Political Violence – The History, Prevalence, and Escalation of It in America

The discussion about political violence has been all over the place recently. 

On September 10, right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at an inaugural Turning Point USA touring event in Utah. Before the shooter was even identified and arrested, Republican lawmakers, conservative people, right-wing media, Trump, and his administration blamed anyone whom they deemed an enemy of their ideology.

They immediately went after those on or even close to the left, targeting trans folk, immigrants, and Black folks, and declared Democrats domestic extremists. Some government officials even called for the arrest of democratic representatives and said we needed to lock up all trans folk. People made lists and directories of people who didn’t mourn Kirk’s death, those who celebrated it, or even just pointed out Kirk’s own quotes in response to the shooting. As a result, people lost their jobs for what they said in the wake of the shooting, despite sharing direct quotes from Kirk. Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel was even temporarily suspended simply for calling out the administration for benefiting from Kirk’s death. After immense backlash and Disney (ABC’s parent company) losing more than $6.4B, he was reinstated. 

Conservatives claimed everyone was violent extremists who hate free speech and hate America. They claimed Kirk was killed for his speech or for “speaking the truth.” This, despite the man arrested for the shooting appearing to be a far-right extremist follower of Nick Fuentes and part of a segment of that following referred to as “groypers,” who believe that Kirk wasn’t far-right enough, wasn’t extreme enough with his rhetoric. 

In other words, not a leftist; not a trans person; not an immigrant; not a person of color. Yet the Right continues to push their original narrative while excusing the “poor soul” of the man who killed their now martyred prince podcaster of conservatism. All while saying that the political violence must end, and must stop now. Even after the FBI arrested the shooter, the right continued to blame the “violent, extreme left.” 

Personally, I’m still reeling from the fact that some people were rabidly ready to slaughter their neighbors in the streets. The reality of that still weighs heavily on my psyche. Some people, including a pardoned Jan 6er, made videos saying they were going to hunt leftists and democrats and kill them. 

They begged Trump to just give the word, and they were ready – locked and loaded. They called for blood, called for a second civil war, and called it their Reichstag Fire moment. They said we were all violent while outlining the rabid ways in which they’d gleefully slaughter us. And the hypocrisy of political violence, which has always existed in this country, has only continued to spiral out in the short time that followed the shooting. 

A Quick Note About the Article 

When the shooting happened, I initially started writing about everything from the perspective of the discourse concerning Charlie Kirk, such as his rhetoric, the conversation around everything, and so on. All while still trying to process the fallout of his death and the response by the administration, which used Kirk’s death as a license to more fully enact their complete takeover of the country. 

The week following his death, I was absolutely mentally and emotionally sidelined. Our country almost descended into a full-blown civil war. And yet we carried on, business as usual. I still was expected to respond to emails, go to appointments and work, and manage as if that didn’t almost happen. It’s insane. It’s been insane for a long time, even before Kirk’s death. The only thing that brought a sense of normality was going to the garden center to buy plants and then spending a few hours in the garden, so I didn’t doom scroll as much. 

As more time passed and I watched the political violence escalate and evolve, I returned to a space of wanting and needing to write about everything. Though this time, I decided the focus of whatever I wrote shouldn’t be on Kirk. Everyone’s said more than enough about him. They’ve debated the “context” of his violent, hateful, and extreme rhetoric. They’ve discussed all the conspiracies around his death and the investigation. And that’s all important, but I don’t want to focus on that anymore, personally. People who are more nuanced than I already have. 

Instead, I want to focus on the overarching topic of political violence. This article breaks down how it relates to our country’s history, its more modern use, and all the accelerated instances of it being conveniently ignored since the shooting. And of course, I end this article, which is essentially a long-form essay, with some glimmers of hope in these dark times.

Please note that this is, of course, not an exhaustive list of every instance of political violence. It is a collection of “digestible” bits of information that I’ve compiled and interconnected. I’ve lost track of all the horrible things that’ve happened over the recent months and years, so I have no doubt forgotten glaring instances of violence worth mentioning and the related connections to other systemic violence. I also do not claim to know everything about this topic, as every day I learn more. 

There are entire books, websites, and classes on the related subjects, and I encourage my readers to continue their own learning about history and political violence beyond this article or the links provided within it. (Especially while you still can, as this administration erases things in real time). 

All that said, let’s begin. This is also your content warning that the following includes graphic descriptions of violence, as well as uncomfortable notions about many things. Take breaks if needed. This piece isn’t intended to wear anyone down – it’s meant to raise awareness and understanding about the topic of political violence and its intrinsic part of American culture.

PS – In between the sections, you can take a little break and listen to the songs I’ve linked to help ease your nervous system a bit.

Made in America – Political Violence Has Always Been A Part Of This Country

A Definition

What is political violence? Per the Wikipedia page on the term:

“Political violence is violence which is perpetrated in order to achieve political goals.^[2] It can include violence which is used by a state against other states (war), violence which is used by a state against civilians and non-state actors (forced disappearance, psychological warfare, police brutality, targeted killings, torture, ethnic cleansing, or genocide), and violence which is used by violent non-state actors against states and civilians (kidnappings, assassinations, terrorist attacks, torture, psychological and/or guerrilla warfare).^[3][4] It can also describe politically motivated violence which is used by violent non-state actors against a state (rebellion, rioting, treason, or coup d’état) or it can describe violence which is used against other non-state actors and/or civilians.^[2][3][4] Non-action on the part of a government can also be characterized as a form of political violence, such as refusing to alleviate famine or otherwise denying resources to politically identifiable groups within their territory.”

I included the entire lengthy description of the term because each part describes exactly how America functions and has always functioned as a colonized, capitalistic, racist, sexist, and violent nation. 

Political Violence From the Beginning

The Slave Trade

Even before America was founded, European settlers genocided and ethnically cleansed those Indigenous to the land. They enslaved African people and others, treated them like livestock, exploited their labor, used them for sport, raped them and sold off their children, and tortured them in every conceivable and inconceivable way. After a bloody civil war, this country continued to exert political violence on Black, Indigenous, and other people of color. The country still exploited their labor, refused them their rights, as well as life and liberty (let alone a pursuit of happiness), and subjected them to police brutality, Jim Crow Laws, mass incarceration, lynchings, torture, and ever more violence in both the abstract political sense and the actual concrete physical, mental, emotional, and psychological harm done. 

Segregation

Black people were brutalized and murdered in horrendous ways, including but not limited to having their homes and businesses fire bombed and being dragged down the street behind trucks. White people used to have community picnics where they came together (often after church) to lynch Black people for fun, all with children in attendance. Laws were passed to segregate people, keep them from voting or holding office, owning property, and so on. The government “outlawed” slavery but wrote a loophole to create an incarceration pipeline of Black people (particularly Black men) and others to be enslaved “legally” by calling them a different name: criminal; all in the same amendment that supposedly granted freedom.

[Listen to Mon Rovia’s ‘Heavy Foot’ for a nod at this.]

Demonizing Immigrants and the Indigenous

We’ve always treated immigrants like shit. We passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. Later, we put Japanese-Americans in internment camps during WW2 and subjected them to inhumane conditions, abuse, and torture after accusing them of being spies. We even gave Hispanic women hysterectomies without their consent or knowledge (and still do).

We put Native Americans on reservations, banned them from hunting, and criminalized their practice of rituals, celebrations, and beliefs. You may remember an article I wrote years ago that touched on this, as well as the Wounded Knee Massacre, America’s deadliest mass shooting, carried out by the hands of the US government.

We stole the children from Native people and put them in boarding schools where their hair was cut, their language was banned, and in many cases, children were killed and buried in mass graves out back. We still haven’t formally acknowledged that piece of history. Neither has the church, which ran most, if not all, of these “schools.” 

