I think it doesn't really matter where you are these days - I migrated 30 years ago from Europe to Australia - we are all so connected, the fascistoid movement is pretty much everywhere on the rise. I'm old as well but have decided to fight (engagement, activism) to the best of my abilities where we're heading and hope the young will find better ways. The young generations are my only hope.
I think it doesn't really matter where you are these days - I migrated 30 years ago from Europe to Australia - we are all so connected, the fascistoid movement is pretty much everywhere on the rise. I'm old as well but have decided to fight (engagement, activism) to the best of my abilities where we're heading and hope the young will find better ways. The young generations are my only hope.
It matters a LOT where you are, Sabine. I am lucky enough, as Michael said above, to have the luxury of living in Scotland now, and the emotional/physical distance from that creature and his evil clown car is preserving my sanity. Here, the women and girls in our family have bodily autonomy, protected by law. The children in our family don't endure active shooter drills, and we adults don't live in fear of them being gunned down. As a woman, I feel safer on the street than I ever have in my life because I know the men can't carry firearms, much less assault rifles. And everyone here knows EXACTLY the threat that monster is.
Alexandra, lucky indeed! I have to say that I am grateful to be old in these times and I canтАЩt imagine being a school-age kid in the USA these days. We only practiced fire drills, and scarily, getting under our desks in case of a nuclear attack (this was in the 50тАЩs).
Barbara, I agree about it being hard to be a child today. This study sets out current fears of children all over the world because of the already present and future worsening climate chaos. Children are very worried. I'm sure we are all sorry to have put them in this position by failing to live sensibly with Earth.
Many are sorry & rightly worried and work for change, and then there are those who want to continue to sink their teeth into the worldтАЩs neck and feed on its life forceтАж..greed/control/richesтАжand, ultimately, for what? Perhaps such folk have never heard of or contemplated the prospect of тАЬenoughтАЭ which increases the likelihood of there being тАЬenoughтАЭ for all.
My well-being and peace of mind living in France, despite its difficulties, is profound. I have health care. There is great public transportation and I don't need a car. Education is accessible to young people. Food is cheaper and better. Children are better cared for. There are lively cafes and high culture readily at hand for those who like theater, music, or opera. I live in a modest apartment and don't have the burdens of a yard or maintenance. Everything I need is within half an hour by public transport, but most daily things I need are 2-3 minutes from me. My expenses have gone way down living here as opposed to the US. No flags, no damn red hats, no roaring pick up trucks with right wing nuttery on full display. And like you, I don't live in fear of some idiot with a gun - in the little town I left in rural Oregon young men walked into coffee shops with loaded pistols in holsters.
What cowards.
And as a final aside, Hollywood from its inception right up to today shares enormous blame for perpetuating and popularizing the toxic masculinity of the lone cowboy and helping to aid and abet this rubbish.
Philoctetes, you list so much that we have in Scotland, too тАФ plus France is warm!!! I 100% understand why you left - I can't even imagine the toxicity and fear induced by living in a state with open carry. It's surreal.
I've worked as a screenwriter for most of my professional career and agree with your comment about the toxic masculinity тАФ but want to add that a lot of social change comes through people fighting for depictions of the world's real, beautiful diversity comes from Hollywood as well. David Kohan & Max Mutchnick worked so hard to get and keep Will & Grace on the air and worked with the LGBTQ+ community to deepen portrayals of its characters. Shonda Rhimes broke through the white male wall and gave the world a full rainbow of beloved characters on Grey's Anatomy. Hollywood is to blame but it's also one of our greatest weapons against fascism and we need to put the pressure on and make the industry rise to the challenge.
I absolutely agree - and my wife LOVES Will & Grace! I'm also a great fan of live theater as an instrument for social change and for opening up the lives of young people. One production of Shakespeare in 1977 put me on my life trajectory. It doesn't take much . . .
If only Scotland could come to our aid as France did back when the nation was founded. Don't know, though, that anyone should help those who don't help themselves...too many Americans sat out the last election and a chance to rid ourselves of a tyrant traitor.
It took years of work to manifest, but I'm so grateful every day. Europeans and Brits are just aghast at the willful violence of the US. It's an armed camp. I don't think people can possibly comprehend the toxicity of it until they've been out for a while. It's still my country, and California will ALWAYS be my home. I will fight for it from here. But here тАФ is sanity.
Like I said, I am envious of your planned journey. I love Scotland and her people. My only refuge would be going to Germany where my mother was born and raised and eventually escaped from. My girls could go with me but my husband, who has yet to get a passport and is a Nam vet with PTSD, is reticent about leaving CA. Not certain what the outcome will be but I do know that we are in very very rough waters. Always good to hear from you and get your perspective, Alexandra.
