Look, I don’t like being what others call me: a pessimistic doomsayer. You think I wanted to be like this?
Well, I didn’t, and I hate it.
But this is a big deal, and I’m telling you now, do not take it lightly.
Except, some of you may find belief in flying saucers and aliens easier to manage than the calamitous situation we are all looking at. And hey, I get it. We’re in deep doo doo here, and none of us is going to face that without anxiety and fear. But be careful. Some diversions just aren’t healthy. I should know.
In coping with CPTSD, I have often taken on self-destructive activities, and I’m blessed to have survived some of them. But what I’m seeing isn’t exactly diversions except for movies and the gaming world. Lies flood the Internet, and, having fallen for my share, I am telling you that there’s danger out there. Enough of them catch on, and the next thing you know, you’ll believe anything.
People believe that you eat spiders every night in your sleep.
What baloney, and even the slightest bit of research will illustrate that you’re far more likely to be struck by lightning than to ever, in your entire life, swallow a spider in your sleep. Spiders don’t like us. They want nothing to do with us. Even bites are rare, meaning that usually you need to stick a hand or foot into a space where one is chilling out. It’s true that shoes left overnight on the floor can seem like a haven to a spider, but if it makes you feel better, hang them up, laces across a hanger, or pour a bunch of foot powder inside. Heck, I’d worry more about scorpions.
However, if we ground ourselves with reality, if we just read or listen to reliable sources, they tell a story of something we all should be worried about.
The Trump administration has already, in record time, made enemies of almost every country in the entire world. This does not include Russia, which will wring everything it can get out of Trump, then turn into a rabid enemy. He does not believe that. He believes lots of things that, frankly, have already killed people, and will kill many more.
His gold dome defense is essentially slag; useless and not even nice to look at. Experts have easily torn it apart as being inadequate and an invitation to other countries to make the slightest of adjustments to defeat it.
I personally don’t know if Donald Trump wanted to destroy the United States, but he has managed it in short order. Everything is corrupt. Idiots are being put in key positions, leaving us open to the domestic terrorism of ICE, illegal imprisonment and worse, and he exalts in his power to see lives end.
He is guilty of serious human rights violations, and nobody in our government utters a word of protest.
He takes things verbatim out of Hitler’s playbook.
Meanwhile, what of the countries he’s strong-armed, pissed off, or harmed economically?
China had, because of tariffs, embarked on a trade embargo, with empty cargo vessels being sent.
Who really suffered?
The people of the United States. And Trump knew that would happen.
If the Doomsday Clock has moved even one second closer to midnight, it is significant. That’s because the board takes into account breakdowns of political talks, the state of world economy and its projected path, climate change (global warming), and who is in power, and with that, any social upheaval.
Indeed, planet earth has never hosted a scene like this. All of history, even in the most horrible of times, has nothing that compares to this.
And it’s just getting started.
Any one person can make a difference.
Heroes are not born, not trained, not distinguishable from anyone else. You can’t point at someone and say, “Hey, that dude looks like a hero.”
By the measurements of history, a hero is someone who acts in a crisis when others are running away. They want to run too, but they don’t.
But heroes are also unsung most of the time. Nobody points them out, and nobody even knows their names. They help others. They give money to the poor. They defended the defenseless. They act in the moment without hesitation, not because they want to be heroic, but because it’s the right thing to do.
There are heroes all around us. They are faceless until their moments come to act. These men and women fade back into the crowd. You’ll never find them. But they are still there.
On the other hand, villains grab headlines and try to stay in the spotlight, loving and craving attention. They sway everything from individual to crowd behavior, until the fanatics they most appeal to surround them.
Hitler was one such man, and we in the United States are now led by someone who has taken his playbook word for word. If he is not stopped, World War Three will soon commence. Some believe it has already begun. It hasn’t, and this is nothing compared to what’s coming.
When the United Nations relocates to another country, you will be told that they are traitors and cowards, and more.
People still venomously defend our “president,” if that’s what he is. Their arguments include “who has he gassed?”
Just because something has not yet happened, doesn’t mean it won’t.
Photographs from El Salvador show very clearly that bad things are happening. The Trump support base says “they’re just gang bangers.”
They are repeating what they’re told. Not what’s true, and the truth is that ICE is grabbing arbitrary people including real citizens. There are no formal hearings. No legal aid is offered; rather, it is flatly denied. Those people will all die in a place too terrible to comprehend if you are sane.
I served the United States of America. I would never bear arms against it.
But a monarchy, a crown? I’d fight that. A fascist authoritarian regime? I would defend others against it if I weren’t already dying. I have to sit on my ass, watching this horror evolve.
My conclusion, therefore, has merit: the United States of America no longer exists. Like global warming, I believe the damage is too extensive for recovery.
This is why I warn travelers from other countries not to come here. Not for vacation, tourism, business or any other reason. You may never see home again, and there is nothing here that is worth your life.
*The United States is now a terrorist threat.
*The nights here hold a darkness and fear I have never seen. The sounds of small arms fire puncture the peace of the night, reminding me that everything is different now.
And I have nothing positive to say. If I tried, I would have to lie to you. I can’t do that.
Hug your children. Your spouses. Tell them they are loved and treasured. Keep them safe.
And pray. To God, the Father, your Abba. Never pray to anything else. Have faith in Him. And maybe, He already knows that we need a hero.
Stay safe, my friends, be well. May God bless you and keep you safe.
Memoirs of an American Asshole 