This is all but a drop in the ocean of political violence in America’s past. It’s stuff like this that explains why Hitler looked to America for inspiration when he planned the Holocaust. We had concentration and re-education camps long before he did. We were the blueprint. (Bet they didn’t teach you that in history class). 

[Listen to Renee Christine’s ‘Turtle Island‘]

Political Violence of “Modern” History

People say that racism is a thing of the past, or that descendants of enslaved people or genocided Native Americans need to “get over” what happened because it “happened a long time ago.” 

They claim this even though it took almost a century after the Civil War before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination and ended segregation (allegedly), while the Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibited discrimination in voting, and finally granted Black people and other people of color their constitutional right to vote. This was just over 60 years ago. My mom is older than the CRA. Ruby Bridges, who was the first African-American child to attend the formerly segregated whites-only elementary school in Louisiana in 1960, is still alive. She had to be escorted onto the campus by U.S. Marshals for her own safety after she was threatened by adults and parents protesting her enrollment in the school. 

Moreover, there are people alive whose parents and grandparents were sharecroppers, who themselves were the children of formerly enslaved folk. It was barely 100 years ago when the Tulsa Race Massacre happened, where 35 city blocks of Black Wall Street were burned to the ground by a white mob.

All the while, our country has never paid out reparations for any of the crimes it has committed against non-white folk throughout this nation’s entire existence, and even before its conceptualization and then bloody revolution from the other colonizing superpower it branched off from. Even the promise of “40 acres and a mule” to newly freed families was conveniently forgotten after Lincoln’s assassination. Yet white slave owners were compensated for losing their enslaved workers.

Even after the CRA of ‘64 and VRA of ‘65, this country continued and STILL continues to this day, to systematically oppress people of color. Gerrymandering is rampant around the country (and right now, states like Texas are doing unprecedented redistricting to gerrymander and remove voting power from marginalized communities.) The KKK still exists. The government assassinated civil rights leaders like Fred Hampton and Martin Luther King. Neo-nazis walk around in broad daylight waving Nazi flags and wearing swastikas. Police have gotten away with murdering thousands of Black people through police brutality and racial profiling. And ICE has been terrorizing Hispanic communities for decades now. To say racism is a thing of the past and that people need to “get over” it, despite white supremacy’s blatant, systemic, in-your-face existence, is willfully and violently ignorant. 

Shit, people still say “Never Forget” about 9/11, though this year they were too preoccupied with foaming at the mouth about “leftists” supposedly killing Charlie Kirk. It was the quietest 9/11 Memorial Day I can ever remember. Also, we’re too preoccupied with being buddy-buddy with the very country (Saudi Arabia) that was actually responsible for those attacks, and even let them buy up farmland in Arizona. Anyway, I digress. 

Not to mention, the historical violence previously discussed is just against non-white folks. There is a laundry list of systemic, political violence this nation has carried out against women and children; the LGBTQ+ community (especially trans folk); people with disabilities, mental illness, or neurodivergency; poor or homeless people. This country is violent against everyone else who is not a white, straight, cisgendered, able-bodied Christian male with money/privilege. 

I’ve taken semester-long college courses that alone covered just a few decades of history after WWII, let alone the past 250+ years. Suffice that to say, they lied to us when they taught us history. They left so much out and made this country out to be heroic, when the only thing heroic about it is the people who’ve fought against its oppression throughout history, exposed its violent ways, documented its atrocities, and continue to never let that history be forgotten. America is not great on its own. The only greatness that exists, exists through those who’ve always resisted the violence America’s always perpetuated.

Political Violence Abroad

Of course, all that’s just at home. We dropped TWO atomic bombs on Japan. We destabilized (and still destabilize) democratic nations in Central and South America, Africa, the Middle East, and elsewhere. We dropped Agent Orange on Japan. Corporations and the government poison people at home and abroad, and cause irreparable harm to the planet. We’ve funded violent right-wing coups and dictatorships. We sell weapons to violent nations that violate human rights, while excusing our invasion of others in the name of “democracy.” And we’ve funded Israel for 76+ years since its inception in 1948, and to this day, especially with the past 24 months of its genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestine. 

This country has ALWAYS been violent, with a particular mastery in political violence at home and abroad. It’s woven into our very systems and laws. To decry political violence without any acknowledgment of that done at the hands of this nation and every administration steering it since its creation is to live in delusion and be devoid of reality. Violence appears to be the very lifeblood of this country. And our blood is poisoned because of it. (Literally and figuratively – everyone has lead, forever chemicals, microplastics, or a combination of those in their body). 

Political Violence of Recent Years

[Listen to Magnolia Park & TX2 ‘Life in the USA‘]

Growing up in the USA

Through the lens of personally being alive for more than three decades now, systemic racism, sexism, classism, xenophobia, and all other types of political and systemic violence have been a part of the American experience. I was in second grade when I watched the planes hit the World Trade Center on 9/11, and proceeded to live through the fallout of the “War on Terror” while we terrorized countries that had nothing to do with 9/11 — all so we could steal their oil and other resources. Again, we never did anything to the actual country accountable for 9/11, and instead sold them weapons and made business deals with them. 

Market Crash + Bank Bailout

We went on to live through the 2008 market crash, thanks to banks’ frivolously destroying the economy and people’s livelihoods. The banks got bailed out while people lost their jobs (like my dad) and their homes. In the aftermath, homes and real estate were bought up by the rich for dirt cheap, and home prices skyrocketed over the following years. People often don’t consider all this violence, but when the government bails out rich corporations for destroying the economy, at the expense of the very people whose taxes paid for that bailout, it’s violence. And it’s absolutely political. 

The Obama Years

In addition to bailing out the banks while abandoning Americans hurt from the market crash, we continued to see violence in the Middle East under Obama, with ever more drone strikes and war crimes. 

In the waning year of his presidency in 2016, we saw violence at home against Native American water protectors protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline, an oil pipeline that eventually was built and ran through their land and sacred sites. Obama had called the National Guard on the Standing Rock protesters who were attacked with dogs, hit with water cannons, and threatened with rubber bullets, tanks, and guns. 

The water protectors ultimately lost this fight to protect the Missouri River as well as sacred burial grounds of the Sioux tribe, with the pipeline being built despite their efforts to stop the pipeline’s construction. Less than a year later, the pipeline leaked into their main source of drinking water. 

Trump’s First Term

There was the entirety of Trump’s first administration, which was marked by nothing but political violence. Under Trump’s first term, we saw more families ripped apart at the border, with children and their parents or guardians being sent to “detention centers” where they were subject to countless abuses, including dirty water, spoiled food, and other inhumane conditions, as well as rape and sexual assault and forced hysterectomies (a literal war crime). During the pandemic, they literally gassed people with disinfectants in these places. These concentration camps were kept open under Biden, who proceeded to continue the practice and deported more people than even Trump did during his first term. 

Trump also gutted a bunch of things, from the Endangered Species Act to the Clean Water Act. He also committed a bunch of crimes and was impeached for them, but not removed from office. 

The pandemic began in 2020, and we watched people get evicted from their homes for losing their jobs or becoming sick or disabled from COVID. We watched the systemic violence of the healthcare system profiting off of people catching the disease and then subsequently developing long-term complications from it. And we witnessed eugenics in action as our society sacrificed those who were immunocompromised, disabled, or elderly just to “return to normal.” So we prematurely stopped masking during an ongoing pandemic and went back to brunch. 

