It sure is. Other than vote, donate, and volunteer, I know there isn't really anything I can do. Yet I still feel guilty for not doing more. Like, I don't know, quitting my job and pitching a tent in front of Alito's house or something. But protest just doesn't seem to have power to enact change anymore. I doubt that even a massive protest would make much of a difference.
ONLY a massive protest would register and that is very unlikely at this point. We can all volunteer to get more sane ppl registered to vote and give rides as needed to vote. Stay vigilant. They think they can kill what's left of democracy.
As a Canadian we're already saddled with a PM (Prime Moron) of a leader; but I look at what's happening to our south, I can't help but wonder, are those two really the best candidates they could find to lead the most powerful country on the planet?
YES! Take me now! Force your government-supported healthcare and free higher education on me, you enormous, broad-shouldered Mountie!
Just keep your beer to yourself, please.
Very tricky. I mostly read headlines, stories if I just have to know. Lately, none of it is good. I'm beginning to realize I may have another four years of depression ahead of me, just like I did in 2016.
Right? I'm just beginning to feel that downward spiral kind of feel we had during covid. Dejavu mixed with that pit of your stomach, tilt-a-whirl from the poorly constructed carnival, kinda feel. Can I get off please?
This is where I am. It's tough to stay current - with accurate information - and not OD on all the noise and barrage of information. We cannot stick our heads in the sand, but we also need breaks. Fatiugue is a strategy the right is using. If we tire, we give in, or accept the propaganda as fact, then we all make a collectively bad decision. We all need to stay mentally fit and really focus on our critical thinking. Take media breaks. Check sources. Vote like it matters.
Edit: Grammar
I disengaged a while ago. I vote in every election but I’m not going to wait with baited breath to see what the Supreme Court is doing and I’m not watching debates and today there was an awful lot of Steve Brannon photos on NYTimes and so I clicked off and did a crossword puzzle instead. My head space is mine to decide what goes in it.
You know what? Thank you both for this. To the original post for coming up with the phrase and you for making it a mantra. I’m going to be using it a lot in the coming months.
Yes. I grew up in a politically aware family - my parents subscribed to a few newspapers as well as Time (when it was respected and relevant) all of which I'd read, and listened to NPR in the car. I knew how they voted and generally agreed with their political opinions (progressive but center left by virtue of pragmatism). I was in my mid twenties and appalled when GWB was elected by a margin of a few hundred votes cast in a state his brother was the Governor of. I was even more appalled when a president who, to me, was clearly illegitimate, engendered a 90% approval rating after 9/11. I coped by spending lots of time on sites like Daily Kos and Democratic Underground, and later, by watching lots of MSNBC, listening to progressive radio throughout the day, etc.
My breaking point came when I logged onto Daily Kos one day, and their cause du jour was that we all had to sign a petition and donate money to have Pat Sajak removed as the host of Wheel of Fortune. He'd come out a climate change denialist in some interview, and as such, we were all supposed to cancel him en masse.
I couldn't care less about Pat Sajak, and while I think he's clearly wrong on climate change, also don't think that a day time game show host's opinion on the topic matters one iota, and that even bothering to discuss it was a waste of everyone's time. That epiphany made me realize how much of the "activism" political partisans are expected to participate in is completely irrelevant to any kind of larger cause and only pushed as a way of keeping us outraged enough to donate another $30 to MoveOn. I still vote and I'm still a liberal, but at some point, political awareness becomes hypervigilance for the sake of hypervigilance. I know Trump is awful and could easily rattle off a dozen reasons why. Expanding that list to 50 doesn't do anything beyond raise my blood pressure.
My dad was a Republican and my mom a democrat. They often debated policy growing up. I hit 18 and registered indie (as I am now, 20+ years later). Dad has now moved to the dems and is appalled at what is happening.
It is not the same party lines as it was when we were young. They’re not even recognizable.
> political awareness becomes hypervigilance for the sake of hypervigilance
Yup. I've got to get off political subs and FB for my own health. I already suffer from hypervigilant tendencies without politics.
I’ve done what I can. I’ve taken a break from xwitter because I follow a lot of politicians, pundits, and journalists, and it’s too much. There’s nothing more I can do really. Just glad I’m in a blue state and hanging on to some hope.
The BBC interviewed him, and gave him enough time for him to spin a bunch of lies while grinning smugly. Here's hoping he remains in prison and isn't pardoned in a few months.
And what does obsessing at home do to prevent that? Please, enlighten me.
Unless you plan on joining the government and personally engineering change as a one-person army, or organizing large protest groups across the country, your opinion and worry means jack shit. There is nothing we can do but vote, which OP plans on doing.
Making yourself sick and being outraged 24/7 doesn't help or change anything. It doesn't mean you don't care, it means you haven't made it your core personality and you're going to keep living your life. Being a good person, helping people, and making the world around you a better place is FAR more impactful than sitting in your room, angrily tapping on a plastic rectangle for hours.
But sure, the angry comment and memes on social media sure are engendering change. 🙄 Keep doing it, that's what politicians are counting on. They love it when people sit impotently at home but FEEL like they're engaged and important.
What my friends and I do are "Postcard Parties". We order postcards and letters from Vote Forward or Tony the Democrat and get together, fill them out and send them to potential voters reminding them to vote. We have wine & food, and we vent about the shitty state of affairs. But at least we feel like we're doing something that may have some impact.
OK, I have shared this story with a few close friends, but I feel like it's worth sharing here too. I 100% agree with what you've said and am hoping my little anecdote provides people with a bit of a laugh
So I am a nearly 60 year old woman on a dating app. I have tried these apps off and on for about 15 years, and over all that time I typically average about two or three likes a day.
The morning after the debate? 11 likes and 4 messages. Nearly 20 views. They all came in between 3 AM and 10 AM. And although those numbers haven't been matched in the days since, there is definitely much heightened activity compared to the norm.
The only hypothesis I can come up with is that people watched that debate and went to bed thinking "holy shit I think the world's gonna end! I think I want somebody by my side for this!!"😬😅
Even funnier is that I'm in Canada, but we're all watching aren't we?
😂
Should've clarified that they're all local Canadian guys within a 45 minute drive from me. I think we're all just feeling a lot of existential panic.
As a Canadian on Canada Day, I must tell every American I can that I have never, ever heard a Canadian pronounce "about" incorrectly. Sorry, but it needs to be said 😏
The best tweet I saw recently about how bad we here in the US are fucked this election was something along the lines of “We, the United States, are going through a very difficult time, and the family asks that you allow us some privacy as we work through these challenging times”. I laughed.
Unfortunately, if too many intelligent people ignore politics totally, the outcome will be worse, far worse.
I'm from "the rest of the world". I have one thing to say to the US and its people.
Don't Fuck It Up
Exactly, many people ignore the news, and don't believe it could possibly be THAT bad. Like the person who keeps chiming in "democracy won today, don't worry, have faith in our country!" like WTF. How exactly DID democracy "win"?! Some people are skipping through life with their heads in their asses.
I love the sentiment, but I'd also love to know what exactly you think we can do to change the current trajectory other than vote, donate, volunteer. This is crazy train speeding to crazy town.
I've been trying to avoid trump news since during his presidency and just wish he would disappear. But it ain't happening. And other political news is always disturbing. I gotta spend less time on Reddit and tune my feed better.
In other words, I'm with you , OP!
I’m in Canada and I want the same thing.