I, too, have decided that our Constitution and the promise of a fairer, more just society is worth fighting for. I stay and give it my best, encourage everyone to join in to protect the lives and rights of all fellow humans, and not let those who take and not give destroy the hopes and futures of America and the world.
Agree, Sabine, we must stand ready to resist, persist and push back on the efforts to make us an illiberal democracy as has happened to Hungary and T├╝rkiye, even as they still have тАЬelectionsтАЭ. As little as I may actually be able to do, IтАЩll do my damn best!ЁЯЧ╜ЁЯЗ║ЁЯЗ╕ The whole world better get its collective act together, cuz weтАЩre all that weтАЩve got on this fragile planet we have. btw, I read this eve about all the space junkтАж.a staggering amount of trash (seems we humans can even litter up space!), bits тАШn pieces orbitingтАФthe visual rendering of what is being tracked made it look almost like a force field encasing earth. If we have immense and growing garbage patches in the sea and on land, why not trash up space too! This means, perhaps (unless we can find a way to clean it up), that someday soonish we will not be able to leave the planet for exploration or other scientific endeavors because the debris would destroy/incapacitate anything sent into space (think weather satellites for example)тАж.resulting in even MORE junk!!! Trying to balance my feelings of anger and dread with those of resolve and hopeтАжbit of a teeter-totter ride!
I hear you, Barbara. But here is something we all can do today, that might possibly make a difference in memory of this day. Please take a moment to do something that could contribute to saving our democracy! The last three days in sub-zero temperatures in Washington, DC, people have been gathered together who feel as passionately as I do about this opportunity to do something that can truly make a difference. I wish I could have been among them! Here are the basic facts: Today (on the anniversary of January 6th) is the day that the electoral votes are to be counted by Congress to certify Donald Trump to be our 39th president. What is wrong with this scenario? The answer is simple and stark! Every Congress member who votes to accept these electoral votes will be dishonoring their oath to the Constitution. If they were to honestly uphold the oath they took, they would have no other choice but to disqualify Trump, an insurrectionist, from ever holding office again. The following is from https://nowmarch.org "Donald J. Trump is an adjudicated insurrectionist, constitutionally disqualified from holding office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment for the deadly assault on our Capitol four years ago. Every member of Congress has sworn an oath to defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Unless lawmakers remove his current disability by a 2/3 vote of both houses of Congress, or reject the certification of his electoral votes, they, too, will be in violation of their oaths. It only takes 1/5 of each body to raise an objection under the Electoral Count Act. As explained by former editors of the Columbia Law Review and Yale Law Journal, 'If the objection is sustained by majority vote in each house, the vote is not counted and the number of votes required to be elected is reduced by the number of disqualified votes. If all votes for Trump were not counted, Kamala Harris would be elected president.'тАЭ ItтАЩs important to call our Senators and Reps to tell them that we demand they honor the oaths they took. The offices open at 8:30 AM. We have to inundate them with calls. All the info you need can be found here: https://nowmarch.org To be further inspired by Jessica Densen who organized this movement, see a portion of SaturdayтАЩs gathering in DC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSBOZQrHmko
Our political parties have been baffled, even neutered, however we can't abandon organized resistance. The ACLU still exists and they're already actively opposing Trimp's initiatives. They're by no means alone. There are also groups like The Womens March, Common Cause, and Indivisible. Look around; join and support those who you agree with. Help somebody.
The Trimp-ists are fully aware that they have only a slim margin of approval but they want you to forget that, and while their megaphone is larger and they don't hesitate to lie and intimidate wherever they can, they CAN AND SHOULD be opposed.
Isolating ourselves and shaking our fists as they vandlize the world won't work. (This is also why I rejected the notion of emigrating.) We don't all need to be heroic either, but every day we can share knowledge, perform individual acts of humanity, and try to be the example others will remember. Like Hank Stamper once said, "Never give a inch."
Sabine, there's nowhere to go. If this country falls to fascism the rest of the world that hasn't fallen already will be following, one after the other. That's why Musk is getting involved in Germany and Canada and elsewhere.
I also immigrated, to Canada in my case, long ago. I fought for a just society both in Canada and in the US - and am also an old woman.
The Prime Minister of Canada, J Trudeau January 6, 2025, has just resigned as leader of the ruling party which will lead to an election.