And who could forget what happened to George Floyd and the protests that erupted from his death under the knee of police officer Derek Chauvin? People demanded accountability for the police and their epidemic of brutality. Instead, the government increased funding for police and gave them more surveillance technology and resources to use against civilians. Everyone’s talking about how ICE and Federal agents are treating protestors right now, but fewer connect the dots to when the police were using the same tactics in 2020 against protesters. That was the test run. And we stopped protesting and pushing back and demanding accountability. Is it any surprise that the government is now deploying the same tactics as before, only much more? 

In early 2021, we watched an attempted coup as Trump and his followers attempted to block a peaceful transfer of power. Rioters at the Capitol killed and injured Capitol police officers, broke into Congress, and threatened to kill former Vice President Mike Pence as well as Democratic politicians. Oh, and let’s not forget that literal explosives were found undetonated around the building. Let me reiterate that: 

They. Were. Going. To. Blow. Up. Congress. To. Carry. Out. An. Insurrection. 

And of course, little was actually done about it. Trump was once again impeached, but still not removed from office, with only a few weeks remaining of his presidency. He later, upon his return this year, pardoned the people who were convicted for storming the Capitol, some of whom are now suspected of being a part of Trump’s personal Gestapo, hired on as ICE members. 

Losing Rights Under Biden’s Presidency

In 2022, the Supreme Court stripped bodily autonomy by overturning Roe v. Wade. In the years that have followed, people in red states with strict abortion laws have experienced incredible horrors within the health and legal systems of their state. Expectant mothers with emergency complications needing life-saving care were either delayed that care or flat-out denied it by doctors afraid to lose their license. 

Some women almost died in the process, and some actually did because of the strict abortion laws. They were even left to bleed out or succumb to sepsis due to miscarriages, ectopic and other non-viable pregnancies, or other medical emergencies that would’ve required immediate intervention. Biden’s administration holds some blame in this, given the fact that they had a majority in the House and an even split in the Senate, yet never tried to codify Roe v. Wade into law to protect abortion rights. 

Biden also gave more funding to the police despite calls for accountability, especially after the heightened police brutality in response to the 2020 protests. He also deported more people than Trump’s first term and kept Trump’s detention centers open. And in his last year in office, he funded Israel’s genocide of Gaza, with billions of our tax dollars. 

Political Violence Under Trump’s Second, Current Term

[Listen to Earth to Eve’s ‘Threat Level Orange‘]

DOGE

After Trump took office and unleashed Elon Musk and DOGE on the federal government, they laid off thousands of federal employees; cut funding for critical programs, departments, and infrastructure; took all of our sensitive info and data and exposed it; and cut funding to aid programs like USAID, which provided food, medicine, and other care to people around the world. As a result, millions of people, especially children, have starved in countries that previously received aid and died due to a lack of food and medicine they relied on. 

Attacks on Healthcare

And of course, there’s RFK Jr. wreaking havoc on the healthcare system by weaponizing the government against autistic people, people with mental health conditions, and other groups of people Trump and his administration want to target. Trump even signed an executive order that erased the federal government’s recognition of transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people, and advocates against gender affirming care. They’ve cut funding to research for things like a brain cancer vaccine and other important medical research. And, RFK fired the entire CDC vaccine advisory board and replaced it with antivaxxers. There are people in government who want to make “Trump Derangement Syndrome” (that is, not liking Trump) a diagnosable mental illness and lock everyone up who doesn’t like the king. (PS – The Minnesota state senator who suggested this was just found trying to solicit sex with a minor.) 

RFK Jr. also suggested we round up everyone, including children (particularly Black children), with addiction, mental disorders, or who are on medication for things like ADHD or anxiety, take away their medications, and put them on “wellness farms.” *cough* LABOR CAMPS *cough*

And because this is the most ridiculous timeline, we have quack doctor Dr. Oz from the daytime TV show as the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services now. And of course, they defunded Medicare and Medicaid in the big ugly bill passed earlier this year, while giving billions to ICE. 

Attacking Free Speech and Higher Education

The government also arrested people, especially students at universities receiving federal funds, who’ve spoken out against Israel’s genocide of Gaza. They began by targeting and abducting people studying in the country on student visas, like Mahmoud Khalil in March. Students here studying abroad suddenly became at risk of having their visas revoked and being detained or deported. Schools that didn’t comply with requests from the government for information on students or for not silencing anyone speaking about the genocide were met with threats of losing funding. 

Refusing Due Process, Opening Concentration Camps, and Human Rights Abuses

ICE/CBP also rounded up hundreds of men, claimed they were gang members, denied them due process, and sent them to CERCOT, an El Salvadorian mega prison notorious for human rights abuses. Despite Trump and Kristi Noem calling them criminals, most of them had no criminal records and were even here legally. These men were subjected to unimaginable torture in prison. People protested this move by the administration and demanded the release of these men, including Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was arrested on gang suspicion simply for being at a Home Depot parking lot and wearing a Chicago Bulls hat. 

The government also opened up a concentration camp in the Florida Everglades, dubbed it “Alligator Alcatraz,” and turned it into a grift as they sold merch and let it become a tourist attraction for MAGA. All while subjecting people imprisoned there (again, without due process) to a myriad of human rights abuses and constitutional violations. After a local Indigenous tribe (the Miccosukee) and an environmental group sued to shut it down, the facility was dismantled. Yet Trump is set to open more “detention centers.” Which is all the more alarming given the people detained at Alligator Auschwitz are reportedly missing, disappeared without a trace. 

I have also seen claims of potential human experimentation that might have happened to people at the facility, which I’ll touch more on later. I haven’t verified the claim, but knowing the history of Nazis and their proclivity to human experimentation, I would not be shocked in the slightest if we’ve reached that particular point this early on with the current regime. Besides, human experimentation is not new to America anyway. We’ve done it to Black people and others for a very long time. Which leads me to my next point. 

Loss of Bodily Autonomy and Further Sliding into the Handmaid’s Tale 

Earlier this year, Adriana Smith, a pregnant woman in Georgia, was declared brain dead after a medical emergency. Against the family’s wishes, the state forced Smith’s body to be kept on life support despite being completely brain dead and her body withering away. All so her body could be used as an incubator for her unborn child. He was delivered prematurely because the mother’s body was literally rotting because, and I can’t stress this enough, DEAD. He is still struggling to survive to this day, as his birth came with a lot of issues. 

To reiterate, the state forced a dead woman to carry out a pregnancy at the detriment of both her grieving family and unborn child, who will likely have complications for the rest of his life. Oh, and the family is financially responsible for the medical costs of all that, even though this was forced on them by the state.

An Assassination of US Elected Officials

Back in June, two Minnesota lawmakers were targeted by a man who pretended to be a police officer and gunned them and their families down in their own homes. Per the BBC, State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were shot 17 times, but lived. Their daughter was also injured in the attack, but she was not shot. Melissa Hortman – the top Democratic legislator in the state House – and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed. Their dog was also shot and mortally wounded. 

The suspect, Vance Luther Boelter, reportedly left a target list in one of his vehicles that included Democratic politicians from Minnesota, such as Governor Tim Walz, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, State Attorney General Keith Ellison, and the two legislators he went after first. 

Moreover, “Inside Boelter’s vehicle was a list of nearly 70 people, including abortion rights advocates, Democratic politicians, and abortion providers.” [Wikipedia]

Because of this, it’s suspected that the gunman is a far-right extremist. Yet people on the right tried to blame the “far-left” for the shooting. 

Elon Musk tweeted, “The far left is murderously violent.” U.S. Senator Mike Lee tweeted multiple times that the suspect was a “Marxist” and blamed the assassination on Walz, despite Walz being on the gunman’s hit list. Donald Trump claimed the suspect “seems to be a leftist” and “was a Democrat.” This, despite the reporting that he was “an evangelical Christian Trump supporter.” 

According to Wired, Boelter’s best friend David Carlson “dismissed the claims that the alleged shooter was a Democrat, telling reporters … he ‘would be offended if people called him a Democrat.’”