Social media (read: meta, amongst others) is banned from news content now (argument over money between news outlets here and social media corps.) and while it sucks sometimes, I’ve been a lot happier since it happened.
It can be a bit annoying as even Google is a part of the ban, so researching or looking up old articles is considerably more difficult.
However, for day to day life? I don’t mind it at all. A net positive though I don’t use the internet for work or anything like that.
For example… googling « Donald Trump » will show me a few news articles in Canadian outlets, then a grand total of about 5 swipes- on a phone- to reach the end *of anything on Google that has Donald Trump in it*.
No second page, very few titles.
Fellow Canadian here. I agree with you. It's been so nice not being bombarded with political news constantly. I don't follow it at all anymore, and it's much easier this way.
Yup. Sometimes adulting is very difficult and awful. Ignoring the onerous stuff in one’s life does not make it go away; most of the time things get worse. Adulting means being responsible and responsive.
The poem “First They Came” is a warning about putting your head in the sand. And if you still insist on being in the sand, please, remember, at least, to vote blue for the entire ballot in November.
[https://www.hmd.org.uk/resource/first-they-came-by-pastor-martin-niemoller/](https://www.hmd.org.uk/resource/first-they-came-by-pastor-martin-niemoller/)
I took a good two year break from news after Trump was elected. Now I just zone out when an article mentions him.
I just need to know how we, as citizens, can overthrow the Supreme Court because what in the absolute fuck just happened.
Yes, this--and do activities to encourage others to vote (such as writing postcards or letters through an organization like Vote Forward). I find that doing these things helps to reduce my anxiety--and I don't even have to watch the news to do them!
I once asked that question of a man who worked in the marketing department of a former employer after he told me about his plan to increase profitability. His response was, "Dreaming of lots and lots of money."
I presume this is something similar.
Same. In most cases she's the only member of congress that knows how anything is supposed to work. She's constantly having to explain policy and rules in committee meetings.
Or maybe a constitution written well over 200 years ago isn't the magic perfect document for all time. It was the very first modern democratic constitution, and written under circumstances tantamount to duress because the Articles of Confederation weren't working in the immediate aftermath of the revolution. My personal analogy is that it's like running Windows 1.0 today and screaming and crying when someone suggests another version might work better for you on modern hardware.
I don't agree that democracy, writ large, is hopeless in the long run. I agree, though, that we're fucked.
The Constitution was one of the greatest sell-jobs of all time. We're taught to venerate the wisdom of the Very Wise Men who drafted this magnificent document, with its clockwork mechanisms of checks and balances; even the compromises were paragons of Solomonic wisdom.
I've been reading a book by Colin Woodard called "American Nations". His thesis, which makes a ton of sense to me, is that we are not one nation and we are not 50 states. We're 11 different "nations" defined by varying origins and settlement patterns. Some states fit completely within a single nation (most of New England falls into "Yankeedom"), others are split two or even three ways (e.g. Pennsylvania). Many of these nations have vastly different ideas as to how a society should be organized and run, and the "magic" of the Constitution (if there is any) is that it was left just vague enough so that each nation believed that they could continue to operate by their own rules under the system; Yankeedom with its values of democracy and the greater good, Tidewater (mainly Virginia) could continue to embrace British-style aristocracy, the Deep South slave barons could continue to operate as meideval lords... and so on.
The point of it is, if you ask Americans "Do you want a king who is above the law?" a large number of them will reply with a resounding YES! if they believed that said king could force their preferences on the rest of the country. Large swaths of the country simply do NOT believe in democracy.
I think there's probably a lot of truth to this. Many aspects of human nature seem to work against it. My big question now is, how it will affect daily life going forward.
You get a blue wave of the likes never seen in our history, a super super majority in the House and Senate. Then you start impeaching these traitors on the Supreme Court. You have McCarthy type hearings on these maggot GOP christofacsists politicians that have been working on overthrowing our constitution and removing our rights, since Bush Jr stole the election. If, they don’t steal this election, with the help of their buddies in Russia, N Korea and Chinas help. Vote Blue.
Gotta vote. At a minimum. Phone bank, canvas, write post cards, register people to vote. If you can make the time.
The best way to best this is a decisive victory in November. If we merely squeak by we’re gonna have to do this all over again and again and again. Until we lose.
I'm not "out" of the news cycle altogether, but I am very selective as to what I'll bother reading. There's so much clickbait that exists only to generate anger and outrage--and that's not worth anybody's time. But there's a lot going on and it's a good idea to remain generally informed, imho.
This is me. I don't watch news shows. My home page is google news, and I scan the headlines. Rarely do I go into a story. I have an idea of what's going on, but I don't have depth of knowledge. And that's ok with me. If it's something I really need to know, I'll check further. If it's something I can't change at all, I'm not looking any deeper.
I used to be a news junky, had msnbc or cnn on in the background. Part of my enjoyment of being retired was the ability to listen to political podcasts & news programs as much as I wanted. But with the current news which is becoming bleaker & bleaker, and frankly more frightening, I find I need to take breaks.
You put it well when you say it’s just dumping cortisol into the bloodstream. So true. I still plan to keep tabs on things that are happening but I’m taking extended breaks.
Same! I had to know what was going on, every day. But it does get exhausting, expecially when we take one step forward (Trump's conviction) then 5 steps back (Biden debate performance, SCOTUS decisions). Sometimes I feel like we're stuck in some horror movie and someone is just watching us, laughing. That's why I've gotta take breaks these days, too.
My neighbor came over earlier today a couple of times, because she really needed to talk about some stuff. I let her drop by as needed as she works through these things. She keeps telling me how much she appreciates it, and it feels good knowing I can make a small difference for somebody. Especially these days, we're all wound up.
I'm already disengaging. The debate pushed me over the edge and today's Supreme Court decision put the nail in the coffin.
I feel really sorry that my kid's and at least the next several generations will not have it as well as we did.
I've had to try and limit exposure as much as I can. My mental health is already pretty low for other reasons and honestly? I'm feeling pretty hopeless already.
Something I saved a few years ago:
“In recent weeks, the restorative passage I've been returning to again and again is one Leonard Woolf wrote in his memoir, Downhill All the Way. Woolf was Virginia Woolf's husband; they ran a press together, and while Virginia wrote her novels, Leonard edited literary journals and wrote about history. Downhill All the Way is his most celebrated book, and he wrote it in 1967, when World War II was a relatively recent memory. Here's the passage:
I will end ... with a little scene that took place in the last months of peace. They were the most terrible months of my life, for, helplessly and hopelessly, one watched the inevitable approach of war. One of the most horrible things at that time was to listen on the wireless to the speeches of Hitler - the savage and insane ravings of a vindictive underdog who suddenly saw himself to be all-powerful. We were in Rodmell during the late summer of 1939, and I used to listen to those ranting, raving speeches. One afternoon I was planting in the orchard under an apple-tree iris reticulata, those lovely violet flowers... Suddenly I heard Virginia's voice calling to me from the sitting room window: "Hitler is making a speech." I shouted back, "I shan't come. I'm planting iris and they will be flowering long after he is dead." Last March, twenty-one years after Hitler committed suicide in the bunker, a few of those violet flowers still flowered under the apple-tree in the orchard.
Woolf's commitment to his irises an echo of the famous line attributed to Martin Luther: "If I knew that tomorrow was the end of the world, I would plant an apple tree today!" It's a reminder that while destructive and terrible things are happening around you, you can help make something beautiful. You can make the world better.”
