I’m starting to really consider the whole “reality is a simulation” angle, and whoever is running the game has put in a cheat code. (not really really, but more than I ever have before)
It’s like a shitty unrealistic movie plot has unfolded over the past decade. And every time it looks like maybe things are heading back on track, BOOM, we get another event that just turns us right back on the track to crazytown.
I’m having a hard time coming up with anything I can cling to in the hopes that Project 2025 isn’t going to go exactly as planned down to the last detail.
How are we not going to become real-world Gilead (but with more racism)?
You are experiencing what they want you to experience in this situation: A state of shock.
This is “Shock and Awe.” It’s a blitz to make the enemy feel like the task to fight back is insurmountable and to give up before trying.
Shock and awe (technically known as rapid dominance) is a military strategy based on the use of overwhelming power and spectacular displays of force to paralyze the enemy’s perception of the battlefield and destroy their will to fight
This is not a military battle, but it is clear that Trump is practicing rapid dominance. He is using the Project 2025 pre-written Executive Orders to execute rapid dominance over the US government and make us feel shocked, confused, and desperate.
Naomi Klein wrote The Shock Doctrine in response to the Iraq War, and this is the Shock Doctrine being used on the US citizenry to whip them into submission.
We must resist this shock. The feeling you have, that it is hopeless, that no one is pushing back, is exactly how they want you to feel.
Get involved in Mutual Aid. Give back to your local community. Check out of national politics, we can’t affect it anymore. Focus on building parallel systems (food banks, community gardens, community mesh-networks, community first aid) for people to rely on since we can no longer rely on the systems that Trump is actively trying to dismantle or twist to harm the American populace.
Losing hope right now means losing the long-term battle against this. Losing hope is what they intend to force you into, broken, submissive, no hope. Do not go silent into that good night.
If you’re asking for someone to push back with effectiveness, you can be one of the first by giving your skills to your community.
In Klein’s own words:
Trump is a rolling shock machine, which a recipe for keeping us scattered and reactive to the latest shocking news. There will be moments when we need to react forcefully and meaningfully to protect one another.
EDIT: This also seems relevant right now:
When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
-Fred “Mister” Rogers
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
–
The Gospel According to MatthewLiberal Talking PointsThere are trumpers that read the bible. I always wonder what goes through their heads when they read the teachings of Jesus.
They really love using
Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me
in the context of abortion.