The response to an assassination carried out, attempted, and plotted against elected officials was very mild, especially in comparison to the coverage of the Charlie Kirk assassination. The news of the Minnesota lawmakers seems to fizzle out in the national conversation just as quickly as it happened. Yet a month and a half after Kirk’s death, the right-wing media is still talking about it. Yet, simultaneously has gone more or less quiet on the investigation of his death and the glaring inconsistencies of it all.

For instance, according to Ground News, 247 new sources covered the assassination of the legislators, with a 46% center rating. In comparison, news about Charlie Kirk totaled 1,858 stories, with 46% of sources being right-leaning. (Over the past 3 months).

Barely denouncing the shooting, there were no calls to formally address the blatant political violence or the rampant violence carried out by the far right. Trump even refused to call Governor Walz, saying he was a “terrible governor” and “grossly incompetent.” 

Instead, there were only “thoughts and prayers” and “this violence must end” comments from the administration, while blaming the “radical” left in the same breath, stoking the flames of hate-fueled division. 

From Out of Gaza

[Listen to Earth to Eve’s ‘Have You Heard the News?‘]

Earlier this month, on October 7, the two-year mark of Israel’s genocide and ramped-up ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza passed.

Over the past 24 months, as was confirmed by a former Israeli army commander, Herzi Halevi, more than 200,000 (and counting) men, women, and children have been slaughtered in relentless bombings and shot by IDF soldiers, tanks, and drones. And, many more have starved to the point that a famine was declared on August 22, when the United Nations finally “irrefutably confirmed” this. Hospitals, schools, mosques, and churches were bombed and leveled, with people taking shelter inside. Entire parts of Gaza are now completely eradicated.

The phrase “Wounded Child, No Surviving Family” (WCNSF) is now a fucking term that exists specifically because of this genocide. And billions of our tax dollars have funded all of it.

The Epstein Files

Of course, we can’t ever forget the Epstein files and the delay of their release, as our government is actively protecting rich pedophiles around the world and covering up a global sex trafficking ring that has harmed countless people, particularly children. 

There is also the fact that convicted child rapist and Epstein’s right-hand woman, Ghislaine Maxwell, was recently moved to a low-security prison, and is expected to receive a pardon from Trump after she reportedly conveniently claimed she never witnessed him “in any inappropriate setting,” or receiving a massage, and called him “a gentleman in all respects.”

Despite running on a platform that included releasing the Epstein files, it has since appeared that Trump and his admin are doing literally ANYTHING but addressing them. They’ve gone as far as claiming they didn’t exist and also somehow that this was simultaneously a “Democrat/Clinton/Obama/Biden hoax.” This, even though Trump was president when Epstein was arrested and also found dead, supposedly by killing himself. They also claimed that they haven’t released them to “protect” the victims, as well as “good people” on the list. 

In fact, the current government shutdown and hostage situation in our country right now is at least in part due to their delaying a vote to release the Epstein files. (And so that poor people will spend more money on health care as Republicans want to take away ACA credits and make their insurance company lobby donors to make more profit.) More on the shutdown later, though.    

[Listen to Ren’s ‘Money Game Part 2‘]

Other Instances of Political Violence

Everything I’ve discussed so far doesn’t even truly scratch the surface of the rampant political violence of even just recent years. This includes all school/mass shootings, homelessness and the housing crisis, and people dying from lack of health care due to high insurance costs and insurance denials. Corporate crimes alone are insurmountable, including manufacturing an opioid epidemic; causing harm and death from products like cars or planes, or illegally dumping chemicals or waste. Hell, we allow corporations (like Nestlé) and foreign interests (like Saudi Arabia until 2023) to buy up water rights in drought-stricken states, or utility companies getting away with setting fires. 

There’s also the consistent abandonment of states by legislators and the federal government, states, and territories during environmental disasters like the train derailment in Ohio, caused by Norfolk Southern, which was never held accountable. Biden even went as far as to sign a bill to stop a strike by railroad workers demanding more accountability, pay, and time off. And of course, people were abandoned after extreme weather catastrophes due to the climate crisis, such as hurricanes Katrina, Maria, or Helene; the freeze and the recent floods in Texas; the fires in Hawaii and California; the recent floods in Alaska; and so on. Again, drops in the bucket of how frequent it’s become to forsake people in our country by those who are supposed to take care of it. This goes for both parties, especially with them both taking money from fossil fuels, corporations, and other industries fueling these crises. 

There is also the systemic excusing and covering up of rampant rape, sexual abuse, and sex trafficking – especially against children and in places of power like the church, politics, or law enforcement. And the rich hoarding all the resources, destroying the entire planet for profit, paying slave wages, and replacing us all with AI, with the intent to round everyone up into labor camps to do the tasks AI can’t; and so on.

An Expanded Note on the Violence of AI

Speaking of AI, there’s the insurmountable damage to the environment and harm being done to communities and humanity at large. AI data centers use astronomical amounts of water and electricity. Combining all the ones that have been built thus far (with many more on the way), they use billions of gallons of fresh water, even in drought-stricken areas. (Use is expected to exceed a trillion gallons by 2027.) They use enough electricity to power entire cities, and in some cases, the near-equivalent of the ENTIRE state they’re built in.

It’s important to note and remember that in 2021, there was a historic freeze event in Texas, where the state let people freeze to death while keeping empty high rises powered when the electrical grid failed. That is a precursor of what’s to come, but on a much larger scale.

And of course, environmental racism is involved, as the centers are built without the community’s consent or approval. They’re often built with special subsidies and built in marginalized or impoverished areas. People’s drinking water has become contaminated, and their water pressure has dropped, and they’re dealing with power outages as everything is prioritized for the data center, all while their electricity bills increase as the centers get subsidized. This resource usage is especially harmful when we’re in a climate catastrophe. 

I don’t even have the capacity right now to deep dive into the horrendous effects of AI on our cognitive abilities, or that people are developing “AI psychosis,” as people use AI as a therapist or even a romantic partner. And these LLMs are telling people they’re God, and helping them kill themselves – including teens.

All this is happening so that corporations wanting to save money can replace people with AI, and so that the government can use it for mass surveillance tech on American citizens. They’re blaming immigrants for stealing jobs, yet they are literally destroying jobs. Coupled with the increasing criminalization of homelessness and the rising unemployment and housing costs, it begs the question of what will happen when no one has a job and can’t afford housing? Given that the news out of Utah today is that they’ve just approved building a 1,300-person capacity labor camp for homeless people, I think the endgame is pretty fucking obvious.

And all the AI impacts sit on top of the general knowledge that oil/gas companies, agribusiness, the military, and other industries are directly contributing to and exacerbating the climate crisis for profit, and making our planet completely unlivable. That is mass, global political violence being conducted at the hands of a few wealthy, powerful individuals against the rest of humanity. These technofascists literally don’t think humanity is worth saving. And researchers are sounding the alarm on how AI could potentially cause our very extinction.

[Listen to Bo Burnham’s ‘That Funny Feeling‘]

Most Recent Incidents of Political Violence

The previous two sections *BARELY* cover the extensive history and foundation of violence within this country. Honestly, just getting to this point of the article has been difficult for me to write, because I just kept remembering all of the terribly violent things I’ve learned from studying history or have witnessed in my short life. The urge to list every single thing started to make finishing this feel impossible, especially for this part, when violent things just keep happening. So the fact that I even got to this next, main focus of the entire article is a small miracle at this point. It’s taken more than a month so far. I “finished” this article last night (10/28), and then while prepping to publish it, like five more horrors emerged like a god damn hydra. I write about one, and two more pop up. By the time you read this, what fresh horrors will have happened?

