I don't think people outside the US realize how hard people have fought to stop this from happening. How this was a slow decent that people have been doing their best to prevent for literal decades and the people in power just kept letting it happen. I am not saying that the democrats are as bad as the republicans but they have been complacent in letting the GOP destroy all the checks and balances that were available to them in the past. They should have blocked the SC picks but did not because it would have been bad form.

Either go protest and get shot or you clearly asked for your rights to be stripped away feels like a slap in the face for anyone who is directly affected by the things that is happening and is extremely demotivating. It feels like someone saying that somehow it was your individual fault that states that you are not in did not vote the way you would have liked them too.

They do care. They're ok with people in authority hurting them but if a minority does, someone lesser than them, they'll burn a fucking neighborhood down to get them.

Yes, but actually no.

Children, regardless of "magical thinking" naturally do not possess cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is a learned skill instilled into them by other adults. Everytime a kid asks "what's wrong with daddy?" when he's lying on the floor after having too much to drink, and the housewife replies "he's just sleeping honey, now stop asking stupid questions" we gradually learn to deny our senses, critical thinking and reasoning skills. Children don't need statistics or scientific journal entries, they can sense when something is wrong. If they see one of these protests outside on the way to the grocery store with mommy they can put two and two together without having to turn on CNN. Yet full grown adults can convince themselves a new pizza parlor must be opening.

A child's mind is better at discerning nonsense from the truth than you realize. It is we who repeatedly teach them that they are wrong.

The 2A is there for you to do things, but it's not only simply about rising up. It's about instrumentalization. When every citizen can be armed "just in case", all you need is for that to statistically compound into a Luigi or two getting three lucky marked shots on the tyrant du jour.

Calling for action.
Could also be directed to Europeans btw, with obesity and fascism also growing hand in hand there.

In a democracy, however flawed it may be, politics are still the result of a large part of the population's will. Which is strongly influenced by propaganda of course, and without much thought of all the consequences that it may have, but still. Protest against these politics can come in many forms, depending on how strongly people are affected by it, never mind how exhausted people think they might be.

Then there's also the military, does anybody here have any insight how they feel about the recent political changes that have been carried through?

The US is not the only democracy that is currently endangered. Europe can easily follow suit, South America in some parts as well, as we've seen.

Freedom doesn't come freely, it has to be fought for, hard, time and time again.

If only the current administration could be paralleled with start of nazi germany with evocative imagery and slogans and made into memes and posted everywhere in order to get past the internet censoring. That could get more people thinking that a government they do not control is in nobody's interests or something.

You know we don't voluntarily give our money to the government, right??

If voting will be fixed as Trump promised, a different puppet could be installed. This would increase the appearance of legitimacy.

The nonvoters might learn, but not the brainwashed consuming Fox News - they'll blame the left once again.

Actually, it’s made this one of the trending posts. Which means more people see it. Which… Can lead to important conversations.

Also, the rise of the Nazi party happened because people allowed it to happen.

Most folks tend to follow the herd.
Or the flock, if you prefer.

When people see that other people aren’t going to tolerate it…
… That can help to spark/motivate others to actually organize
… To lead to a movement.

See also:

• Bill Moyers MAP Movement action plan
• Thom Hartmann on the real history of the Boston Tea Party (they organized in top-secret, and it was about corporate cross-Atlantic (global-trade supply-chains/globalization) high finance, tax exemptions for the wealthy and subsidies. And kind of like Walmart, which was driving local/Indy Tea businesses on the North American continent out from under by giving unfair advantages to the British crown's East India Tea Company (W Military)
• books via https://bookshop.org/ which supports the Internet archive & local Indy bookstores) ::
• "The impossible will take a little while"
• The dandelion rebellion/revolution
• The power of habit
• human kind (by "a more radical/progressive Malcolm Gladwell")

My impression is the most folks who voted for Trump did so because they genuinely, honestly believed that he is really and truly and antiestablishment rebel… Who is genuinely trying to help the working poor.

Which they are [working poor.]
(and, goes w/o saying, were hoodwinked by said ConMan… Just like all those retirees who voted for Ronald Reagan… And then were shocked and pissed when he immediately cut their Social Security.)

In short,… Please don’t blame cult victims who've been deceived by s/o they misperceive as an authentic, charismatic individual.

I could say the same thing about my parents, who (still) strongly support(ed) Biden, despite being equally strongly opposed to the Palestine genocide.

They believed the lies.

Gaslighting. or at best, not reflecting on your initial comment.

Making reference to Christmas & Turkey’s, and making authoritative statements that “no, it’s not happening“ doesn’t seem to me like the approach of someone who is genuinely open and curious to learn.