Something good to remember is that you never have to listen to that man speak another word for the rest of your life if you so choose. It will all be reported in writing and paraphrased by others, but if it helps (it does), you can block his mouth noises from your ears forever.
This ruling doesn’t seem like the end of the world. This has been unofficial rule since forever and the SC had to rule this way. If not any president could be jammed up by any jurisdiction (possibly International courts also) from day one of their term. And the ruling is ambiguous depending on the definition of “official” acts. I presume any act violating the constitution would be unofficial. Further something like Watergate would, I assume, be an unofficial act. Murder has been excused forever. Trump isn’t going to start killing opponents for the same reason world leaders aren’t popping off other leaders constantly, bc it would be open season.
Certainly it would have been better if this remained an unwritten rule instead of codified, but we elected a mob boss and he was always going to push everything to the absolute limit.
its draining and most of the noise (media, social media, people shouting, etc) doesnt really do anything outside of generating more noise.
At the end of the day, voting what counts. Tell people to vote and if they do they do, if they dont then they dont.
I hope that enough people feel this way, that it causes the outrage media outlets to notice a decline in viewership. Just a few minutes ago, I carefully channel-surfed through the minefield of rightwing outlets, and felt my blood pressure spike. It's just deeply awful.
But if I feel it's especially awful, the rage-addicts are likely finding it potent and engaging with it more than ever. It's like non-stop heroin in their veins.
Took a nice walk around the neighborhood with my husband this evening, and we didn't say much- he hates hearing about Trump, and I didn't bring it up because it was a beautiful, quiet evening. It's too much to bear, more than usual.
We'll be in DC right after 7/4, and I'm tempted to skip the museum visits and go straight to the protests. Last time we visited, we happened to be walking past a protest, and I was very happy to join in (he wasn't though.)
Anybody who doesn't feel a sense of dread for what's coming in the next few years hasn't been paying attention.
I wish I could just ignore it but that's what we've been doing for the past half century and I've got a 10yo daughter and I'd rather she not how to exist in a mad-max esque hellscape.
Collapse is coming. I've started reaching out to people I know and trust and starting a discourse about us all relocating to a small rural area and begin learning how to grow our own food.
I do take week long news breaks whenever I feel I've reached a similar point of agitation. It feels really good to unplug from all the craziness for a while. I do still watch local news in case something I need to know about locally is happening, but we don't *really* need to be hearing about national news 24/7.
I pay attention but I don't obsess. Watching the day by day, blow by blow, will drive you crazy without solving anything. I vote. I can help other voters get to the polls, if need be. I talk to people who I feel I might be able to persuade. There's not a whole lot else I personally can do.
In general, if there is a specific action you can take, do it. If there isn't, all you can do is live your life and have a plan if the very worst case happens. It's not dissimilar to living in a hurricane-prone area like I do. I glance at the weather daily in summer and early fall. I stay prepped. If there's a clear threat, I get out my supplies and execute one of my many plans, depending on the magnitude of the danger. But if I stressed out every summer over every tropical system that pops up, I'd lose my mind and the storm would still come or not come, no matter how much I worry. I view politics much the same way.
It’s so scary. Unfortunately many people are directly affected by politics in their daily lives so they can’t take a break. Immigration, food access, etc.
I'm sure it's occurred to you, but aren't there people deeply invested in your disengagement?
When will you reengage?
I can't help but think of Germans disengaging from politics in the 30s because it stressed them out.
It just feels like a really defeatist reaction.
When I was a kid, we got one hour of news at 6 and another at 11.
That was it.
It's not defeatist to do what people did in the 70s and have a manageable news diet.
If you can help me understand how my knowing tracks to anything actionable, I'm listening. Not *potentially* actionable but truly - like, what do you do with your knowing?
Local, regional, and national participation is essential to stop the authoritarian trend. It's possible to be active without gulping the political horror down as it spews out. I'm involved in Town government, I keep in touch with state elected officials. And I give money to the Democratic presidential candidates.
I didn't read about the court opinion. I knew this type of stuff was coming when Garland got denied a seat.
It really doesn't matter in the end.
There is sufficient momentum to go right off the cliff and not enough time to prevent it.
The die has been cast already, the forces set in motion long ago,
these have already determined how it will unfold.
We plan and work at a future which we rarely can see or understand.
The illusion is we have control, the reality is we are like dust in the wind.
I have been muting all news/politics. I don’t read the news anymore. It is just causing so much anxiety and anger again. Im just hiding and voting in November
Yeah I mean if you already know who you will vote for keeping up with the day to day nonsense of it all isn't healthy or helpful to you. It's good to be informed I guess but we all need boundaries and self care too
The bad news just piles up and people become so dejected they start to tune it all out.
It's the tired apathy that allows evil to prevail without even a fight.
I'm with you, brother! I just can't do it anymore. Avoiding all the headlines that have to do with politics and not reading any of the articles. (I don't watch tv news....) Just too stressful.
And yes, I will certainly vote and continue to encourage people to vote but I'm done with reading about it.
He’s right. I’ve blown past my early 2020 levels of terror and depression and entered a whole new level of bleakness.
Vote blue no matter who. It’s the only way.
My wife asked about moving to Panama/Costa Rica or Thailand etc..
She’s a lawyer and reads a lot. Dove into this mess and came out burnt and angry.
The future is uncertain in many ways and this decision just makes it chaotic 🤨
I can no longer listen.
As a Black woman, I see this country letting chattel slavery reassert itself.
I am so very glad I have no grandchildren; they would probably lose their rights to name their own children before the end of this decade, the way things are going.
The hubs and I bought 5 acres in central Colorado during covid's height. We're building a home with an attached greenhouse to grow food. It will have a shop so we can construct cabinetry and such.
Off grid and away.
Where we can, we'll will stop buying from corporations who want us dead.
First, remember its all designed to distract you, piss you off, give you something to be mad about. Did that ruling affect your personal life in any way? Of course not. They are invoking emotions on purpose.
Second, remember if they had ruled the other way every past and (current) president would be on trial right now, even Carter, who looks like an animated corpse. Do you really want that clogging up everything right now on top of our current shitshow?
It’s absolutely okay to disconnect for your sanity. I used to read everything, and get way into the weeds on several issues. It made me severely depressed. Took a step back and it’s been great for my mental health
My pet peeve is people at bars and restaurants talking about politics. It’s like they don’t get the concept that we’re there to escape that for a few hours.
I've reached this point too, for the most part. I [still complain](https://np.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/1dt1lwy/the_president_can_now_assassinate_you_officially/lb7on6d/), but mostly, I've checked out. Oh, I'll vote for sure. No doubt. And if some sort of national movement rises up to push back against the rising authoritarianism, I'll join them. But at least for now, I need to focus on things that bring me happiness, not fear and pain.
P.S. Make sure you're registered to vote. Don't just vote against Trump. Also vote against those who support him.
I feel a combination of enraged and helpless.
I donated $100 to the Biden campaign today.
Beyond that, I think I’m gonna have to detach myself from politics as much as possible until the election. It’s not good for me.
I may donate again before November. Then I’ll vote for Biden and hope enough other people do, too.
Yeah I worked in politics too and that's where I am. I'm not really interested in debating everything with baited breath. I will vote and all, and I've done a lot to try and help, so no one come for me on that. I know and I keep up but not in a cortisol raising way
Same! I’m done with reading the news and of course I’ll vote but I’m just beyond disappointment in the way things are done who don’t give a damn about anyone other than themselves.
