• Wolf_359@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Depends. He seems pretty out of it right now and I don’t know how much he would really accomplish. He’s also pretty old and unhealthy.

    But if he comes back angry and the people around him are effective, then yeah we would start looking for other places to live. I’m not trying to live in a Russian-style handmaid’s tale.

    I don’t think it’s dramatic to suggest Trump may actually put an end to our democracy though. Another Lemmy commenter summed it up best. They pointed out that we on the left may have disagreed with McCain or Bush, but we never once feared that they would seize power or leave NATO. We trusted them to at least keep the ship afloat and respect the basic tenants of our free and democratic nation.

    With Trump, we don’t have that. All bets are off because he’s an unhinged narcissist. He would leave NATO and risk the Pax Americana that has stabilized the world for almost 100 years now. And he would do it for money, for negative attention, or just because someone told him he couldn’t. America has some pretty major faults but China and Russia are not ready to take the reigns. Say what you will about the West but we at least endeavor to protect human rights. I think anyone who isn’t trying to build on the current Western peace is incredibly dangerous in a very scary way.

    • shikitohno@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      He would leave NATO and risk the Pax Americana that has stabilized the world for almost 100 years now.

      Stabilizing the world is just flat out wrong. At best, the US has stabilized itself and a select few allies. Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan most recently, along with a whole bunch of countries in Central and South America over the last 100 years would probably feel quite strongly that the US has been a disruptive force for them.

      • Wolf_359@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        As a devout lefty who thinks America and capitalism need a lot more checks and balances, I have to somewhat disagree with you.

        When we talk peace, we are talking relative terms. And I suppose I should also add prosperity into the mix.

        I think the West has enabled a period of relative peace and prosperity never before seen. And I think it’s getting, overall, better every day. Technology and capitalism, for all their evils, have lifted billions out of poverty and saved billions of lives.

        • shikitohno@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          I’m rather curious how you relativise a lot of the US’ recent history. Sure, Iraq and Afghanistan weren’t pillars of stability, but I think the balance comes down pretty hard against the US with Vietnam and other Southeast Asian nations as well. Our continued support of Israel and Saudi Arabia isn’t looking so hot either.

          Then we’ve got military intervention in the Dominican Republic and support of Trujillo until he stopped being useful, installing the Pinochet regime after helping topple the government of Salvador Allende, support for the military dictatorship in Brazil, as well as backing dictatorships in Argentina.

          Our colonization of the Philippines was pretty awful, as is our continued treatment of Puerto Rico as essentially a vacation spot and Caribbean ghetto.

          You get the idea. Seriously, I’m hard pressed to think of an instance in the last century where the US has intervened on the international stage and actually has a credible claim to having done good with the exception of World War II.

          The government has created and fought for stability for a small subset of monied interests and has largely left the rest of us to jump for whatever table scraps they deign to let fall to us plebs. As @Nokinori mentions, even domestically, things are increasingly coming undone at the seams and looking ready to get worse.

    • yesdogishere@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      how about the opposite view: trump supporters feel Trump will be good. He will allow the USA to become much more independent and cut off paying for other nations’ wars. why should we pay for them? there is no need for america to be the guardian of democracy or anything. We just want to live god-fearing lives and raise good families. We don’t need the rest of the world. Our military can stomp out any invaders.

      • Wodge@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Well how about doing anything remotely Godly? I mean seriously, the stuff ol Jesus H Christ tried teaching y’all seems to have been completely missed. You lot would call him “Woke”.

        I’m glad you stick to the “I’m a Christian” lark, as if there is a hell, you’ll be more than likely heading there.

      • Hyperreality@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        He will allow the USA to become much more independent and cut off paying for other nations’ wars. He will allow the USA to become much more independent and cut off paying for other nations’ wars.

        Kowtowing to countries like China and Russia, allowing them to win strategic victories, will make them more powerful and give them more influence on US politics. Ie. the US would become less independent.

        You don’t become more independent by telling countries like China that you give up.

        In the case of Ukraine, they’re one of the world’s top exporters of grain, which is in part why food prices have been rising globally.

        We don’t need the rest of the world.

