To some 20%-30% of the country 'patriot' means 'whites only'. Honestly, if your so dedicated to being a patriotic American you can't stand up to a government doing everything it can to destroy America, you're just an idiot.
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Some of us are aware. We tend to also be the ones who know this only ends in some kind of revolution. No dictator has even chosen to give up power.
Weβre aware. People who get all their news from Fox or ignore politics in general probably arenβt but even my conservative family members are embarrassed about the threats to Canada and Greenland. Canadians are generally considered super nice and polite by Americans so pissing them off crossed a line. Even apolitical people probably know the U.S. National Anthem is being booed at sporting events.
Thereβs elections in several states today that will provide some data to know more. Louisiana had an election on Saturday and rejected 4 constitutional amendments supported by Republicans. None even got 40%. Louisiana is an oddball state so Iβm not sure itβs a harbinger of todayβs elections but if voters in Wisconsin and elsewhere vote like Louisiana, itβll be very telling.
No "average" person is aware because they are too busy trying to just survive. Nobody wants to chance losing what they've worked so hard for. The only people who watch the news are seniors and disabled people, and they're being misled if they just watch TV news.
People who call themselves Republicans are happy with what's going on. People who call themselves Democrat are not happy but think they need to work within the system to solve the issues and wait until the next election. Libertarians have sided with the Republicans. Socialism is still a taboo way of thinking for the most part here.
Then you have disabled people (like me) who are watching what is happening in horror and have sky high anxiety wondering if they're next to be disappeared or homeless. I can stand for maybe 30 minutes at most, holding a sign maybe 15 minutes at most. So I'm doing what I can and that is trying to live as if things are "normal" to continue on my mental health recovery and sobriety journey at the same time being horrified and terrified of what's to come. It's a weird duality that I don't like. I told my therapist the other day that I have hope for the future for my recovery but I have lost all hope in what is going on politically and in the news.
A lot of this I also blame on false American beliefs fed to us in school that we were safe from all of this nonsense because of our constitution. The American Dream and all that B.S. They sugar-coat our history as a country in schools -- at least they did when I went to school in the 80's/90's, I don't know about now. It's as if America only has a rosy history, even the Civil War is glorified in false narratives.
It's easy to see how we got to this point as a country. The question is, how do we get ourselves out of it?
Whatever the answer is, it's going to take years if not decades. I wish I had the answers. I wish I had the power to make things right. I wish I could stop the suffering. All I can do is do what I can. For now, that's surviving. For now, all I can do is continue to be kind to people and educate them when I can. Help them when I have the ability to.
My fellow disabled person, I see you. A murmur can become a tidal wave with time. We must stick together. We cannot lose hope. We must go on.
The average American voter is hilariously unengaged. Many of them read at an 8th grade level at best. We're suffering the consequences of an education system that has been tragically underfunded for generations, and our media institutions are thoroughly compromised. Because of this, media literacy may as well be non-existent. The worst actors in our public institutions know this and have chosen to capitalize on it. Foreign interests recognize the obvious weakness in our social fabric, and they have been taking advantage of it to great success.
We are completely lacking the most crucial part of any functional democracy - an informed electorate. We have the least qualified people making the most important decisions.
The United States is effectively a failed state. Many of us recognize this, but our options for addressing the problem are limited. We not only have to dislodge the largest defense structure the world has ever seen, but we have to somehow fix the plague of weaponized stupidity that is conservative culture in order to ensure the worst humans don't end up in powerful positions.
If you have any suggestions on how to start fixing that, I'm all ears.
For starters, understanding that American fascism is not the result of voters simply not being informed enough. The idea that, if all Trump supporters simply had access to better information, if they all had better education, if they were exposed to the right argument... then they'd see the light and turn into democrats - is a supremely liberal idea. We need to understand that no amount of epic slams, no amount of late night talk show roasts, no amount of facts and logic will steer us out of fascism.
As we devolve deeper and deeper into fascism, it has been frustrating watching liberals flail to try and understand how the devolution is happening: is it because people are uneducated? Is it because of Joe Rogan's podcasts? Is it because of Russian spies? Is it because Trump has started a cult? Is it because Fox News? Is it because lead was used in gasoline 50 years ago? Is it because we use lead water pipes? Is it because of Ronald Reagan? All of this waffling to avoid the hard questions. I.e, "is it possible that fascism is the only logical conclusion a nation which was founded solely by white landowners to do wholesale on genocide on native Americans?"
If you fail to start thinking about this devolution into fascism in terms of history, class, and material conditions, you're always going to be hopelessly confused about the structures and frameworks that allow fascism to fester.