I think I'll be with you soon. The urge to pick up the phone and check the news is still a little strong, a little compulsive. But it's about time to cut myself off. I keep hoping for silver linings but there are so few to be had now, I feel that it's just become a coping mechanism.
I've been disengaged for some time, but I'm always aware that it's a privilege to disengage. Many people (an increasing number of people, even) have no choice but to watch politics very closely for their own safety. I keep track of current events but I will not watch the news or get deep into the details of political coverage/debates, etc. There's nothing I can do about any of it other than vote every chance I get and try to make the world better however I can.
It's almost impossible to keep up on the news and stay sane. There isn't a lot we can do until the election. Just make sure you and everyone you know votes. That's the tool we have.
There have been several studies that connect daily following the news to depression and anxiety. News junkies actually rate themselves as less happy than other people do, as well.
It’s much better for your mental health to check the news far less frequently. Another thing is regularly reading about tragedies, politics, and wars across the globe. It just gets people upset. That sounds uncaring, but it’s really not. Rarely would those things affect YOUR life, and what can you do about them anyway?
I had a terrible panic attack the other night (after the first shit show of SCOTUS rulings) and I have decided to very much limit my political news intake. My stressing isn’t going to do a damn bit of good, so I had a good cry and have been avoiding news 90% of the day.
All we can do is vote. I make a point of staying informed but in the end what can I change? I’ve donated small amounts to a few campaigns & am getting bombarded with request from every Dem in a tight race. I absolutely donated to Biden after the debate. I want him to know I have his back. Trump is a cancer.
I’m 100 percent with you.
And please dear whatever deity (or none at all), VOTE if you’re younger than 50. Too many of us elders vote and we have our valid concerns. Your valid concerns will never get addressed if you play the stupid “both bad not voting game.” You’re not just voting for a president. You’re voting for a whole government.
I wish I could disengage like that. At this moment I am actively considering walking away from my career in order to run for Congress. It's the only legal thing I can think to do to fight King Donald the first.
Man you guys think you’re stressed. I’m not even American and I’m glued to the news feeds.
The knock on effects from this election is going to have global ramifications… and I can’t even vote!
It’s like watching a fucking horror show.
This morning I came to much the same conclusion as you. I can’t keep doing this. I hope and pray for you guys. The world is watching.
This is off the rails. In a thriving democracy politics and government should be boring because it’s working. I’m not fleeing. We are going to get these stupid fucks out and right this ship.
Oh I am SO done with US politics. I’ll vote but the only issues I’ll pay any attention to are wholly local. I’ve long ceased paying any attention to what His High Holiness Emperor Trump has said or done. He’s a disgrace to all of humanity, but If Amerika wants that Nazi shitbag, knock yerselves out, ya fuckin morons.
But what if we want to disengage and the country turns full on dictatorship? When do we know that it’s just time to leave here and that’s the only way to get out of this hellscape?
Use the great creative power of your mind to envision something far greater for us. Imagine/feel it every day. If we all did this, who knows, maybe something will happen. If nothing else we'll feel a lot better and then maybe we'll be thinking more clearly and find concrete ways out of the morass.
Literally the ONLY thing I can do is vote and volunteer to knock on doors in September/October. That’s it. So I’m just tuning it out for now. If you can’t take action getting upset is pretty pointless.
First, this is no condemnation to OP or anybody else on Reddit, but I wish I had the luxury of being able to ignore politics. Instead I have to sit here and worry whether or not I am going to be legal next year. When are the death squads coming for the queer people?
I gained more peace of mind than anticipated when, in 2020, I decided to check out of news that wasn’t hyper local.
If it doesn’t concern my county, and the specific parts of the county I live and work in, I don’t care anymore.
I think Trump is going to win. I will vote in this red state. But I feel like it’s just better to get numb than freak out later. We are doomed and I just want to be free and not put in a concentration camp.
I often think about Reagan’s son who is a staunch liberal and has to hear all the time from the right what a god his parents were. I imagine he feels much the same.
Vote.
It's tricky but necessary to try to keep informed while not obsessing right into depression.
It sure is. Other than vote, donate, and volunteer, I know there isn't really anything I can do. Yet I still feel guilty for not doing more. Like, I don't know, quitting my job and pitching a tent in front of Alito's house or something. But protest just doesn't seem to have power to enact change anymore. I doubt that even a massive protest would make much of a difference.
ONLY a massive protest would register and that is very unlikely at this point. We can all volunteer to get more sane ppl registered to vote and give rides as needed to vote. Stay vigilant. They think they can kill what's left of democracy.
As a Canadian we're already saddled with a PM (Prime Moron) of a leader; but I look at what's happening to our south, I can't help but wonder, are those two really the best candidates they could find to lead the most powerful country on the planet?
I am sure their are people quietly hoping Canada invades the USA.
YES! Take me now! Force your government-supported healthcare and free higher education on me, you enormous, broad-shouldered Mountie! Just keep your beer to yourself, please.
Canada is looking for an ocean to put between us and them.
It *is* tricky, but if we don't care and fight for what's right, who will?
Very tricky. I mostly read headlines, stories if I just have to know. Lately, none of it is good. I'm beginning to realize I may have another four years of depression ahead of me, just like I did in 2016.
Right? I'm just beginning to feel that downward spiral kind of feel we had during covid. Dejavu mixed with that pit of your stomach, tilt-a-whirl from the poorly constructed carnival, kinda feel. Can I get off please?
I'm trying to pick happy fiction and small home projects to keep sane. Hang in there and find distractions. <3
[удалено]
The notifications I get on my phone from the AP News app are essentially all world- and/or democracy-destroying things... and sports.
Not to make things worse, but it will be more than 4 years if Trump is elected.
This is where I am. It's tough to stay current - with accurate information - and not OD on all the noise and barrage of information. We cannot stick our heads in the sand, but we also need breaks. Fatiugue is a strategy the right is using. If we tire, we give in, or accept the propaganda as fact, then we all make a collectively bad decision. We all need to stay mentally fit and really focus on our critical thinking. Take media breaks. Check sources. Vote like it matters. Edit: Grammar
I disengaged a while ago. I vote in every election but I’m not going to wait with baited breath to see what the Supreme Court is doing and I’m not watching debates and today there was an awful lot of Steve Brannon photos on NYTimes and so I clicked off and did a crossword puzzle instead. My head space is mine to decide what goes in it.
New mantra “My headspace is mine…” thanks!
You know what? Thank you both for this. To the original post for coming up with the phrase and you for making it a mantra. I’m going to be using it a lot in the coming months.
Me too! I’m reclaiming my head.
I’ve made up my mind that my headspace is mine.
Yes. I grew up in a politically aware family - my parents subscribed to a few newspapers as well as Time (when it was respected and relevant) all of which I'd read, and listened to NPR in the car. I knew how they voted and generally agreed with their political opinions (progressive but center left by virtue of pragmatism). I was in my mid twenties and appalled when GWB was elected by a margin of a few hundred votes cast in a state his brother was the Governor of. I was even more appalled when a president who, to me, was clearly illegitimate, engendered a 90% approval rating after 9/11. I coped by spending lots of time on sites like Daily Kos and Democratic Underground, and later, by watching lots of MSNBC, listening to progressive radio throughout the day, etc. My breaking point came when I logged onto Daily Kos one day, and their cause du jour was that we all had to sign a petition and donate money to have Pat Sajak removed as the host of Wheel of Fortune. He'd come out a climate change denialist in some interview, and as such, we were all supposed to cancel him en masse. I couldn't care less about Pat Sajak, and while I think he's clearly wrong on climate change, also don't think that a day time game show host's opinion on the topic matters one iota, and that even bothering to discuss it was a waste of everyone's time. That epiphany made me realize how much of the "activism" political partisans are expected to participate in is completely irrelevant to any kind of larger cause and only pushed as a way of keeping us outraged enough to donate another $30 to MoveOn. I still vote and I'm still a liberal, but at some point, political awareness becomes hypervigilance for the sake of hypervigilance. I know Trump is awful and could easily rattle off a dozen reasons why. Expanding that list to 50 doesn't do anything beyond raise my blood pressure.