I feel like I’ve lived years or decades, even, in just the past month, let alone this far into 2025, which has felt like a lifetime. So much has happened, I can’t even remember it all. So the fact that the notes in this section have all happened in just the last month or so is jarring. The fact that Charlie Kirk’s shooting happened almost two months ago feels insane to me. The first week following his death alone could fill a book highlighting political violence. 

Right After the Shooting

Threats Made to Various Communities

In the days following the shooting, violence, hate, and fear hit a fever pitch in America. Hell, the day of Kirk’s death saw a mass shooting at a high school that was largely ignored because the news was more concerned with Kirk’s shooting. Immediately after his death and before any knowledge of the shooter or the motive was known, everyone that Trump and Republicans hate were targeted. Trans folk, leftists, Democrats, the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, and the “woke” were somehow all collectively responsible for this. Even Black people and unhoused folks were targeted in the fallout of the shooting. 

Several Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) received violent threats and had to lock down out of caution. Seemingly unrelated, violent rhetoric spilled over into a media environment now much more comfortable and emboldened to spread hate and disinformation. 

This led to Fox News Host Brian Kilmeade feeling comfortable saying live on-air that mentally ill homeless people should be executed by lethal injection. In response to co-host Lawrence Jones suggesting that those who didn’t accept services offered to them should be jailed, Kilmeade replied ‘Or involuntary lethal injection, or something. Just kill ‘em.’

He wasn’t fired for saying that, and only had to issue an apology.

The overall conversation was initially related to a discussion about the recent stabbing and death of a Ukrainian woman in North Carolina. In a senseless act of violence, she was murdered on a train by a homeless man who reportedly had schizophrenia. Instead of placing blame on the individual himself, or even law enforcement, who should’ve kept a man with multiple arrests for violent crimes locked up, conservatives targeted mental illness and homeless people at large. 

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that they’d place blame on entire groups of people rather than blame the systems in place that allow this to happen at all. They’d never consider the possibility of a health care system or other social safety nets that could’ve intervened long before he became a violent person as a result of his mental illness or led to this tragedy. But I digress.

Acts of Violence in Response to Increasingly Violent Rhetoric

Days later, two men in Mississippi were found lynched. One, Cory Zukatis, was a homeless man; the other, Trey Reed, a young Black man, was found hanging from a tree on his college campus, reportedly having been beaten prior and with evidence of broken bones. Despite the condition they found his body in, the police claimed no foul play and ruled it a suicide, much to the outrage and understandable disbelief of the family and others following the situation. Former NFL player Colin Kaepernick has apparently reached out to Reed’s family and offered to pay for an independent autopsy. The timing of everything in the wake of Kirk’s death strongly pointed to Black people being scapegoated and violently targeted by white supremacists, taking their anger at Kirk’s death out on them. 

Moreover, as evidence of their unleashed pent-up rage against anyone undesirable, it appears that, as a result of Kilmeade’s comment, which itself was a result of the increasingly violent rhetoric conservatives are comfortable pushing after Kirk’s death, more violence against the unhoused occurred. Days after the shooting, TWO separate mass shootings at homeless encampments in Minneapolis happened. To add insult to literal injury, the mayor reportedly had the encampments swept, instead of providing much-needed resources to the victims and survivors of the attacks. 

Even more so, the violence continued, as people who spoke out about Kirk, criticized him, or celebrated his death were targeted with doxxing, job loss, and death threats. In one instance, a 17-year-old man stalked and murdered two teenage girls for “talking shit” about Kirk. It seems that criticizing the man who espoused “free speech” gets you on a list these days. Or worse. 

A Call for Violence at a Funeral

We also saw a ramping up of violent rhetoric at Kirk’s “memorial service”, where his now-widowed wife, Trump, and all of Trump’s administration used the event as a rallying cry for the right in a gross show of gleeful excitement over their hate of everyone they don’t like. What I saw wasn’t a funeral or memorial. It was a massive grift mixed with being a literal Nazi rally. 

They sold merch at the event. Erika Kirk walked out on stage to pyrotechnic sparklers. Trump spoke about how Kirk said to love your enemies, and followed up by saying he doesn’t; he hates his opponents and doesn’t want the best for them. Stephen Miller essentially plagiarized a Joseph Goebbels speech. None of Kirk’s family, aside from Erika, apparently spoke at the event. And when she did speak, it was to speak of a rage that was “awoken” in the aftermath of Kirk’s shooting, and that the rest of us aren’t prepared for what’s coming as they enact their revenge on their perceived enemies. This appears to be targeting a majority of America, given the groups they’ve targeted after Kirk’s death. Even after it appears that the shooter was someone more or less on their own side. 

They turned Kirk into a martyr and are using his death as a justification to ramp up their fascist takeover of America. And now they’ve essentially declared war on the rest of the country. 

Violent Rhetoric Regarding International Affairs

Threats to Bomb the UN

The whole situation has continued to overflow into conservative media’s rhetoric when it comes to global affairs, as was seen when the UN held its assembly a month ago. After the fiasco with the escalator and the teleprompter malfunction when Trump was at the assembly, Fox News host Jesse Watters had a delightful idea on how to respond to the incidents, despite them allegedly being caused by Trump’s own team. 

On live television, Watters said, “What we need to do is either leave the U.N. or we need to bomb it,” Watters said. “Maybe gas it … we need to destroy it.” 

This rabid desire to destroy and kill, even over something as utterly mundane as an escalator shutting down or a teleprompter not working, should cause massive alarm. Yet, we’ve become so desensitized to all this violence, it barely registered. I’d like to believe that not too long ago, a news host saying “let’s blow up the UN” would be met with swift and immediate condemnation and consequences for that person. Watters still has his job and doesn’t appear to have had any real consequence for those comments aside from a private apology to the UN. The bar is in hell. 

After what happened in the wake of Kilmead’s comment, with homeless people being directly targeted and attacked as a result, I feared (and still fear) that Watter’s comments will dog whistle someone into taking the idea and running with it. 

Is it any surprise, though, that the powers that be are comfortable with such a display of unethical behaviour and a call for violence against the UN? I say that because the UN announced (finally) on September 16 that Israel was, in fact, carrying out a genocide of Gaza. The tide has begun to turn when it comes to where people in power stand on this. And I imagine that scares the shit out of all these people who’ve relied on the world believing their propaganda and ignoring the plight of the Palestinian people for the last 76 years. 

The Recent Events from Gaza

[Listen to Macklemore’s ‘Hind’s Hall 2‘]

As further evidence of recent political violence, in the note of the genocide, there were the recent attacks on the most recent Freedom Flotilla at the beginning of October. That flotilla was bound for Gaza with food and humanitarian aid for the people in Gaza, who Israel has starved and cut off from the world. After getting within miles of the Gaza Strip, the flotilla was intercepted in international waters, and almost 500 activists from about 50 countries were stopped by Israel. That was even after Israeli drones dropped explosives on some of the ships to deter the fleet from progressing closer. When that didn’t work, Israel illegally stopped and boarded the fleet, arrested the activists, sent them to Israeli military prisons, and tortured them. 

Among the activists arrested was Greta Thunberg, a young climate activist who in recent years has really taken up the mantle of advocating for humanitarian causes as well as calling out capitalism and colonization as direct causes of the climate crisis. This was the second flotilla she was a part of. The first time, she and other activists were detained and deported shortly after. This time, she and the other activists were reportedly subjected to torture by Israeli soldiers. Activists who were eventually released corroborated Greta’s report that she was beaten, dragged down the hall by her hair, and forced to her knees to kiss the Israeli flag. 

Despite this treatment, upon her release, Thunberg said that while she hopes that world leaders and governments will step up to the plate and finally take real action to stop the genocide, as is their responsibility, should another flotilla have to set sail again, it would. And she would be on it. 

