by 01HNNWZ0MV43FF | 2025-08-05 08:29:13+00:00
> I think an entire generation of young men now believe that they'll eventually be shipped off to some war and might not return

Things are pretty grim for me, and I think I'm undraftable.

If I stay in the US, what if I get targeted by stochastic terrorism for my identity or my beliefs or my speech?

If I leave the US, what if I regret leaving my friends and family? What if they suffer and I could have prevented it?

If I leave the US and everything is fine, and it's just an embarrassing waste of time and money, then what?

If the US falls into civil war... If Russia advances farther into Europe and China moves for Taiwan and the US goes into war mode to project power, even though Trump dithers between siding with Russia and against.

I don't think I'm overreacting. The government is being disassembled day by day as good people resign and corrupt loyalists are hired in. The tipped scales of the Electoral College, the Senate, the mis-allocated House, and the "apolitical" legislature of the Supreme Court are all finally aligned with a well-organized wanna-be fascist regime. The hopes for sanity are that the Republican party might infight long enough to run out of steam, and that the US might be so big and defensible that even the US could not invade the US, especially if an organized defense were mounted.

You know, a year ago, I had dreams. I was going to get cosmetic surgery and buy a new car just because I wanted one, and I was going to take up expensive hobbies and do some self-care and really enjoy myself. Right-wing pundits want me dead or imprisoned and I just want to be left alone.

Not to compare it to the horror of seeing your buddies explode into bloody chunks, but I feel like I'm living in a bit of a cold war.

I don't see the point having a full-time career or putting money into my retirement fund when I might not be in the US in 2028, or I might not be alive, or I might need a huge sum of cash to save myself and some loved ones.

And I have to keep telling myself, I'm not overreacting. A friend of a friend was kidnapped across state lines by ICE this week, kept for days with no contact with their family, and probably will never get justice. That is terrorism. Committed by a government elected by a 30% majority of American voters, against people who look different or pose a threat to their order. None of my friends have faith that the Democratic Party, which peacefully ceded power to a man who wants to be king, will put up a serious fight. I think as an atheist, I never appreciated how much faith it takes, even secular faith, to live day-by-day. My friends condemn "civil religion" while I only long to believe again. We never deserved the Statue of Liberty and we sure aren't earning it now.

I hope someone takes this seriously. If anyone reading understands this, the Republican Party is mounting a 51% attack on America. It is the same problem that can happen to cryptocurrency, because in the end democracy only works is power is distributed. Please please vote Democrat next year, if there are elections. Please stand up to ICE. Please say "No, you can't kidnap people and hold them without trial just because you decided they're suddenly illegal." We used to at least pretend to have standards.