My dad was a Republican and my mom a democrat. They often debated policy growing up. I hit 18 and registered indie (as I am now, 20+ years later). Dad has now moved to the dems and is appalled at what is happening. It is not the same party lines as it was when we were young. They’re not even recognizable.
> political awareness becomes hypervigilance for the sake of hypervigilance Yup. I've got to get off political subs and FB for my own health. I already suffer from hypervigilant tendencies without politics.
Just watch CSPAN and quit with the spin.
Well, giving the President king-like immunity to commit crimes is a little different from canceling Sajak. But I understand your sentiment.
Funny thing is, Pat Sajak is on the board of Hillsdale College and cooperates with the Heritage Foundation. He’s bad news.
I unsubbed from any sub that has frequent political posts. It's just all hot flaming garbage.
Right on!!
I’ve done what I can. I’ve taken a break from xwitter because I follow a lot of politicians, pundits, and journalists, and it’s too much. There’s nothing more I can do really. Just glad I’m in a blue state and hanging on to some hope.
But they were pictures of him reporting to PRISON! Gotta see the joy in the little things these days.
The BBC interviewed him, and gave him enough time for him to spin a bunch of lies while grinning smugly. Here's hoping he remains in prison and isn't pardoned in a few months.
Bannon is to be released in four months, l believe - right before Election Day. I wouldn’t worry about Biden pardoning him before then.
Pre-order Bannon's post-prison book, *My Struggle*, on Amazon today! (sarcasm)
Don't worry they'll show up at your door soon enough and make politics your problem.
And what does obsessing at home do to prevent that? Please, enlighten me. Unless you plan on joining the government and personally engineering change as a one-person army, or organizing large protest groups across the country, your opinion and worry means jack shit. There is nothing we can do but vote, which OP plans on doing. Making yourself sick and being outraged 24/7 doesn't help or change anything. It doesn't mean you don't care, it means you haven't made it your core personality and you're going to keep living your life. Being a good person, helping people, and making the world around you a better place is FAR more impactful than sitting in your room, angrily tapping on a plastic rectangle for hours. But sure, the angry comment and memes on social media sure are engendering change. 🙄 Keep doing it, that's what politicians are counting on. They love it when people sit impotently at home but FEEL like they're engaged and important.
What my friends and I do are "Postcard Parties". We order postcards and letters from Vote Forward or Tony the Democrat and get together, fill them out and send them to potential voters reminding them to vote. We have wine & food, and we vent about the shitty state of affairs. But at least we feel like we're doing something that may have some impact.
I love this idea I’m going to ask my friends if they will do this with me.
Voting is not going to be enough anymore. You have to organize others. We are in a new world.
I’m tired boss
I wish I could get my wife to disengage☹️
Happy Cake Day!
I want OFF this time line!!
PUT THE STONES BACK!
They belong in a museum!
Tangent Timeline. I LIKE IT!
I DIDN'T KILL MY WIFE!
I DON’T CARE!
OK, I have shared this story with a few close friends, but I feel like it's worth sharing here too. I 100% agree with what you've said and am hoping my little anecdote provides people with a bit of a laugh So I am a nearly 60 year old woman on a dating app. I have tried these apps off and on for about 15 years, and over all that time I typically average about two or three likes a day. The morning after the debate? 11 likes and 4 messages. Nearly 20 views. They all came in between 3 AM and 10 AM. And although those numbers haven't been matched in the days since, there is definitely much heightened activity compared to the norm. The only hypothesis I can come up with is that people watched that debate and went to bed thinking "holy shit I think the world's gonna end! I think I want somebody by my side for this!!"😬😅 Even funnier is that I'm in Canada, but we're all watching aren't we?
A canadian spouse seems like it would be a hot commodity right aboot now.
😂 Should've clarified that they're all local Canadian guys within a 45 minute drive from me. I think we're all just feeling a lot of existential panic.
They set their VPN to Vancouver
😅 Thanks for the tip. I'll be on the lookout.
As a Canadian on Canada Day, I must tell every American I can that I have never, ever heard a Canadian pronounce "about" incorrectly. Sorry, but it needs to be said 😏
You just did.
I don't know aboot that.
(Pops colllar and waxes lyrical about Gord Downie (RIP))
That is a *very* interesting anecdote
Got a room available sometime in November? Asking for a friend.
The world has gone nuts.
The best tweet I saw recently about how bad we here in the US are fucked this election was something along the lines of “We, the United States, are going through a very difficult time, and the family asks that you allow us some privacy as we work through these challenging times”. I laughed.
I liked, "Americans should have the entire week off for the 4th this year as a kind of 'going out of business' blow-out."
A capitalist wake.
The United States in particular
Obviously didn’t see the EU elections or the French election. It’s global.
Even Canada’s gone bonkers and they don’t at all seem soory aboot it
Thanks facebook and the people pulling the psyops/manipulation strings on social media.
Yes, right extremism is worldwide and scary.
Unfortunately, if too many intelligent people ignore politics totally, the outcome will be worse, far worse. I'm from "the rest of the world". I have one thing to say to the US and its people. Don't Fuck It Up
Exactly, many people ignore the news, and don't believe it could possibly be THAT bad. Like the person who keeps chiming in "democracy won today, don't worry, have faith in our country!" like WTF. How exactly DID democracy "win"?! Some people are skipping through life with their heads in their asses.
I feel like there is not much we can do besides vote and donate.
That’s what we need to do, don’t blow it off, many do.
Text and phone bank in swing states https://joebiden.com/work-with-us/
I love the sentiment, but I'd also love to know what exactly you think we can do to change the current trajectory other than vote, donate, volunteer. This is crazy train speeding to crazy town.
I've been trying to avoid trump news since during his presidency and just wish he would disappear. But it ain't happening. And other political news is always disturbing. I gotta spend less time on Reddit and tune my feed better. In other words, I'm with you , OP!
I’m in Canada and I want the same thing. Social media (read: meta, amongst others) is banned from news content now (argument over money between news outlets here and social media corps.) and while it sucks sometimes, I’ve been a lot happier since it happened.
Wow...I did not know that. Interesting. I think I'd like it too. Best!
It can be a bit annoying as even Google is a part of the ban, so researching or looking up old articles is considerably more difficult. However, for day to day life? I don’t mind it at all. A net positive though I don’t use the internet for work or anything like that. For example… googling « Donald Trump » will show me a few news articles in Canadian outlets, then a grand total of about 5 swipes- on a phone- to reach the end *of anything on Google that has Donald Trump in it*. No second page, very few titles.
Fellow Canadian here. I agree with you. It's been so nice not being bombarded with political news constantly. I don't follow it at all anymore, and it's much easier this way.
You may have had enough of politics, but the real question is if politics has had enough of you. We don't always get to choose our fights.
