Lessons of 2020
Where do I even begin? March taught me that the US isn't a free country and what we call "freedom" are just privileges the government can take away with no warning and indefinitely. It taught me that the events leading up to the Nazi regime in WW2 Germany can easily happen not only in the modern age, but in any and every country that anyone ever thought "that could never happen here". It taught me how little it takes for people to be willing to completely give up their rights and force others to by whatever means necessary. It taught me to fear things I never thought I had any reason to fear.
It taught me that everything I learned in high school civics about checks and balances in government is a myth. I've watched the democratic party turn completely authoritarian with unchecked power. The only places there's any semblance of justice are where republicans have a majority or at least one branch of state government. The virus isn't political? Bull effing sh*t it's not. I wish I'd saved the paper, but I read that a health crisis is a dictator's dream because people in fear are easily manipulated. I've witnessed it throughout this year and it's revolting, even moreso because these exact same people virtue signal so hard they're convinced not only that they're morally superior, but that the rest of us are selfish and without compassion. These people care as much about me and mine as I do them and theirs, which is none whatsoever. It's been insufferable. I've spent much of this year feeling like I'm going crazy because of covid bringing out the absolute worst in everyone.
I didn't even vote in 2016. I hate politics and I hate watching the news. I've gone my entire adult life mostly not caring who is in office because it didn't affect my day to day life. All that changed. I have the news on constantly, I've gotten involved in local politics, and I re-registered to vote. I have felt completely powerless to the whims of people I didn't vote into office. Now, in less than a month, I can finally vengeance vote and I can only hope it makes a difference.
I am so stressed out about this stupid election. I wish I could go back to not caring. I see every day people claim Trump is the biggest threat to democracy while I'm literally watching democratic leaders follow the Nazi playbook practically to the letter. Like WTF reality is this? People don't even have a problem with it! Someone actually said, regarding the Jews in NYC, "They need to bring in the national guard and keep them quarantined until we are all immunized. It has unfortunate parallels with the Jewish ghettos of last century, but they've had 6 months to get their sh*t together." OMFG. Meanwhile, in some epic level mind-effery gaslighting somehow Governor Cuomo, a man who is directly responsible for thousands of deaths in NY state, is being lauded as having handled covid well. People believe this even though there is literally months of television footage and documentation covering what a terrible job he did!
Even without covid, we've got democrats in office threatening to add Supreme Court Justices, add states, abolish the filibuster, get rid of the Electoral College, and essentially reshape the US government so that republicans will basically never be in power again and that's perfectly okay cause, you know, whatever it takes to get rid of Trump even if it changes the face of the US government forever. But, Trump is the biggest threat to democracy. Trump is the wannabe dictator. Democrats have gone completely off the rails since he was elected. I can only hope there's a red wave in November because as strongly as they feel about Trump needing to be stopped is how I feel about their party as a whole. At this point, they need to be thoroughly trounced and we can only hope that unlike 2016 they'd actually learn a lesson this time. They need to quit courting progressives and come back to the center. Unfortunately, polls aren't reflecting that and that has me very anxious. Worst case scenario are democrats winning all 3 branches of government whereby the next 2 years, minimum, will be them pushing through every item on their leftist wish list with no legislative obstacles. Also, I'm calling it now, Biden will not serve a full term. He's out after 2 years even if they have to force him out, which Pelosi has already laid the groundwork for with Amendment 25. She says it's not for Trump, so who do you think it's for other than Biden? Harris has no loyalty to Biden, she will vote against him. Coming in at the 2 year mark also allows her to run for two more terms. People think Biden's the moderate candidate, he is not. Harris is not moderate, nobody in his cabinet is moderate, the fact that people are falling for this hook, line, and sinker is also disturbing. Trump for all his faults isn't going to fundamentally change anything or have any lasting ramifications after his administration is gone.
This is all that life is right now. Waiting for the election and hoping for a red wave in the midst of all sorts of voter fraud that's benefiting democrats despite all their crying that Trump's trying to suppress voters. Generally anything democrats are accusing republicans of doing they're already doing themselves. I'm not even a hardcore republican. I want a lot of what the democratic party offers, but their price is too high. I'm not sacrificing my liberty or allowing them to subvert the tenets of our government. I think that something's got to give. Both sides need to come to the center. We're in a cultural civil war. I worry that if the progressives of the left aren't rejected in this election they're going to be emboldened. A lot of people seem to forget or ignore that a significant part of Trump's appeal is that he's against identity politics, which are absolutely toxic.
Anyway, stress. Lots of stress worrying not only about my future, but the future of the country. I've waited since March to make my voice heard at the polls and due to the mess that covid has caused there's no telling when we'll have final results. Ridiculous. So, more stress throughout November waiting to find out what the fate of the nation is. Super fun. The only things I'm certain of are if Trump wins, massive rioting from the left, if Biden wins and democrats try to push the country too far to the left, massive uprising from the right. At least the former is temporary, I'm not convinced the latter is.
Edit: Forgot to mention that thanks to the policies of democratic governors that Florida is being absolutely flooded with refugees from locked down states. It has completely effed up our housing market (it's starting to look like the housing bubble of 2004) and I'm legitimately concerned that it's going to change the face of the Electoral College. We're seeing 1k people a day from NY and NJ, meanwhile people from California are flooding into Texas. Florida and Texas are the last two major red(ish) states in the union and I'm very worried both are going to be blue after this. Not to mention there's a lot of talk about Georgia becoming the new Hollywood, gods help us. People have tried to console me that it's probably conservatives leaving, but I'm not convinced. Texas has been turning increasingly purple thanks to an influx of Californians. Florida has been purple for awhile, but still tends to err on the side of red and I'd prefer to keep it that way. I wish people were smart enough to not continue to vote for the policies and politicians they left behind.
