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Four years ago, many of you said we were overreacting when we said trump was an authoritarian. 4 years later we have federal agents snatching ppl off streets, 160k dead from a virus, postal service wrecked to suppress voting, massive corruption.
So what’s next?
So what’s next?
Well, if he wins re-election, all the stuff you’re seeing will be redoubled - especially against blue states and blue cities in red states. The virus will help here as people flee these congested centers for other places.
You think your right to vote and assemble is being messed with now? Just think how you’ll feel when entire cities are gerrymandered into six congressional districts (like Austin is now) to suppress blue voters.
Remember all those videos of black voters standing in line for 10 hours to vote because there’s only 5 polling places for a million person district? That will be all of us in blue states. Privileged whites will get a taste.
What else? Power and utilities. If he can’t find a way to corrupt our utilities he’ll simply send in his stormtroopers to wreck it. The worst part of the Noriega years in panama were the daily power outages and loss of water. Why? Because it disrupts and angers ppl.
He will want us all pissed off. He wants people worrying about their elderly parents losing power in a snowstorm instead of paying attention to his corruption.
Let’s see. Taxes. You’ll have next to none. Hooray!!!! But you’ll have no good roads. 95% of schools and hospitals will go to ruin. The rich will be okay but the rest of us will be fucked. And our military and cops will grow grow grow.
How do we pay for all that growth if not with taxes? MOAR DEBT. Our national debt just hit 20 trillion, up 4 trillion since last July. That’s 85% of GDP.
Triple that by the time trump is out in 2024. If you don’t like it, you don’t support our troops.
Triple that by the time trump is out in 2024. If you don’t like it, you don’t support our troops.
Everything you want to do will be reduced to a transactional service. Need an ambulance? Whip out your credit card up front.
The surveillance state will likely continue to grow regardless of who is in power, but under trump it will be on rocket fuel. Machine learning tied to facial recognition won’t just be about protestors, it will be used on transit, in stores, every public place.
The good news here? US elections are largely held on the county level. It’s hard even for someone like trump to control 3141 county election boards. So work to support them wherever you are.
And fucking vote. Spending just a few hours this fall to vote and ensure that your vote is counted can help us all avoid years of grief.
/fin
/fin
One more. If it gets really bad? Do you have a go bag? Are you armed? Have a plan for fleeing? Have cash on hand or other valuables to trade?
From here it slides into uncomfortable topics but look around you. The world has changed a lot since Nov 2016.
From here it slides into uncomfortable topics but look around you. The world has changed a lot since Nov 2016.
In years past I would also mention: passport up to date? Squirreled away some money in safety deposit boxes in different places? But we can’t travel and everyone is super broke.
Which is another feature of an authoritarian state - you’re trapped inside.
Which is another feature of an authoritarian state - you’re trapped inside.