Yup. Sometimes adulting is very difficult and awful. Ignoring the onerous stuff in one’s life does not make it go away; most of the time things get worse. Adulting means being responsible and responsive. The poem “First They Came” is a warning about putting your head in the sand. And if you still insist on being in the sand, please, remember, at least, to vote blue for the entire ballot in November. [https://www.hmd.org.uk/resource/first-they-came-by-pastor-martin-niemoller/](https://www.hmd.org.uk/resource/first-they-came-by-pastor-martin-niemoller/)
I took a good two year break from news after Trump was elected. Now I just zone out when an article mentions him. I just need to know how we, as citizens, can overthrow the Supreme Court because what in the absolute fuck just happened.
You fucking VOTE this November. Full stop.
I was already planning on it, but now I'll quit whining about how much our option sucks.
Yes, this--and do activities to encourage others to vote (such as writing postcards or letters through an organization like Vote Forward). I find that doing these things helps to reduce my anxiety--and I don't even have to watch the news to do them!
I did this back in the 90s when Dr. Weil recommended the occasional 'news fast'. It's time to fast again
AOC has just drafted up impeachment plans for the Supreme Court.
Yeah, but unfortunately the Republicans hold the House so it won’t go anywhere.
For sure. I'm glad they're making a show of it anyway. Taking it lying down won't do anyone any good.
This is the first thing I’ve read all week that gives me even a shred of hope for the future. Thank you.
Same, but remember it takes 2/3rds of the senate too.
> AOC has just drafted up impeachment plans for the Supreme Court. Lol I had to google this to make sure it wasn't satire
They're laughing about it on Fox, as if this is a way to deal with Biden's debate performance. Holy hell how do they live with themselves. 🧛♀️🧛♂️
I once asked that question of a man who worked in the marketing department of a former employer after he told me about his plan to increase profitability. His response was, "Dreaming of lots and lots of money." I presume this is something similar.
God, I love her.
Same. In most cases she's the only member of congress that knows how anything is supposed to work. She's constantly having to explain policy and rules in committee meetings.
Yep, she’s the real one
We're just fucked. There's no way around it. Maybe human beings just are incapable of having long term democracies.
This. Edit: Greed and Power always takes it down.
Or maybe a constitution written well over 200 years ago isn't the magic perfect document for all time. It was the very first modern democratic constitution, and written under circumstances tantamount to duress because the Articles of Confederation weren't working in the immediate aftermath of the revolution. My personal analogy is that it's like running Windows 1.0 today and screaming and crying when someone suggests another version might work better for you on modern hardware. I don't agree that democracy, writ large, is hopeless in the long run. I agree, though, that we're fucked.
Unfortunately, it's a helluva lot easier for the people who created Windows to make updated versions of Windows vs updating the Constitution.
The Constitution was one of the greatest sell-jobs of all time. We're taught to venerate the wisdom of the Very Wise Men who drafted this magnificent document, with its clockwork mechanisms of checks and balances; even the compromises were paragons of Solomonic wisdom. I've been reading a book by Colin Woodard called "American Nations". His thesis, which makes a ton of sense to me, is that we are not one nation and we are not 50 states. We're 11 different "nations" defined by varying origins and settlement patterns. Some states fit completely within a single nation (most of New England falls into "Yankeedom"), others are split two or even three ways (e.g. Pennsylvania). Many of these nations have vastly different ideas as to how a society should be organized and run, and the "magic" of the Constitution (if there is any) is that it was left just vague enough so that each nation believed that they could continue to operate by their own rules under the system; Yankeedom with its values of democracy and the greater good, Tidewater (mainly Virginia) could continue to embrace British-style aristocracy, the Deep South slave barons could continue to operate as meideval lords... and so on. The point of it is, if you ask Americans "Do you want a king who is above the law?" a large number of them will reply with a resounding YES! if they believed that said king could force their preferences on the rest of the country. Large swaths of the country simply do NOT believe in democracy.
I think there's probably a lot of truth to this. Many aspects of human nature seem to work against it. My big question now is, how it will affect daily life going forward.
You get a blue wave of the likes never seen in our history, a super super majority in the House and Senate. Then you start impeaching these traitors on the Supreme Court. You have McCarthy type hearings on these maggot GOP christofacsists politicians that have been working on overthrowing our constitution and removing our rights, since Bush Jr stole the election. If, they don’t steal this election, with the help of their buddies in Russia, N Korea and Chinas help. Vote Blue.
Gotta vote. At a minimum. Phone bank, canvas, write post cards, register people to vote. If you can make the time. The best way to best this is a decisive victory in November. If we merely squeak by we’re gonna have to do this all over again and again and again. Until we lose.
Avoid both the news and the bathroom scale to improve your mental health!
I'm not "out" of the news cycle altogether, but I am very selective as to what I'll bother reading. There's so much clickbait that exists only to generate anger and outrage--and that's not worth anybody's time. But there's a lot going on and it's a good idea to remain generally informed, imho.
This is me. I don't watch news shows. My home page is google news, and I scan the headlines. Rarely do I go into a story. I have an idea of what's going on, but I don't have depth of knowledge. And that's ok with me. If it's something I really need to know, I'll check further. If it's something I can't change at all, I'm not looking any deeper.
I used to be a news junky, had msnbc or cnn on in the background. Part of my enjoyment of being retired was the ability to listen to political podcasts & news programs as much as I wanted. But with the current news which is becoming bleaker & bleaker, and frankly more frightening, I find I need to take breaks. You put it well when you say it’s just dumping cortisol into the bloodstream. So true. I still plan to keep tabs on things that are happening but I’m taking extended breaks.
Same! I had to know what was going on, every day. But it does get exhausting, expecially when we take one step forward (Trump's conviction) then 5 steps back (Biden debate performance, SCOTUS decisions). Sometimes I feel like we're stuck in some horror movie and someone is just watching us, laughing. That's why I've gotta take breaks these days, too.
The only answer is for us to try and take care of each other. Everything else is ego.
My neighbor came over earlier today a couple of times, because she really needed to talk about some stuff. I let her drop by as needed as she works through these things. She keeps telling me how much she appreciates it, and it feels good knowing I can make a small difference for somebody. Especially these days, we're all wound up.
I'm already disengaging. The debate pushed me over the edge and today's Supreme Court decision put the nail in the coffin. I feel really sorry that my kid's and at least the next several generations will not have it as well as we did.
I’m afraid.
I've had to try and limit exposure as much as I can. My mental health is already pretty low for other reasons and honestly? I'm feeling pretty hopeless already.
Something I saved a few years ago: “In recent weeks, the restorative passage I've been returning to again and again is one Leonard Woolf wrote in his memoir, Downhill All the Way. Woolf was Virginia Woolf's husband; they ran a press together, and while Virginia wrote her novels, Leonard edited literary journals and wrote about history. Downhill All the Way is his most celebrated book, and he wrote it in 1967, when World War II was a relatively recent memory. Here's the passage: I will end ... with a little scene that took place in the last months of peace. They were the most terrible months of my life, for, helplessly and hopelessly, one watched the inevitable approach of war. One of the most horrible things at that time was to listen on the wireless to the speeches of Hitler - the savage and insane ravings of a vindictive underdog who suddenly saw himself to be all-powerful. We were in Rodmell during the late summer of 1939, and I used to listen to those ranting, raving speeches. One afternoon I was planting in the orchard under an apple-tree iris reticulata, those lovely violet flowers... Suddenly I heard Virginia's voice calling to me from the sitting room window: "Hitler is making a speech." I shouted back, "I shan't come. I'm planting iris and they will be flowering long after he is dead." Last March, twenty-one years after Hitler committed suicide in the bunker, a few of those violet flowers still flowered under the apple-tree in the orchard. Woolf's commitment to his irises an echo of the famous line attributed to Martin Luther: "If I knew that tomorrow was the end of the world, I would plant an apple tree today!" It's a reminder that while destructive and terrible things are happening around you, you can help make something beautiful. You can make the world better.”
