I don’t know why I’m posting this. Maybe I’m hoping for some epiphany or for someone to point to a way out I’ve missed though I’m certain that’s not going to happen.
I’m watching the Nazis rise again in my country. I never supported them. Not now, not in earlier incarnations that lead to this. They rose anyway.
I got out of homelessness. I got a college education, though admittedly not in anything useful. I’ve never committed a crime aside from speeding. I’ve always played by the rules, even when they were unfair to me. I believed we had to cooperate with eachother, debate, struggle along to arrive at something more honest, a compromise that would better serve more people in the long run. But that only works if both sides are playing the same game by the same rules. The Nazis aren’t. I bettered myself as best I could. They didn’t. And they are winning.
I know what’s coming next. I understand that great violence is coming. I fear I will not survive. I fear my friends will not survive. My siblings and nieces and nephews will not survive, or worse, the young will grow up in such chaos that it becomes normal to them to operate that way. That safety and respect become nothing more than stories from a primitive culture that existed long ago.
I’m gay. Im liberal. I’m an atheist. I’m outspoken. I’m poor. I’m honest. These are traits that are not desirable in the new country forming around me and they will be punished.
I’m not changing myself to make Nazis comfortable. They are just going to have to kill me. And they will.
Recently a friend was concerned about me and invited me out with others. We were out at a gay bar. A petition was going around gathering signatures to fight Ohio’s plans to reinstate a ban on gay marriage. They won’t stop there. I know they want us removed. And they have many ways of erasing me quite effectively. It ruined the evening seeing another loosing game being played. Ohio didn’t listen to its voters before, and America sure as hell won’t let them start now. I’m watching these people play the game as if they are setting things up for a victory tomorrow. People are already being disappeared. These people won’t be around to fight this tomorrow.
I signed the petition anyway. I might be wrong. Maybe this little bit will help if I am wrong. But I also felt that by increasing my visibility even this much, I’m increasing my risk. It is foolish to expect my state or country to handle opposition respectfully. But compliance with the regime just makes it more difficult for those strong and brave enough to fight back so on behalf of them, I signed my death certificate. I won’t likely win, but I won’t make it easy for them to silence me either.
When I lost my last job I lost health care and lost my psych meds and treatment. I went through withdrawal while working a retail job that wasn’t actually paying the bills but I had to keep trying. Now I have a better job and health coverage again but I cannot afford to go back on medication. RFK has already stated what he plans to do to people receiving psych medications. If he simply takes those meds away, I’ll go through withdrawal again and will likely lost my job as I’ll be unable to function while my neurochemistry readjusts. I literally can’t take the risk to better myself. My family and friends have noticed. They are worried. I can’t even see a therapist because I can’t afford one. Besides, the Trump regime has expressed opinions on enslaving people for that too.
I got a small windfall from this years tax return. I spent it all immediately on little tech project distractions for myself. I use them as puzzles to put my focus into. I dare not hold onto enough money to buy a gun while in this state.
I cannot survive like this much longer. If my country doesn’t kill me, I might do it myself just to get away.
I can’t afford to immigrate to another country. I have no money. I have no unique and in-demand skills. I only speak one language. And I’m an American in 2025. No one would want me in their country anyway and I can’t say I’d blame them for that.
I can’t keep stalling. I don’t know what to do next but doing nothing will most certainly lead to my demise.
That in itself can be the reason to live today - improving that design.
When I say “art” - I am trying to mean something broader. Human expression, things we do which aren’t immediately about survival or the approval of others. Music, hobbyist programming, sports… It also does not need to be “good” or express a “skill.” I am a god awful painter, but my shitty paintings are still valuable to me.
The idea is that we are the universe experiencing itself, and we can make new experiences. Your 3D printed art projects bring value to the world - far more than fuckers like Trump ever will. Trump deserves to be suicidal. Not you.
Thanks but what we deserve is irrelevant to reality. Without some sort of consequences this will not change and he’s shielded himself from consequences.
He won’t change, and bad things will happen. We can’t control the story, but we can change its meaning.
I’d like to point out that your 3D modeling is a skill. The economy is shit and tech is especially in shambles, but after this clears out I think the fact that the younglings can’t find their “my documents” folders bodes well for future job prospects.
Struggling with despair and mental illness is hard. I think sometimes it helps to remember that this struggle isn’t a failure on your part. This is hard and unfair. You can enjoy those little tech projects, those are valuable and worthwhile. They bring value to the world and you enjoy doing them. They also are job skills - nothing wrong with spending a weekend soldering a kit together. I get guilt complexes about money, but there are lots of rich spoiled fucks who make worse financial decisions and feel zero fucks. This isn’t to say go crazy and be irresponsible, but you don’t have to pay penance for an impulse purchase.
Try to love yourself even if the world is full of hate.
I’ve met me. I’m not really compatible with most people. I’m loud without knowing it. I freely discuss heavy topics and bring things down without being aware. I misread the room. I’m a lot.
Those are all minor character defects in a person who is probably much more complicated than that. None of those things are really wrong, just social faux pas, and that’s all about how other people react to you. Most people are wrong about many things, and their impression of you can be one of those things.
I get it, I can see myself in your comments, but it’s very liberating to stop caring what people think. Things are fucked anyway, so now is the time to tag a bathroom. Do fun things that make you feel good and don’t hurt other people.
For a good time, log into any computer at $formeremployer using $backdoortheystillprobablyhaventaddressed does have a nice ring to it.
100%. Fighting for justice is a reason to be alive, and creative exploits the part that makes it fun.