It taught me that everything I learned in high school civics about checks and balances in government is a myth. I've watched the democratic party turn completely authoritarian with unchecked power. The only places there's any semblance of justice are where republicans have a majority or at least one branch of state government. The virus isn't political? Bull effing sh*t it's not. I wish I'd saved the paper, but I read that a health crisis is a dictator's dream because people in fear are easily manipulated. I've witnessed it throughout this year and it's revolting, even moreso because these exact same people virtue signal so hard they're convinced not only that they're morally superior, but that the rest of us are selfish and without compassion. These people care as much about me and mine as I do them and theirs, which is none whatsoever. It's been insufferable. I've spent much of this year feeling like I'm going crazy because of covid bringing out the absolute worst in everyone.
I didn't even vote in 2016. I hate politics and I hate watching the news. I've gone my entire adult life mostly not caring who is in office because it didn't affect my day to day life. All that changed. I have the news on constantly, I've gotten involved in local politics, and I re-registered to vote. I have felt completely powerless to the whims of people I didn't vote into office. Now, in less than a month, I can finally vengeance vote and I can only hope it makes a difference.
I am so stressed out about this stupid election. I wish I could go back to not caring. I see every day people claim Trump is the biggest threat to democracy while I'm literally watching democratic leaders follow the Nazi playbook practically to the letter. Like WTF reality is this? People don't even have a problem with it! Someone actually said, regarding the Jews in NYC, "They need to bring in the national guard and keep them quarantined until we are all immunized. It has unfortunate parallels with the Jewish ghettos of last century, but they've had 6 months to get their sh*t together." OMFG. Meanwhile, in some epic level mind-effery gaslighting somehow Governor Cuomo, a man who is directly responsible for thousands of deaths in NY state, is being lauded as having handled covid well. People believe this even though there is literally months of television footage and documentation covering what a terrible job he did!
Even without covid, we've got democrats in office threatening to add Supreme Court Justices, add states, abolish the filibuster, get rid of the Electoral College, and essentially reshape the US government so that republicans will basically never be in power again and that's perfectly okay cause, you know, whatever it takes to get rid of Trump even if it changes the face of the US government forever. But, Trump is the biggest threat to democracy. Trump is the wannabe dictator. Democrats have gone completely off the rails since he was elected. I can only hope there's a red wave in November because as strongly as they feel about Trump needing to be stopped is how I feel about their party as a whole. At this point, they need to be thoroughly trounced and we can only hope that unlike 2016 they'd actually learn a lesson this time. They need to quit courting progressives and come back to the center. Unfortunately, polls aren't reflecting that and that has me very anxious. Worst case scenario are democrats winning all 3 branches of government whereby the next 2 years, minimum, will be them pushing through every item on their leftist wish list with no legislative obstacles. Also, I'm calling it now, Biden will not serve a full term. He's out after 2 years even if they have to force him out, which Pelosi has already laid the groundwork for with Amendment 25. She says it's not for Trump, so who do you think it's for other than Biden? Harris has no loyalty to Biden, she will vote against him. Coming in at the 2 year mark also allows her to run for two more terms. People think Biden's the moderate candidate, he is not. Harris is not moderate, nobody in his cabinet is moderate, the fact that people are falling for this hook, line, and sinker is also disturbing. Trump for all his faults isn't going to fundamentally change anything or have any lasting ramifications after his administration is gone.
This is all that life is right now. Waiting for the election and hoping for a red wave in the midst of all sorts of voter fraud that's benefiting democrats despite all their crying that Trump's trying to suppress voters. Generally anything democrats are accusing republicans of doing they're already doing themselves. I'm not even a hardcore republican. I want a lot of what the democratic party offers, but their price is too high. I'm not sacrificing my liberty or allowing them to subvert the tenets of our government. I think that something's got to give. Both sides need to come to the center. We're in a cultural civil war. I worry that if the progressives of the left aren't rejected in this election they're going to be emboldened. A lot of people seem to forget or ignore that a significant part of Trump's appeal is that he's against identity politics, which are absolutely toxic.
Anyway, stress. Lots of stress worrying not only about my future, but the future of the country. I've waited since March to make my voice heard at the polls and due to the mess that covid has caused there's no telling when we'll have final results. Ridiculous. So, more stress throughout November waiting to find out what the fate of the nation is. Super fun. The only things I'm certain of are if Trump wins, massive rioting from the left, if Biden wins and democrats try to push the country too far to the left, massive uprising from the right. At least the former is temporary, I'm not convinced the latter is.
Edit: Forgot to mention that thanks to the policies of democratic governors that Florida is being absolutely flooded with refugees from locked down states. It has completely effed up our housing market (it's starting to look like the housing bubble of 2004) and I'm legitimately concerned that it's going to change the face of the Electoral College. We're seeing 1k people a day from NY and NJ, meanwhile people from California are flooding into Texas. Florida and Texas are the last two major red(ish) states in the union and I'm very worried both are going to be blue after this. Not to mention there's a lot of talk about Georgia becoming the new Hollywood, gods help us. People have tried to console me that it's probably conservatives leaving, but I'm not convinced. Texas has been turning increasingly purple thanks to an influx of Californians. Florida has been purple for awhile, but still tends to err on the side of red and I'd prefer to keep it that way. I wish people were smart enough to not continue to vote for the policies and politicians they left behind.