A Further Note About Greta and the Fight to Free Palestine 

While speaking about the treatment of herself and her fellow activists, people in the crowd called them heroes. Greta responded with humility and said that “No, we are not heroes. We are doing the bare minimum.” 

That comment hit me like a ton of bricks. She’s absolutely correct. In an abstract concept, the bare minimum is absolutely basic human decency and a strong desire to help those in need, and the willingness to do what is right, even if it’s scary or dangerous. In the literal concept, she sets the bar right where it should be – that direct action to stop a genocide IS the bare fucking minimum. So much more must be done by us all. 

And in the grander scheme of things, as many have said the past couple of years now: What we excuse them doing over there, will come home to roost with us here. If we look away from what they’re doing to the Palestinian people, they will eventually turn on us and use the same tactics, weapons, and violence against us here.

And, guess what? They already have. From training police and military with the IDF to AI surveillance technology being tested out in Gaza and bringing it home with funding directly by organizations like Palantir and Oracle, we’re seeing this concept played out right in front of us. 

Oh, and Israel broke yet another ceasefire/peace deal after their own demolition crew set off an unexploded munition. They claimed it was a Hamas strike. That said, they were already breaking the ceasefire from day one, so this ended up being just a massive escalation and an excuse to call it off entirely while blaming Hamas and continuing their demolition of Gaza. Remember, Trump and Netanyahu want to turn it into a Riviera-style resort. All on the graves of dead Palestinians, particularly, dead children. 

Attacking Boats in International Waters and Starting International Conflicts

Since September 2, the U.S. has now conducted (as of this writing) TEN extrajudicial bombings of boats in sovereign and international waters. Starting with a small boat off the coast of Venezuela, the administration made unsubstantiated claims that this vessel was a drug-smuggling boat headed for America and that there were Tren de Aragua members and terrorists aboard. They bombed the boat and killed all 11 people aboard, all without any evidence, charges, or trials. Venezuelan officials have denied these claims of illegal activity.

Moreover, the boat itself was not a vessel designed to make the trip all the way to America in the first place. I also want to clarify here that, even if there were drugs or cartel members aboard the boat, America has no jurisdiction in carrying out a strike on it. If it were what they claimed it was, they would have to submit evidence to a court to bring charges against the accused. And, in blowing up the boat, they destroyed any supposed evidence and killed anyone who should have otherwise been arrested and charged with a crime instead of executed without any legal proceedings or due process. But again, these are claims made without evidence in the first place, and America is actively killing sovereign citizens of other countries.

It’s important to note that, according to AP News, on October 8, “Senate Republicans voted down legislation that would have required the president to seek authorization from Congress before further military strikes on the cartels. The vote fell mostly along party lines, 48-51, with two Republicans, Paul and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voting in favor and Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voting against.”

Since the first strike, we continued to target other vessels from Venezuela, and now Colombia, in the Atlantic Ocean. The second strike was conducted on a fishing vessel that was under an active distress signal. According to Colombian President Gustavo Petro, “The Colombian boat was adrift and had its distress signal up due to an engine failure. We await explanations from the U.S. government.” He later added on Twitter that “Fisherman Alejandro Carranza had no ties to the drug trade and his daily activity was fishing.”

A sixth strike in the Caribbean left two survivors. According to CBS, “Two men, one from Ecuador and the other from Colombia, survived a U.S. strike on a suspected drug-trafficking submersible vessel in the Caribbean Sea last week and were repatriated. The Ecuadorian man was released after the authorities there found no evidence he committed a crime, Ecuador’s attorney general’s office said. The Colombian citizen was hospitalized, and authorities there said he would be prosecuted.”

The eighth and ninth strikes happened in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The tenth strike happened today, the 24th. There have now been 43 deaths, with more expected to come. 

More International Violence

Since this latest development of targeting boats off the coasts of other countries, Trump also announced he’s approved a “covert” CIA operation and a potential on-the-ground invasion of Venezuela. Might I point out that we are not at war with this country? Or that the president doesn’t hold the power to start a war – that that’s Congress’s job? In response, Trump has said he’s basically not going to ask permission from Congress to do this – he’s just going to tell them.

Per CNN, he stated, “I’m not going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we’re just doing [sic] to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. Okay? We’re going to kill them, you know, they’re going to be like, dead. … “We’re going to tell them what we’re going to do and I think they’ll probably like it, except for the radical left lunatics.”

As of writing this, the news broke that Venezuelan officials apparently stopped a CIA-backed mercenary group planning a false flag attack on the USS Graely to incite a war. If true, we were about to kill our own service members to have an excuse to go to war. I don’t know, but that sounds like treason.

The sick cherry on top is that people are saying we should take Venezuela and make it the 51st state. And, in reconnecting the earlier notion that right-wing media has descended fully into violent rhetoric, Fox News host Sean Hannity recently shared a lovely idea floated by South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham. He reportedly suggested that the U.S. make Venezuela the 51st state of America. (We won’t even give Puerto Rico state status.) 

This move, if explored, would essentially involve occupying and overthrowing the current government of Venezuela. In the interview where this was discussed, they spoke fondly of exiled opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, the recent Nobel Peace Prize winner who vocally supported Trump. There is speculation that, should this idea become reality, they would likely instate Machado as the governor since she appears willing to play ball with the U.S.’s interests. 

These are the kinds of things that a “news” host (presumably) would not have dared to utter just a couple of years ago. Now it’s excused as just throwing “ideas” around instead of dangerous, violent rhetoric. But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised when these same people criticized Obama for wearing a tan suit and eating Dijon mustard. Regardless, it all continues to move the goalpost on what they can get away with saying and how much violence they can incite.

All of this is, of course, an escalation as well testing ground for more political violence abroad. Remember, at the beginning of his term, Trump said he wanted Canada as the 51st state and that he wanted to buy Greenland. I fear he’s testing the waters (literally) for an offensive against another country to see how it and the rest of the world respond. If this is allowed to continue unchecked, what is to stop him from targeting closer countries like Canada or Greenland, or literally anywhere else, by trying to attack and take them? How long until we bomb a ship off the coast of Canada or Mexico, or another supposed ally? Everyone said Trump’s wanting Canada or Greenland was just a “joke.” Will we be laughing when it happens because no one stopped this administration from formally expanding its empire?

(Oh, and obligatory mention of the absolute mess that Trump’s tariffs have caused abroad and at home and his absolute wanton, intentional destruction of the economy.)

Back Here at Home

A Domestic Invasion

Circling back to the political violence happening in America, there has been the ever-expanding domestic invasion into US cities by ICE, federal agents, and armed National Guard. Starting in Los Angeles, he’s then had them terrorize Washington, D.C., Chicago, Portland, and now, potentially San Francisco. The common denominator, of course, is that they’re all in “blue” cities and states. Claiming rampant crime and violence, he is trying to justify his federal takeover of these cities, while conveniently ignoring the places in America that actually have high crime rates, which tend to be in red states. Interestingly enough, the National Guard was not sent to Utah after Kirk’s death. (Not that I think any U.S. state should have the National Guard deploy there for this kind of thing.) Yet his thugs are the ones being violent.

In this domestic invasion and occupation of American cities, ICE and federal agents have assaulted people, including children and disabled folks, and have violently arrested and detained American citizens, including children. They even raided an entire Chicago apartment building in the middle of the night, Black Hawk helicopter and all, and zip-tying children, some who were stripped from their beds naked, and throwing people (again, including CITIZENS), into the back of U-HAUL trucks. Recently, they even raided a neighborhood during a Halloween parade, terrorizing families and children, and suffocating them with tear gas. Now, people are terrified of what Halloween will look like with the American Gestapo in the streets.