The rise of authoritarianism has impacted this country as well as many others around the world. We all have to fight at this point as much as possible Be safe all
I think it doesn't really matter where you are these days - I migrated 30 years ago from Europe to Australia - we are all so connected, the fascistoid movement is pretty much everywhere on the rise. I'm old as well but have decided to fight (engagement, activism) to the best of my abilities where we're heading and hope the young will find better ways. The young generations are my only hope.
It matters a LOT where you are, Sabine. I am lucky enough, as Michael said above, to have the luxury of living in Scotland now, and the emotional/physical distance from that creature and his evil clown car is preserving my sanity. Here, the women and girls in our family have bodily autonomy, protected by law. The children in our family don't endure active shooter drills, and we adults don't live in fear of them being gunned down. As a woman, I feel safer on the street than I ever have in my life because I know the men can't carry firearms, much less assault rifles. And everyone here knows EXACTLY the threat that monster is.
Alexandra, lucky indeed! I have to say that I am grateful to be old in these times and I canтАЩt imagine being a school-age kid in the USA these days. We only practiced fire drills, and scarily, getting under our desks in case of a nuclear attack (this was in the 50тАЩs).
Barbara, I agree about it being hard to be a child today. This study sets out current fears of children all over the world because of the already present and future worsening climate chaos. Children are very worried. I'm sure we are all sorry to have put them in this position by failing to live sensibly with Earth.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(21)00278-3/fulltext
Many are sorry & rightly worried and work for change, and then there are those who want to continue to sink their teeth into the worldтАЩs neck and feed on its life forceтАж..greed/control/richesтАжand, ultimately, for what? Perhaps such folk have never heard of or contemplated the prospect of тАЬenoughтАЭ which increases the likelihood of there being тАЬenoughтАЭ for all.
My well-being and peace of mind living in France, despite its difficulties, is profound. I have health care. There is great public transportation and I don't need a car. Education is accessible to young people. Food is cheaper and better. Children are better cared for. There are lively cafes and high culture readily at hand for those who like theater, music, or opera. I live in a modest apartment and don't have the burdens of a yard or maintenance. Everything I need is within half an hour by public transport, but most daily things I need are 2-3 minutes from me. My expenses have gone way down living here as opposed to the US. No flags, no damn red hats, no roaring pick up trucks with right wing nuttery on full display. And like you, I don't live in fear of some idiot with a gun - in the little town I left in rural Oregon young men walked into coffee shops with loaded pistols in holsters.
What cowards.
And as a final aside, Hollywood from its inception right up to today shares enormous blame for perpetuating and popularizing the toxic masculinity of the lone cowboy and helping to aid and abet this rubbish.
Philoctetes, you list so much that we have in Scotland, too тАФ plus France is warm!!! I 100% understand why you left - I can't even imagine the toxicity and fear induced by living in a state with open carry. It's surreal.
I've worked as a screenwriter for most of my professional career and agree with your comment about the toxic masculinity тАФ but want to add that a lot of social change comes through people fighting for depictions of the world's real, beautiful diversity comes from Hollywood as well. David Kohan & Max Mutchnick worked so hard to get and keep Will & Grace on the air and worked with the LGBTQ+ community to deepen portrayals of its characters. Shonda Rhimes broke through the white male wall and gave the world a full rainbow of beloved characters on Grey's Anatomy. Hollywood is to blame but it's also one of our greatest weapons against fascism and we need to put the pressure on and make the industry rise to the challenge.
I absolutely agree - and my wife LOVES Will & Grace! I'm also a great fan of live theater as an instrument for social change and for opening up the lives of young people. One production of Shakespeare in 1977 put me on my life trajectory. It doesn't take much . . .
I love that! What play was it that had such an impact on you in 77?
If only Scotland could come to our aid as France did back when the nation was founded. Don't know, though, that anyone should help those who don't help themselves...too many Americans sat out the last election and a chance to rid ourselves of a tyrant traitor.
Yes, I give you that, I had only thought of Europe and Australia and both don't have the horrible gun culture as much.
I envy you, Alexandra.
It took years of work to manifest, but I'm so grateful every day. Europeans and Brits are just aghast at the willful violence of the US. It's an armed camp. I don't think people can possibly comprehend the toxicity of it until they've been out for a while. It's still my country, and California will ALWAYS be my home. I will fight for it from here. But here тАФ is sanity.
Like I said, I am envious of your planned journey. I love Scotland and her people. My only refuge would be going to Germany where my mother was born and raised and eventually escaped from. My girls could go with me but my husband, who has yet to get a passport and is a Nam vet with PTSD, is reticent about leaving CA. Not certain what the outcome will be but I do know that we are in very very rough waters. Always good to hear from you and get your perspective, Alexandra.
