Autistic guy here and sorry for the political rant. There is a lot of intense and horrific things happening all over the world like the recent war with Iran. But let me say this. If you voted for Trump and your friends and family cut you off because of it, then I do not feel any sympathy for you.
Especially if you have a loved one who is neurodivergent or is special needs. The amount of grief and hopelessness this administration is bringing to thousands, if not millions, of families in the USA is indefensible. Families have been torn apart because of his draconian policies towards immigration. Legal immigrants and regular tourists are being jailed because they committed a minor infraction. Education and social safety programs are being gutted, while the ultra-wealthy keep getting richer and richer.
Canada, Australia and Europe, which we have seen as friends for the previous couple decades, are moving away from the USA after Trump’s annexation threats of Canada and withdrawing from several agreements. And I don’t fault them for boycotting the USA as there are other friendlier countries to travel to and buy products from. Compared to Europe or Asia, the only good things we have going for us here are the universities and the national parks. Yet Trump and most of his cabinet want to dismantle the national park system and remove all federal funding from these universities. I’m not sad that Canadians and Europeans (and Australians) are boycotting the USA, and at this point, I would happily boycott the USA as well if I didn’t live here. I’m sad because I really enjoy talking to international people. Plus many of these cultural ties between certain states and certain provinces (like BC and the NW USA, or Quebec and the Maritimes with New England) have been severely damaged and will be very difficult to repair. What makes traveling fun for me is having fun conversations with international people from all over the world.
All of this to make the USA safer?! Really?!
Now that Roe v. Wade has ben overturned and many states are implementing harsh laws preventing women from getting abortions, the USA will very likely its own Mahsa Amini. And when that happens and another wave of nationwide protests happen, Laken Riley will really be turning in her grave when she finds out her death was used for far-right authoritarian policies to dismantle healthcare for millions of women.
Safer from school shootings and gun violence since Republicans want to ease all gun restrictions? Safer from diseases since there is an anti-vax skeptic who is the secretary of the US health and human services and wants to remove all vaccine requirements? Out of fear that vaccines cause Autism which has been debunked countless times by countless scientists? Safer from pollution now that several environmental regulations have been eased? Safer for plane travel now that majority of the FAA has been fired? Safer traveling out of the country because American citizens (who even have Global Entry) are being put into waiting rooms for hours.
You voted for him to lower the cost of groceries and gas prices?! How is $2.80 per gallon of gas expensive, unless you casually drive a large pickup truck? Due to the tariffs and now the war in Iran, gas and gadgets are going to become A LOT more expensive. People in Oklahoma are going to be in for a very nasty shock when they are suddenly paying Massachusetts prices for utilities and food in a matter of time, unless the entire world can forgive the USA at this point.
If you voted for Trump in 2016, I would still think you have a good heart, even if our political opinions are different. If you voted for Trump in 2024 after Trump proved to the entire world that he has no respect for his political opponents, the constitution and law by putting members of the entire US cabinet in danger on 6 Jan 21, then I don’t think you have a good heart and you deserve to be ostracized.
This is why I have such a heard time sympathizing with those who lost friends and family connections because they would rather die of heart failure or cancer than have a well-qualified woman be president, and instead sympathize with those that did cut off friends and family if they voted for Orange Man. I hope everyone who voted for Orange Man will financially suffer. Because we don’t have a difference in political opinions. We have a difference in morality and ethics.
Then it sounds like you have an absolutely normal amount of empathy as an American.
Which I should add is incredibly low, and my greatest shame of being an American myself.
If you can’t feel bad for people who don’t know they’re victims of what may be the longest and most expensive con this nation has ever known, I don’t know what else to say.
I don’t feel bad for them because it required willful ignorance, hatred of others, and refusing to acknowledge his first term in office to ‘fall for it’.
Fuck 'em. Hope they suffer more than the people who are suffering because of their choices.
This con has been decades in the making. It’s not just Rump specifically.
They’ve been getting groomed since before Regan.
Quite literally since birth.
You watch neighbors grow up and mature thinking we’ll all reach some kind of educated, experienced consensus. But I’ve got people I’ve known since middle school who are so sheep dipped in propaganda they can’t tell up from down. And I know more than a few others who have put up with Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo and that assortment of liberal sleeze so long they can’t tell the difference between parties.
I’ve been around for decades and it was always an obvious con.
They love Nazis and Russia. Fuck 'em.
It’s just what it looks like. Go in collect psychological evidence and the problem is surely a much bigger misdirection.
From the outside it looks to be a deep rooted issue. I don’t think it’s the grooming, rather a lack of shared cause.
Trump is bringing you together unlike anything.
You?
More people converting away from far right now, than in the last 5 years
I hope that’s true, but there’s no real evidence in the news. While it’s amazing and inspirational how many people stood up to protest, that doesn’t imply any political conversions. In fact it could indicate further divisiveness