They’re tear-gassing and shooting rubber bullets at protesters, including pastors in the face. They’ve even assaulted reporters and cops at the demonstrations. Their negligence has also led to kids and teachers at nearby schools getting exposed to tear gas. And of course, they’ve done multiple hit-and-runs on other cars and even protestors or pedestrians, in addition to ripping people out of vehicles. They’ve even shot a woman with live ammunition and caused people’s deaths while fleeing for their lives from ICE. In just the last couple of weeks, ICE threatened to shoot an ambulance driver trying to reach an injured protester. 

All this, and somehow ICE hasn’t been tough enough, as far as Trump is concerned.

Aside from the lack of legal authority to carry out these actions and the lack of providing due process to anyone, incredible amounts of violence, human rights violations, and abuse are happening in cities around the country, and at the detention centers, as mentioned previously.

And to add insult to injury, people are taking advantage of ICE/federal agents being allowed to wear masks to hide their faces, not disclosing their identities, and not presenting warrants and, by impersonating ICE and police to to literally kidnap people or break into their homes.

Moreover, as many have started pointing out, people are going missing after being sent to the detention centers 

People Missing from Detention Centers and Possible Human Experimentation

After Alligator Auschwitz was closed, some of the people held there (some of whom may very well have been American citizens) appear to have gone missing. Records seem to have disappeared, and families have been unable to get in touch with many of their loved ones previously held here. 

This next note is pure speculation that I am sharing from people I’ve seen connecting potential dots. As of this moment, I have been unable to verify the claim below. But I am including it because with everything that has happened, it would not be surprising, especially with my knowledge of history, especially regarding what the Nazis did to people in Germany. 

People have pointed out that a Neuralink facility is located very close to the location where the concentration camp was. And, they claim that at least someone who may have been at the camp who disappeared after it was shut down, supposedly ended up in El Salvador with massive amounts of brain damage. 

Again, it’s a hard claim to verify. That said, it was always assumed that at some point, these fascists were going to start conducting human experiments on people they imprisoned. And I think it is telling in and of itself that it’s believable that it could possibly be happening. Again, it’s not the first time that America has conducted human experiments on unwilling subjects or people imprisoned. And with the violence done by this administration in just the past 10 months, nothing seems off the table anymore.

Perhaps we thought we’d stop it before it came to this possibility. But with how fast they’re moving and not being held to any accountability, I do fear that we’ve already reached the human experimentation stage of all this. Remember that Musk gave a LOT of money to Trump’s election fund. It’s not that far of a reach to consider the possibility that maybe that had some perks included outside of putting him in charge of a government agency to bulldoze things from within like an absolute wrecking ball. It’s hard to find willing participants to agree to chips being implanted into their brains, especially after it came out that some monkeys used in the experiments died from the implants. And yet human trials were somehow approved still.  

Group Chat Links

While the Trump administration decries violent, extremist leftists and “Antifa,” and whines about being called Nazis, two group chats have now been leaked from the Young Republicans group. In those chats, people shared racist comments, praising Hitler, admitted to “having a Nazi streak,” and said they should kill and rape Democrats. Members said they’d all be “cooked” if the messages ever got out.

In response to these vile messages, JD Vance said these were “just kids” and that they were “joking.” Yet people who criticised Charlie Kirk are the violent ones and threats to the country, according to Vance. And aside from that, these were not children. These were mostly men in their 30s, some of whom held positions of leadership, were up for important positions in governmental jobs, or even worked for the Trump administration. One was even an elected official: Samuel Douglass, a state senator from northern Vermont who heads the state’s Young Republicans.

On the heels of this incident, Angelo Elia, the legal correspondent to Ohio State Representative Dave Taylor, was caught in a Zoom meeting with an American flag behind him that had a swastika imposed on it. Taylor called the incident “vandalism” and has cooperated with Capitol police. According to Taylor, “Numerous Republican offices have confirmed that they were targeted by an unidentified group or individual who distributed American flags bearing a similar symbol, which were initially indistinguishable from an ordinary American flag to the naked eye.”

Excusing Far-right Rhetoric

Republicans and others are excusing these instances of dangerous, violent rhetoric and refusing to denounce people making pro-Nazi moves within their party. In turn, all but admitting their party is taken over by literal Nazis. The equivalent of the “Nazi bar” parable that explains why you don’t let anyone into your group or establishment that espouses Nazi ideology or imagery. If you allow one in or otherwise excuse the symbols and rhetoric because they’re “nice,” it paves the way for it to become overrun by Nazis.

‘Tis the paradox of tolerance. Tolerating intolerance breeds more intolerance. It’s why you don’t debate these kinds of people – debating them validates their ideology by giving them a platform to spew their hatred. There should never be any “debate” when it comes to human rights. We’ve known for years that literal neo-Nazis and white supremacists were in positions of power, and that their rhetoric was growing and they were becoming more emboldened. Remember that just under a decade ago, Nazi with tiki torches marched the streets carrying Nazi flags and shouting, “Jews will not replace us.” 

The FBI literally reported in 2006, almost two decades ago, that white supremacists had infiltrated law enforcement. Yet, we did nothing to stop its rise. Now, we’re run by a fully fascist government because people claimed we were overreacting. Because the road to fascism is paved with people saying that kind of thing. That slippery slope sure was slippery, huh? 

A Government Shutdown

Since the beginning of the month, the government has been shut down, leading to thousands of federal employees being furloughed and not paid during this time period, including air traffic controllers and active duty military. (ICE is still getting paid, though.)

The reason the government shutdown occurred is that Republicans in Congress wanted to let the ACA credits expire, which would have led to people having to pay thousands more for health insurance. The Democrats refused to negotiate that. As such, the government was shut down. But more than that, House Speaker Mike Johnson recessed Congress, and there have been little to no pro-forma meetings or negotiations. He’s basically saying that we take health care away from people while giving insurance companies more money, or that the government will remain closed. They’re also trying to retroactively take away back pay from federal workers and the military. In addition, Johnson has unprecedentedly refused to swear in the representative-elect, Adelita Grijalva from Arizona, who just won a special election. The speculation is that because she’d be the last vote needed to release the Epstein files, he won’t swear her in. 

Oh, and the USDA website is blaming immigrants and trans folk for the government shutdown.

We’re now almost four weeks into a historic shutdown, making it the second longest, rivaling the one between December 2018 and January 2019 during Trump’s first term. By the time you read this, it will likely have become the longest shutdown in history.

As the shutdown continues, people are looking at losing SNAP benefits and reliable access to food on November 1st. All before the holidays. My aunt is one of them. Mind you, there is a contingency fund the USDA could use to keep funding SNAP, and what the fund was literally designed for. Trump has refused to let them use it. This means they’re about to willingly systematically STARVE people. STARVE CHILDREN.

Also, while writing this, Democrats tried passing a standalone bill to fund SNAP and WIC, and Republicans blocked it. And by the way, if SNAP benefits expire, it will be the first time in the program’s 60-year history. All this to hold Americans hostage over ACA credits and threaten us into obedience with starvation.

(Reminder that we’ve been saying for two years that whatever atrocities we excuse or ignore in Gaza will make their way back home here. Objectively, it doesn’t seem like we’re far from Trump bombing American cities soon. In fact, as will be touched on in a bit, he already did. And we didn’t even blink an eye.)

It seems the administration is happy to keep the government closed and let people starve and suffer during the holidays. Remember, they’ve been trying to incite violence and riots all year so they can declare Martial Law and nullify our Constitution. But people keep resisting in uniquely peaceful ways and destroying that argument, so starving us might be their new plan to push us to the edge of that.

And there’s speculation that they don’t intend to ever reopen. It has not stopped them or Trump from carrying out his wishes. 