I, too, have decided that our Constitution and the promise of a fairer, more just society is worth fighting for. I stay and give it my best, encourage everyone to join in to protect the lives and rights of all fellow humans, and not let those who take and not give destroy the hopes and futures of America and the world.
Old here, too, but not giving up. I have grandchildren who deserve better.
Agree, Sabine, we must stand ready to resist, persist and push back on the efforts to make us an illiberal democracy as has happened to Hungary and T├╝rkiye, even as they still have тАЬelectionsтАЭ. As little as I may actually be able to do, IтАЩll do my damn best!ЁЯЧ╜ЁЯЗ║ЁЯЗ╕ The whole world better get its collective act together, cuz weтАЩre all that weтАЩve got on this fragile planet we have. btw, I read this eve about all the space junkтАж.a staggering amount of trash (seems we humans can even litter up space!), bits тАШn pieces orbitingтАФthe visual rendering of what is being tracked made it look almost like a force field encasing earth. If we have immense and growing garbage patches in the sea and on land, why not trash up space too! This means, perhaps (unless we can find a way to clean it up), that someday soonish we will not be able to leave the planet for exploration or other scientific endeavors because the debris would destroy/incapacitate anything sent into space (think weather satellites for example)тАж.resulting in even MORE junk!!! Trying to balance my feelings of anger and dread with those of resolve and hopeтАжbit of a teeter-totter ride!
I hear you, Barbara. But here is something we all can do today, that might possibly make a difference in memory of this day. Please take a moment to do something that could contribute to saving our democracy! The last three days in sub-zero temperatures in Washington, DC, people have been gathered together who feel as passionately as I do about this opportunity to do something that can truly make a difference. I wish I could have been among them! Here are the basic facts: Today (on the anniversary of January 6th) is the day that the electoral votes are to be counted by Congress to certify Donald Trump to be our 39th president. What is wrong with this scenario? The answer is simple and stark! Every Congress member who votes to accept these electoral votes will be dishonoring their oath to the Constitution. If they were to honestly uphold the oath they took, they would have no other choice but to disqualify Trump, an insurrectionist, from ever holding office again. The following is from https://nowmarch.org "Donald J. Trump is an adjudicated insurrectionist, constitutionally disqualified from holding office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment for the deadly assault on our Capitol four years ago. Every member of Congress has sworn an oath to defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Unless lawmakers remove his current disability by a 2/3 vote of both houses of Congress, or reject the certification of his electoral votes, they, too, will be in violation of their oaths. It only takes 1/5 of each body to raise an objection under the Electoral Count Act. As explained by former editors of the Columbia Law Review and Yale Law Journal, 'If the objection is sustained by majority vote in each house, the vote is not counted and the number of votes required to be elected is reduced by the number of disqualified votes. If all votes for Trump were not counted, Kamala Harris would be elected president.'тАЭ ItтАЩs important to call our Senators and Reps to tell them that we demand they honor the oaths they took. The offices open at 8:30 AM. We have to inundate them with calls. All the info you need can be found here: https://nowmarch.org To be further inspired by Jessica Densen who organized this movement, see a portion of SaturdayтАЩs gathering in DC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSBOZQrHmko
Our political parties have been baffled, even neutered, however we can't abandon organized resistance. The ACLU still exists and they're already actively opposing Trimp's initiatives. They're by no means alone. There are also groups like The Womens March, Common Cause, and Indivisible. Look around; join and support those who you agree with. Help somebody.
The Trimp-ists are fully aware that they have only a slim margin of approval but they want you to forget that, and while their megaphone is larger and they don't hesitate to lie and intimidate wherever they can, they CAN AND SHOULD be opposed.
Isolating ourselves and shaking our fists as they vandlize the world won't work. (This is also why I rejected the notion of emigrating.) We don't all need to be heroic either, but every day we can share knowledge, perform individual acts of humanity, and try to be the example others will remember. Like Hank Stamper once said, "Never give a inch."
Sabine, there's nowhere to go. If this country falls to fascism the rest of the world that hasn't fallen already will be following, one after the other. That's why Musk is getting involved in Germany and Canada and elsewhere.
Here is where we have to have our stand.
Today he tells King Charles to disband parliament. Next week heтАЩll tell Trump to disband Congress.
I also immigrated, to Canada in my case, long ago. I fought for a just society both in Canada and in the US - and am also an old woman.
The Prime Minister of Canada, J Trudeau January 6, 2025, has just resigned as leader of the ruling party which will lead to an election.
The rise of authoritarianism has impacted this country as well as many others around the world. We all have to fight at this point as much as possible Be safe all