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"Our democracy hangs by a thread": Expert panel says a Trump victory in 2024 will end it (www.salon.com)

submitted 1 year ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world

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Donald Trump and the movement he represents are not “just” a matter of politics: They are effectively a public health crisis that touches all areas of American society and life.

These assaults on democracy and a humane society are emotional, physical, spiritual, psychological, economic, intellectual and material. Trumpism and fascism attack reality and truth, seeking to replace them with what social psychologists have described as a state of “malignant normality."

The result of these assaults is a collective state of trauma, anxiety, lack of direction and growing despair about our futures as individuals and citizens of a supposed democracy. These negative emotions are amplified by existential fears about global climate disaster, disruptive technologies such as AI, wars in multiple areas of the world, past and future pandemics and other unpredictable crises.

Fascism and authoritarianism are like opportunistic predators. They seek out societies in crisis whose dysfunction and brokenness allow them to flourish.

If Trump and his MAGA forces take back the White House, whether by fair means or foul — a once-unthinkable prospect that now seems increasingly likely — that might finally mean the end of innocence for those Americans who have deluded themselves into believing that “we are better than that."

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[-] shalafi@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Right with ya boo. I've posted much on lemmy.

POC, women and LGBT folks are the top new gun purchasers, and have been for a couple of years. Ask yourself why.

Bug out you say? I've got 2.5 acres of swamp. Don't come there uninvited if SHTF.

Stockpile you say? I laugh out loud when there's a news story, "This crazy fuck had 4,000 rounds!" So, amateur? People thinking "one bullet, one kill" haven't ever gone shooting. I can easily blow 200-rounds of various rounds and shells, by myself, on a Saturday afternoon at camp. Got loads of .22 for small game and loads of .223 for 2-legged game. Various shotshell covers the rest.

But you know what's got me seriously fucking bent? I spent the other night learning about gas masks, their specs and effectiveness, all that. I'm 52. Only fucking nutcases did that back in the day!!! Next I gotta look up body armor and study, but that's far in the back next to food, ammo, gasmasks, etc. Got the "living outside" thing well covered. You could strip me naked, chunk me out there, and I'd be comfortable within 30-minutes. And armed.

I'm mad as hell to be spending my middle years watching my country devolve into a 3rd world fascist hellscape.

"You gonna shoot at cops and soldiers Mr. Tough Guy?"

Yes. If it comes to that, yes. First police/civilian/military patrol coming to my home looking for liberal "vermin" is getting greeted with a hell storm of lead. And no, I do not expect to survive such an encounter. Hopefully I can see it coming and bug out.

Y'all need to read up on the French Revolution and WWII Europe. Shit goes wild, fast. Starts in small degrees (<- YOU ARE HERE), explodes overnight. And if a middle-class, middle-aged white guy is this worried, shouldn't YOU be?

NOTE: If Trump loses, we probably good for a bit. If Trump wins and the top brass tell him to get fucked, we good for a bit. Both items are most likely.

[-] spankinspinach@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'm Canadian and as an individual not particularly reactive to world events, but even I'm watching the US's next election with anxious apprehension

[-] Buffalox@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Seems to me that In Europe, you'd be considered a violent extremist.
But in USA, this seems like common sense. 😥

this post was submitted on 17 Nov 2023

333 points (96.6% liked)

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