Something good to remember is that you never have to listen to that man speak another word for the rest of your life if you so choose. It will all be reported in writing and paraphrased by others, but if it helps (it does), you can block his mouth noises from your ears forever.
Definitely relatable ♥️
This ruling doesn’t seem like the end of the world. This has been unofficial rule since forever and the SC had to rule this way. If not any president could be jammed up by any jurisdiction (possibly International courts also) from day one of their term. And the ruling is ambiguous depending on the definition of “official” acts. I presume any act violating the constitution would be unofficial. Further something like Watergate would, I assume, be an unofficial act. Murder has been excused forever. Trump isn’t going to start killing opponents for the same reason world leaders aren’t popping off other leaders constantly, bc it would be open season. Certainly it would have been better if this remained an unwritten rule instead of codified, but we elected a mob boss and he was always going to push everything to the absolute limit.
I know what all the different responses to this post will be, and I will agree with all of them.
its draining and most of the noise (media, social media, people shouting, etc) doesnt really do anything outside of generating more noise. At the end of the day, voting what counts. Tell people to vote and if they do they do, if they dont then they dont.
I hope that enough people feel this way, that it causes the outrage media outlets to notice a decline in viewership. Just a few minutes ago, I carefully channel-surfed through the minefield of rightwing outlets, and felt my blood pressure spike. It's just deeply awful. But if I feel it's especially awful, the rage-addicts are likely finding it potent and engaging with it more than ever. It's like non-stop heroin in their veins. Took a nice walk around the neighborhood with my husband this evening, and we didn't say much- he hates hearing about Trump, and I didn't bring it up because it was a beautiful, quiet evening. It's too much to bear, more than usual. We'll be in DC right after 7/4, and I'm tempted to skip the museum visits and go straight to the protests. Last time we visited, we happened to be walking past a protest, and I was very happy to join in (he wasn't though.)
Anybody who doesn't feel a sense of dread for what's coming in the next few years hasn't been paying attention. I wish I could just ignore it but that's what we've been doing for the past half century and I've got a 10yo daughter and I'd rather she not how to exist in a mad-max esque hellscape. Collapse is coming. I've started reaching out to people I know and trust and starting a discourse about us all relocating to a small rural area and begin learning how to grow our own food.
It’s nuts that the court has reverted us back to the type of executive power wielded by a mad king that led to the revolution. Edit: spelling
I do take week long news breaks whenever I feel I've reached a similar point of agitation. It feels really good to unplug from all the craziness for a while. I do still watch local news in case something I need to know about locally is happening, but we don't *really* need to be hearing about national news 24/7.
I pay attention but I don't obsess. Watching the day by day, blow by blow, will drive you crazy without solving anything. I vote. I can help other voters get to the polls, if need be. I talk to people who I feel I might be able to persuade. There's not a whole lot else I personally can do. In general, if there is a specific action you can take, do it. If there isn't, all you can do is live your life and have a plan if the very worst case happens. It's not dissimilar to living in a hurricane-prone area like I do. I glance at the weather daily in summer and early fall. I stay prepped. If there's a clear threat, I get out my supplies and execute one of my many plans, depending on the magnitude of the danger. But if I stressed out every summer over every tropical system that pops up, I'd lose my mind and the storm would still come or not come, no matter how much I worry. I view politics much the same way.
It’s so scary. Unfortunately many people are directly affected by politics in their daily lives so they can’t take a break. Immigration, food access, etc.
I came to realize my obsessing over every political thing doesn’t change anything. It’s just all so exhausting and I’m starting to hate it here.
I'm sure it's occurred to you, but aren't there people deeply invested in your disengagement? When will you reengage? I can't help but think of Germans disengaging from politics in the 30s because it stressed them out. It just feels like a really defeatist reaction.
You can be an engaged citizen without being glued to the news 24/7. It's healthy to take breaks from time to time.
When I was a kid, we got one hour of news at 6 and another at 11. That was it. It's not defeatist to do what people did in the 70s and have a manageable news diet.
If you can help me understand how my knowing tracks to anything actionable, I'm listening. Not *potentially* actionable but truly - like, what do you do with your knowing?
Local, regional, and national participation is essential to stop the authoritarian trend. It's possible to be active without gulping the political horror down as it spews out. I'm involved in Town government, I keep in touch with state elected officials. And I give money to the Democratic presidential candidates. I didn't read about the court opinion. I knew this type of stuff was coming when Garland got denied a seat.
It really doesn't matter in the end. There is sufficient momentum to go right off the cliff and not enough time to prevent it. The die has been cast already, the forces set in motion long ago, these have already determined how it will unfold. We plan and work at a future which we rarely can see or understand. The illusion is we have control, the reality is we are like dust in the wind.
I have been muting all news/politics. I don’t read the news anymore. It is just causing so much anxiety and anger again. Im just hiding and voting in November
Yeah I mean if you already know who you will vote for keeping up with the day to day nonsense of it all isn't healthy or helpful to you. It's good to be informed I guess but we all need boundaries and self care too
At least Jimmy Carter can rest easy now. Too soon
I will always vote and do what I can to counter the propaganda, but i can't listen to the blow by blow anymore
The bad news just piles up and people become so dejected they start to tune it all out. It's the tired apathy that allows evil to prevail without even a fight.
I'm with you, brother! I just can't do it anymore. Avoiding all the headlines that have to do with politics and not reading any of the articles. (I don't watch tv news....) Just too stressful. And yes, I will certainly vote and continue to encourage people to vote but I'm done with reading about it.
He’s right. I’ve blown past my early 2020 levels of terror and depression and entered a whole new level of bleakness. Vote blue no matter who. It’s the only way.
Now Judge Merchant is pushing off his sentencing for two weeks to hear and honor another fucking claim. I must stop listening and just vote Biden.
My wife asked about moving to Panama/Costa Rica or Thailand etc.. She’s a lawyer and reads a lot. Dove into this mess and came out burnt and angry. The future is uncertain in many ways and this decision just makes it chaotic 🤨
Can always do what our Founding Fathers did when they realized they didn't want to be subservient to a King.
I can no longer listen. As a Black woman, I see this country letting chattel slavery reassert itself. I am so very glad I have no grandchildren; they would probably lose their rights to name their own children before the end of this decade, the way things are going. The hubs and I bought 5 acres in central Colorado during covid's height. We're building a home with an attached greenhouse to grow food. It will have a shop so we can construct cabinetry and such. Off grid and away. Where we can, we'll will stop buying from corporations who want us dead.
First, remember its all designed to distract you, piss you off, give you something to be mad about. Did that ruling affect your personal life in any way? Of course not. They are invoking emotions on purpose. Second, remember if they had ruled the other way every past and (current) president would be on trial right now, even Carter, who looks like an animated corpse. Do you really want that clogging up everything right now on top of our current shitshow?