As is typical for the US, 1/3 are deeply aware, 1/3 are in full "patriotic" support, and 1/3 are too distracted by the latest TikTok dance to notice.
In a burning house with three people, one is fighting the fire, one is pouring gasoline on everything and one is on the couch watching TV.
Let's add a 4th person in there, someone who thinks they're helping by doing nothing but yelling that the fire isn't allowed to burn things
We're successfully distracted by the more immediate personal problems they've created for us
Imagine reading some fiction book, like fantasy or something like that.
You see a state that was created by genocide, which was continued until there was barely anyone left to kill, which state then became world hegemon, took control over nearly entire planet economy and proceeded to find new targets for genocide, ecocide, invasion, looting and murdering every political opponent.
You would think it's caricaturally evil, worse than Mordor.
And here you ask "they are now definitely a rogue state"? Now?
Half are aware, the other half is happy about how things are going. Apparently we have hundreds of millions of racist dumbfucks here.
There are plenty of racists who aren't fascist. There are plenty or countries with racism problems that aren't fascist. There are plenty of dumbfucks who aren't fascist. There are plenty of illiterate countries that aren't fascist. "Stupidity" (im being careful here - i dont think illiteracy = stupid) and racism predates fascism.
Youve reached the limit of the liberal ideological framework and have resorted to explaining fascism as some sort of cultural pathology. This is what happens when your idealist politics prioritizes individual psychology and moralistic explanations over historical and economic analysis.
It's frustrating seeing liberals watch the fascist devolution in real-time, and just throw up their hands saying "well i guess americans are just stupid! QED!". It conveniently absolves them for their complicity in facilitating fascism, and it spits in the face of victims of US policy, both foreign and abroad.
It's been a rogue state for decades, they call it 'American Exceptionalism', and the 'patriotic Americans' are happy about it.
Between the media surpression and the fact a lot of people don't follow the news, or give a shit, i'd say no.
Lots and lots of people, actually. Many identify with the tough-talkin' images being projected, believing it's just what the world needs and that the magic sorting hat will assign them to the privileged class when the dust settles.
Now? USA has been supporting a genocidal nuclear regime in palestine for decades. They've been threatening and attacking every state in the region. Total rogue.
I see a lot of people starting gardens or looking to getting chickens to be as self sufficient as they can. Many are holding off on large purchases to save in case "something happens". People around me who were never interested in firearms and in fact were generally opposed to them are starting to arm themselves at a rapid pace.
Those of us who pay attention know.
However, the media ecosystem is INCREDIBLY conservative and pumps out the rah-rah jingoism whenever it can. Those of who just stick to the mainstream echochambers think the US is a bastion of freedom and peace.
How I pointed something out to a family member this morning.
When Israel attacks housing units in a country it is in a "ceasefire" with, the media says they are "threatening the ceasefire." If someone fires back. The media will say Israel is being attacked and the ceasefire was broken by the other party.
While that should seem wrong to many, it flies under the radar for many.
Great example! These little turns of phrases and wordplay that reveal the incredible right-wing bias of our media are all over the place if you learn how to look for them.
Another great example you see all the time is "office involved shooting" whenever someone is shot by police. It's always something like "John Smith died after an officer involved shooting" or "a gun was discharged in an officer involved shooting that resulted in the death of Jane Smith." Where it should be "Officer Joe Blow murdered John and Jane Smith."
Most of us are either completely deluded or utterly crushed by the collapse of our entire system of government. We know this is corrupt, and we want to organize to bring it to an end. But we have so many checks and balances that even if we all marched today with pitchforks and torches it wouldn't effect any real change without burning down every police station, city hall, state house, and the federal buildings. All while hoping the military doesn't show up and now us down with their weaponry. All the whole knowing that there has been a sharp rise in the popularity of police using violence and death as a deterrent.
In short, we know, and we can't see any way out of this mess. It wasn't supposed to be possible, and looking back we all saw it coming. But we were just dismissed as alarmists every time we spoke up and we are surrounded by morons who think this is the best thing that has ever happened to this national.
Roughly half of the population has absolutely no clue what's going on. Kids, old people, non-news-readers/viewers, etc.
A third of the population is vaguely aware that some shit is going down based on vibes but can't identify the problem.
Half the remaining sixth can identify the problem as political but misattribute the cause. Leaving just a 12th of the population actually aware of our situation.
Are people in the us aware... No!
We've been in a rogue state for a long time. Its been an oligarchy for a while, now you also have AIPAC in the mix.