originalpoetry@literature.cafe

I'm working on my memoir that includes my experience growing up as a child immigrant in the US (now naturalized btw)

I read about history stuff, Wong Kim Ark and I know I'm not alone. History is filled with injustice, and we are living in the history books, and I hold on to the hope justice prevails, just as with many times before, thing have improved. I hope that it will be the same for the future.

I comment on Lemmy to vent.

FUCK ICE btw, unconstitutional pieces of shit.

I'm a Citizen so I dare to say:

FUCK ICE. I HOPE Y'ALL GET PROSECUTED AND GO TO JAIL FOREVER and better yet: I hope for y'all to [redacted], and that We the People will [redacted] you all.

(It's not "threatening violence" if I didn't actually type those words 😏)

I work in healthcare. I've been spending a lot of time studying, listening to podcasts, and improving my healthcare knowledge and trying to be a better provider for my patients. You know, do better for the little bit of community I can affect.

I also go to the gym a lot and I've started doing a martial art. Get my physical body in shape and get myself out of my head. It gets me to stop thinking of the world and my own problems for a while.

I am an absurdist. Rebellion is a way of life and a major tenet in my fancy made up religion. Find out your risk tolerance. Figure out small ways you can rebel without putting your loved ones in harm's way and minimizing the risk to yourself. From as little as turning graffiti swastikas to LOVE WINS and giving Krasnov stickers little mustaches to finding, following, and whistling at ICE when they're anywhere near your community. Sign up with the Black Panthers for community patrolling and stay safe. Get out there, get to know your neighbors and simply build community relationships. Everything that They (you know They) are trying to destroy, rebel by building it and alternatives back up.

I signed up for a rapid response team training, and I’ve started 3D printing very loud whistles to carry with me and give out

I'm honestly too depressed to channel anything - it just comes out at random moments when I'm alone while I struggle to keep myself going (something only happening at all because I have to for those dependent upon me).

Volunteer work. I can't do anything for the folks in Minneapolis right now but I can invest that energy into protecting and supporting my own community so we're better prepared when they come for us.

learning to write better rust code (no ai)

I'm fucking dead inside. I've learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.

making a list of the people actually responsible, in order of how rich they are

I get through it by pouring most of my energy into helping my clients, come home drained, and catch up with my kids, rot, pass out and sleep like a rock. I have many fears and worries and plans but I turn them off for the 3-4 hours in the afternoon of home time or I’d lose my mind. I commiserate with peers in our shared office during the day/between tasks.

Unhealthily amounts of doomscrolling

Gun

Music

I would say start barricading their headquarters so they can't get out as a sign of protest. If necessary start helping immigrants hide from the authorities.

Music is a great channel, trash metal specially is indicated, for example https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nL1NmtTG5Lg

Been stacking up on green tip.

I am becoming mentally prepared to have to make very difficult decisions.

Edit for the Bylines network.

For the immediate fit of rage/anger: breathing techniques to take the edge off. And probably not the healthiest advice, but acetaminophen also numbs emotional pain. (Slightly ashamed to admit it, but better than using alcohol.)

I've try meditation on/off for years, but it has never really worked for me. In a cathartic way, learning more about the history of collapsing nations has helped me reach a state of inner peace? Reading articles about the fall of the Soviet Union, feudalism, Mussolini's death feel more topical every day. "Fall of Civilizations" podcast by Paul Cooper is pretty good listening. "History of Japan" by Isaac Meyer is very good overall, and has some episodes on the fall of the Ashikaga, Tokugawa shogunates, the bubble economy of the 1980s. We're repeating history and there's nothing I can do about it. All I can do is manage the world around me.

It's okay to take a break from the internet and focus on your own mental well-being. Don't let them take it from you.

i would say firearms training, but that will never happen with the gun adversed "left."