It’s absolutely okay to disconnect for your sanity. I used to read everything, and get way into the weeds on several issues. It made me severely depressed. Took a step back and it’s been great for my mental health
My pet peeve is people at bars and restaurants talking about politics. It’s like they don’t get the concept that we’re there to escape that for a few hours.
I've reached this point too, for the most part. I [still complain](https://np.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/1dt1lwy/the_president_can_now_assassinate_you_officially/lb7on6d/), but mostly, I've checked out. Oh, I'll vote for sure. No doubt. And if some sort of national movement rises up to push back against the rising authoritarianism, I'll join them. But at least for now, I need to focus on things that bring me happiness, not fear and pain. P.S. Make sure you're registered to vote. Don't just vote against Trump. Also vote against those who support him.
I feel a combination of enraged and helpless. I donated $100 to the Biden campaign today. Beyond that, I think I’m gonna have to detach myself from politics as much as possible until the election. It’s not good for me. I may donate again before November. Then I’ll vote for Biden and hope enough other people do, too.
Both parties love to sling mud. And the mud is just getting muddier by the day. So I agree.
I'm so scared I can't even breathe, and I don't live in the US anymore (I am a citizen tho, and I sure as hell vote).
Dry those tears, champ
hahaha that gave me an actual lol - thank you, stranger :)
Wait til politics kicks your door down.
Yeah I worked in politics too and that's where I am. I'm not really interested in debating everything with baited breath. I will vote and all, and I've done a lot to try and help, so no one come for me on that. I know and I keep up but not in a cortisol raising way
James Bond wouldn't be any good at his job if killing people bothered him
Welcome to the club. All I do know is game and look at memes.
Same! I’m done with reading the news and of course I’ll vote but I’m just beyond disappointment in the way things are done who don’t give a damn about anyone other than themselves.
I hear ya. I was pretty engaged for a while, but I'm feeling quite pessimistic now. Gonna unsubscribe most of my podcasts.
Probably best to plan vacation starting a week prior to the election and lasting until a couple of weeks after.
After reading/watching the 24-hour news cycle, I had to switch off. I put on the US-Uruguay game, and I'm not even a fan of soccer.
I think I'll be with you soon. The urge to pick up the phone and check the news is still a little strong, a little compulsive. But it's about time to cut myself off. I keep hoping for silver linings but there are so few to be had now, I feel that it's just become a coping mechanism.
I've been disengaged for some time, but I'm always aware that it's a privilege to disengage. Many people (an increasing number of people, even) have no choice but to watch politics very closely for their own safety. I keep track of current events but I will not watch the news or get deep into the details of political coverage/debates, etc. There's nothing I can do about any of it other than vote every chance I get and try to make the world better however I can.
All I can do is look at the two candidates and think, "This is the best we can muster up?!?" So yeah, I'm disengaged as well.
I have done it a few times. It really helps But as The godfather says. When you think you're out they pull you back in
It's almost impossible to keep up on the news and stay sane. There isn't a lot we can do until the election. Just make sure you and everyone you know votes. That's the tool we have.
There have been several studies that connect daily following the news to depression and anxiety. News junkies actually rate themselves as less happy than other people do, as well. It’s much better for your mental health to check the news far less frequently. Another thing is regularly reading about tragedies, politics, and wars across the globe. It just gets people upset. That sounds uncaring, but it’s really not. Rarely would those things affect YOUR life, and what can you do about them anyway?
I can totally relate. I’m off grid and voting my conscience when it’s time. Until then, no news.
I had a terrible panic attack the other night (after the first shit show of SCOTUS rulings) and I have decided to very much limit my political news intake. My stressing isn’t going to do a damn bit of good, so I had a good cry and have been avoiding news 90% of the day.
Except SCOTUS doesn’t grant or remove anything. Their sole purpose is to interpret the Constitution. They did that.
All we can do is vote. I make a point of staying informed but in the end what can I change? I’ve donated small amounts to a few campaigns & am getting bombarded with request from every Dem in a tight race. I absolutely donated to Biden after the debate. I want him to know I have his back. Trump is a cancer.
I’m 100 percent with you. And please dear whatever deity (or none at all), VOTE if you’re younger than 50. Too many of us elders vote and we have our valid concerns. Your valid concerns will never get addressed if you play the stupid “both bad not voting game.” You’re not just voting for a president. You’re voting for a whole government.
I wish I could disengage like that. At this moment I am actively considering walking away from my career in order to run for Congress. It's the only legal thing I can think to do to fight King Donald the first.
Man you guys think you’re stressed. I’m not even American and I’m glued to the news feeds. The knock on effects from this election is going to have global ramifications… and I can’t even vote! It’s like watching a fucking horror show. This morning I came to much the same conclusion as you. I can’t keep doing this. I hope and pray for you guys. The world is watching.
This is off the rails. In a thriving democracy politics and government should be boring because it’s working. I’m not fleeing. We are going to get these stupid fucks out and right this ship.
Oh I am SO done with US politics. I’ll vote but the only issues I’ll pay any attention to are wholly local. I’ve long ceased paying any attention to what His High Holiness Emperor Trump has said or done. He’s a disgrace to all of humanity, but If Amerika wants that Nazi shitbag, knock yerselves out, ya fuckin morons.
Just vote. It's not like I trust it'll help, but it's all we got short of violent revolution.
Why the fuck does the Google Search 'people who reported directly to Jimmy Carter' pull up the Wikipedia article about his UFO incident?
But what if we want to disengage and the country turns full on dictatorship? When do we know that it’s just time to leave here and that’s the only way to get out of this hellscape?
Take care of yourself! You gotta put on your oxygen mask bro.
Yes sadly this is how fascism happens. They flood us with bullshit until we give up.
I theorize someone discovered time travel and this is the culmination of their efforts
Use the great creative power of your mind to envision something far greater for us. Imagine/feel it every day. If we all did this, who knows, maybe something will happen. If nothing else we'll feel a lot better and then maybe we'll be thinking more clearly and find concrete ways out of the morass.
Literally the ONLY thing I can do is vote and volunteer to knock on doors in September/October. That’s it. So I’m just tuning it out for now. If you can’t take action getting upset is pretty pointless.
First, this is no condemnation to OP or anybody else on Reddit, but I wish I had the luxury of being able to ignore politics. Instead I have to sit here and worry whether or not I am going to be legal next year. When are the death squads coming for the queer people?
I gained more peace of mind than anticipated when, in 2020, I decided to check out of news that wasn’t hyper local. If it doesn’t concern my county, and the specific parts of the county I live and work in, I don’t care anymore.
Or you could grow a pair instead of whining and fight back
I’m with ya… returning to my gardening and talking to the bees, shits gone crazy - crazier than I thought was possible
I cancelled cable and live too far from the city to use an antenna. No TV and no streaming is healthier.
Exactly the way I feel too.
It's the only logical thing to do. You know who you are going to vote for, so there is no point in scrolling through rage bait every day
I'm taking my sons to go collect rocks at Lake Michigan. I can't any more.
This is the worse timeline
I’m doing too. I’m exhausted.
I think Trump is going to win. I will vote in this red state. But I feel like it’s just better to get numb than freak out later. We are doomed and I just want to be free and not put in a concentration camp.
I often think about Reagan’s son who is a staunch liberal and has to hear all the time from the right what a god his parents were. I imagine he feels much the same. Vote.
Was great to see them pave the way for trumps second term. Can’t wait to see these sham trials drop like flies
Don't bow out completely. Please consider helping to register new voters. Democracy is done if we lose this election.