        You do. The world has globalised. At least 40 million American jobs are directly reliant on exports. The rest of the world also produces stuff like oil. Fuel prices would skyrocket.

        A lot of unprofitable stuff has also been moved overseas. It would cost money to make it in the US. Many resources are also rare in the US. Stuff like rare-earth elements. Good luck importing from countries which have signed deals with China, because they’re the new super power. Combined with de-dollarisation this would also cause massive issues, rampant inflation for example. You think it’s bad now? You ain’t seen nothing yet.

        Our military can stomp out any invaders.

        No one needs to invade the US. It’s cheaper to simply buy a candidate or blackmail him. This allows countries like China to push through legislation which favours their business and strategic interests. Eg. dropping support for Ukraine or dropping support of Taiwan so that China can take control of advance chip industries.

        In the long term, the US would find it hard to sustain a huge military budget when facing economic turmoil and a debt crisis. Especially in relative terms. China has a population of 1.4 billion. If the US withdraws from the Asia-Pacific and Europe, they’re likely to become part of the Chinese sphere of influence. A country of 300 million, will inevitably be pushed around by a power bloc of 3 billion.

        Of course, none of this will convince a Trump supporter, because most base their support on emotions not reason. And once they find they can’t afford to fill up on gas, or groceries, they’ll blame anyone but themselves.

    • voidMainVoid@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      They pointed out that we on the left may have disagreed with McCain or Bush, but we never once feared that they would seize power or leave NATO.

      They were saying all of the same things about W. Bush in 2004.

      We trusted them to at least keep the ship afloat and respect the basic tenants of our free and democratic nation.

      Not at all. The left viewed W. Bush as a wannabe dictator, not much different from how Trump is viewed now.

      • sfcl33t@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I did not view Bush at all like Trump. Really disliked his political takes on most things and thought he was embarrassingly dumb some times but it never ever even crossed my mind that he was a threat to the republic. And actually admired his composure and leadership after 9/11. They’re not even remotely comparable.

      • Bytemeister@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I viewed Bush as an incompetent moron with business cronies crawling in to every spot in his administration. I don’t recall people saying he was a wannabe dictator, he had at least some respect for the Constitution and the electoral process. Trump on the other hand, put extreme pressure on the DoJ to direct investigations away from him, minimize their impact or bury them as best as possible. His administration freaking extradited a convicted Russian agent back to her home country because she was funneling money and propaganda to the GOP through the NRA. Trump is a wannabe dictator, he didn’t get to be one because he didn’t have to spine to follow through with his coup because he knew he needed the thinnest amount of plausible deniability to give his GOP sycophants cover to justify letting him off the hook if it failed.

  • Xtallll@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 year ago

    I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

  • aceshigh@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    i’ll worry about it if and when it happens. i have wasted too much time, energy and resources worrying and catastrophizing about things i cannot control.

    • DuckOverload@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Not a bad idea to consider a plan though. If you’d want to move away, that’s a major decision that is best made through research and deliberation, not in a fearful rush to escape.

      • Void_Sloth@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        The “stick head in sand” method has become extremely popular and it is a serious problem.

      • dingus@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Be killed??? Look, I know Trump is nutso, but why in the world would him being president again equate to someone’s family being killed??

        • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Dunno know. Maybe they are immigrants and will end up in some camp, maybe they are trans and someone will murder them, maybe they are Jewish or muslim and someone will shot up their temple, maybe they are Asian and someone will push them right into the subway tracks, maybe they will work in the service industry and be forbidden from wearing a mask, maybe they are diabetic and lose their Obamacare coverage for insulin…

  • thorbot@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    What the fuck can I do? Just be even more depressed about the state of the country

  • Dantpool@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    If we make plans, and post them on the internet, people start throwing around words like “premeditated” and it just makes things harder.

  • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Watch Democrats blame people they were actively hostile towards for not enthusiastically waiting for hours in the cold to vote for them.

    Then watch the world’s longest-running uninterrupted democracy with the world’s largest military and the world’s largest nuclear arsenal become a fascist dictatorship. Maybe I’ll die quickly and have a chance to be envied.

    Fix your messaging, Dems. Pretend he’s a progressive and oppose him.

    • fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Honestly, just point to his examples of government overreach! Heck if Dems really wanted to hurt him, do some overreach that they want to do anyway and make sure that they thank the man, heck say without him this would be impossible and that if we don’t take advantage of it someone else will!

      Just go hard on red flag laws, just use those bad boys up on all of their opponents, and say “Trump was awful for a lot of things, but thank god he got some of the strongest anti gun laws on the books in decades, without him, we couldn’t have gone after this dangerous far right militia, he really made this inevitable.”

  • Aaron@lemmy.nz
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    1 year ago

    I already moved. It’s not just Trump that’s the problem, and even if he loses in 2024, or does in office, the issues still will persist. America needs to figure out how to make the judicial system work properly and norms need to be codified. Vast swaths of the population need to change their culture of “us vs them”.

    I won’t be going back, the way things work with Republicans, you can’t just move to a blue state, you have to move out of the country.

    • Ultragramps@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      1 year ago

      To prove our mousey worth
      and overthrow the Earth.
      Before the night is done,
      our plan will be unfurled.
      By the dawning of the sun,
      we’ll take over the world.

  • Facelesscog@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Well, I’ve got some rope, a candlestick, a revolver, a lead pipe and a nice knife; I wanted to keep my options open.

  • Wahots@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    Voting.

    Local. State. Federal. Like I always have. I also moved out of a “shithole” state in the words of our treasonous former president.

    With China having a severe gender imbalance and a massive generation (age) imbalance, it’s going to cause all sorts of problems for them soon. Big, big fucking problems. And Russia just had all their young men flee, die stupidly, or decide Russia might not be the best place after they’ve released shittons of violent offenders, lol. Russia’s future looks dim at best. Iran isn’t looking too healthy either.

    So the bottom line is this: no matter where you go, you aren’t outrunning a shift to a multipolar world, especially one where resources like fresh water and food will be getting more scarce as climate change fucks the world and countries get more desperate, particularly authoritarian ones that are losing a tenuous grip on their people. That shit always causes wars, because humans are too fucking stupid to prioritize science in any other context.

    Countries with democracy and immigration and the means to defend themselves and their friends are your best bet. Our fate and your own fate are intrinsically linked because of that.

  • Quazatron@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Usually I’d grab my bucket of popcorn and watch another 4 years of the shitshow that is US politics.

    Unfortunately, this time the same kind of shitshow is happening across the pond in quite a few countries (not just the usual eastern ex-soviet states), including my country. Populist morons fueled by the Trump, Bolsonaro, Le pen, Orbán cookbook.

    People are eating this up on social networks and voting for them. I feel it’s going to get real nasty.

    • Dojan@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Yeah! What’s so delightful about things is how the U.S. tends to kind of set the climate for the politics in the west. The nazi party here in Sweden wasn’t doing bad per se, but after Trump’s victory they skyrocketed! They became the second biggest party last election, beating out the milquetoast bourgeoisie for the first time ever.

      Believe Italy has the same issue currently. Lovely stuff.

      Mind you I’m not blaming the U.S., it’s just that big headlines over there tends to colour ours too.

      • Wahots@pawb.social
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        1 year ago

        Not just western countries, either. You even see countries like China and Russia devolving too, collecting power, raising to the poverty index to make it look like russians aren’t starving, making term limits virtually indefinite, jailing opponents.

        Only thing is that they’ve got a head start on making bad decisions, China since 2012, Russia since the 00s.

      • RaoulDook@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I would simply shoot anyone who attempted to do any of that to me or anyone else in my care. We should all be prepared to defend ourselves, rather than give in to oppression.

        • Ultraviolet@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Not all at once. Fascists target a series of out groups, starting with the most marginalized, making the in group smaller and smaller. The more of the rich white cisgender heterosexual Christian male boxes you check, the further down the list you probably are, but you will be targeted eventually.

  • ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠@slrpnk.net
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    1 year ago

    Set up monthly donations to the ACLU and Planned Parenthood, volunteer as a PP escort, open up my (Illinois) home to women and families who need to travel for reproductive healthcare.

    This isn’t off the top of my head, my spouse and I discussed it years ago, before the previous election.