A House Crumbling

Since the shutdown, Trump has started demolition for the construction of his special ballroom he’s building. (It’s giving “Let them eat cake” vibes.) Moreover, on the same day of starting that process, he then decided to go against his assertion that he was superficially renovating the East Wing. Instead, and without warning or conversation with the American people, he decided to completely demolish the East Wing of the White House. 

A piece of history was just destroyed without a single thought. Albeit that piece of history does in part symbolize some of the violence outlined here, it was still OUR house, and they had no right or authority to rip it apart. It was also notably the part of the White House that was designated for the First Lady’s work, as well as the public’s access. Now it’s gone, with no guarantee that anything was preserved, in the blink of an eye. (Except for the dirt Trump had hauled off the site to a nearby golf course.) Nothing has been a more apt metaphor for what this administration is doing than seeing the White House get bulldozed. And it was all on the dime of special mega donors, including Amazon, Apple, Coinbase, Comcast, Lockheed Martin, Google, Palantir, Meta, T-Mobile, HP Inc., and more. (Even the Adelson Family Foundation, who own the Las Vegas Review Journal and advocates for Israel and Zionism).

On top of all that is the news that Trump just gave $40 billion to Argentina, and also made a deal with them to import Argentinian beef. So while we don’t have money for healthcare credits or for paying federal workers and military personnel, we have money to give a foreign country. All while giving a middle finger to domestic cattle ranchers, who, when they asked Trump why he’d do this to them, he responded by calling them ungrateful, saying they should thank him because they’d “be nothing without him.”

Couple all this with the next section, it’s insane how people still think he gives a fuck about Americans or this country and our best interest in the slightest. Or at least they’re happy to be on what they perceive as the “winning” side of things. 

The Administration’s Response to the No King Protests

[Listen to Earth To Eve’s ‘No Kings‘]

On October 18, an estimated eight million people protested around the country to denounce Trump and his takeover of our country. Even people in other countries joined us in solidarity as people collectively rejected the notion of being run by someone who wants total control. 

There was a lot of criticism of the protest, in that the organizers of the demonstrations were requesting people to RSVP to attend the protest, worked with local law enforcement and got permission for the events, and didn’t have outlined demands. And there was criticism that, like after their last protest earlier this summer, there was no clear direction on how to keep the momentum going. Arguably, after the last protest, not much was collectively done in the months following it. People who’d just gotten involved for the first time in their lives were left in limbo without knowing what to do next. 

Though things do feel different this time around, as leaders such as Chicago City Mayor Brandon Johnson called for a general strike, and local community groups came to the demonstrations to connect directly with the community and mobilize people afterwards. I’ve never seen more people talking about general strikes than I have in the past few days. It feels like a real possibility, especially in response to the violence that’s happened in the past 10 months under this administration. 

All that said, Trump and the administration appear not to be taking it very well that so many people protested against him. Leading up to the demonstrations, House Speaker Mike Johnson called the event the “Hate America” rally. Johnson and others also called the people who would be protesting Trump “Antifa”, “pro-Hamas,” and “terrorists.” 

On the day of the protest, in seeming retaliation both at the idea of it, while also taking a literal shot at California, Trump celebrated the Marines’ 250th anniversary by firing a live missile into California. Despite claiming it was “safe,” the missile detonated prematurely, and shrapnel fell upon the I-5 freeway, even landing on JD Vance’s motorcade. And, as I just learned, they weren’t going to shut the freeway down for this. While I despise the man, I must give credit to Governor Gavin Newsom for closing it after Trump made these plans without any discussion with him. So, Trump literally bombed America, and was going to do it while putting people’s lives at risk at the same time.  

On top of that shit show, Trump also appeared to have a meltdown and decided to post AI-generated videos of himself responding to the protests. Specifically, he shared videos showing him in a literal crown, flying a fighter jet, and dropping shit bombs on protestors. Yeah. The president of the United States literally shared imagery of himself shitting on American citizens exercising their right to free speech. While wearing a crown. He is telling us exactly what he thinks of us. 

Again, a moot point, but if any other president had done this, regardless of being a Democrat or a Republican, they would have been impeached immediately or forced to resign, or worse. It would be unfathomable for a president to do this. That’s how far we’ve come and what our new hypernormalized world looks like. (Obligatory “none of our history was ever objectively normal” note – this is more a comment on the desensitizing of our country to rampant, increasing, and unending violence.) 

Coming to Terms with the Insurmountable Political Violence

We’re surrounded by constant political violence that’s enmeshed with our entire country, society, history, and way of life. It’s maddening, being under a constant deluge of willful, preventable violence all around us at every level of existence. It’s bleak, as people collectively feel like the future has been stolen from us, with nothing to look forward to and a constant struggle just to get through each day, rather than having an idea of a hopeful, happy future. We could have had such a better, happier, simpler, and healthier life and future. Yet these fascist billionaire assholes have literally stolen it from us to feed their insatiable hunger for money, power, and control. 

So, when people with big platforms espouse this idea of “stopping political violence” without batting an eye at the political violence we face daily and throughout our entire lives, it’s just insulting. Like, where the fuck have you been for the last few decades; where have you been your whole fucking life? Is it just ignorance and willful obliviousness? Is it cognitive dissonance and the discomfort of reality? Or is it the fat paycheck from grifting their lies and deceit, and just another means to their end of accumulating wealth?

The right started crying about “Critical Race Theory” years ago and claimed that history being taught truthfully was giving poor, white children guilt and shame about their country or even themselves. As someone who was taught a lot of history from a young age, not in school but by my mom and the books I read, the shame I have about my country is the fact that we never righted the wrongs of its past. And that we refuse to address it to this day, while still perpetuating continuous violence against everyone and everything that stands in its way. 

How can I be proud of a country that proclaimed itself “free” or “a melting pot” while learning that every step of the way, it’s harmed anyone not in a very distinct classification of “good”? A classification that was based on the color of their skin, whether or not they have a penis, how able-bodied they are, how much money they have, or what religion they follow (or don’t). How can we call ourselves leaders of the “free world” when our country was built on the backs of enslaved people? We don’t even have universal health care, maternity/parental leave, a livable wage, or even vacation days. A “free” country doesn’t have the highest incarceration rate in the world, or the highest infant mortality rate. How can we call ourselves stewards of a land, when we destroy our forests and waters, genocide those who knew them intimately, and kill everything natural in between? How can we claim we’re non-violent as a nation when violence is in our very flesh and blood, and in the blood of the pages we stain our history books with and the bombs we sell around the world? Tell me, what is “great” about any of that, or a country that goes out of its way to harm others, gleefully?

[Listen to Em Beihold’s ‘Numb Little Bug‘]

The Sad Reality of it All

Unfortunately, little surprises me anymore with what’s happening in the world, the country, or the response to everything. After all, these are the tpyes of people who’ve screamed at people to “pull themselves up by the bootstraps” for years; that there’s nothing that can be done about school/mass shootings; who refuse accountability and blame every problem on every marginalized group; who’ve excused violence for literally all our history and the escalating far-right extremism growing over recent years; that this is a war not a genocide; and all the other bullshit these people say to deflect from reality and stay in their cognitive dissonance. And while some openly speak about eliminating their neighbors, the rest excuse the rabid rhetoric of the rest of their party, or even the other party in some cases. Both parties are complicit in incredible violence, albeit in different yet just as violent ways. 

I desperately hope to live to see the day when truth and reality are actually upheld, that we one day get to actually address and fix everything, hold people accountable, and build this country into something truly beautiful. And I hope that real healing can be had in this country. Just imagining the amount of therapy alone that we all will have to go through to process living through all this is wild. As someone burdened with awareness, I personally have no fucking idea how I haven’t crashed the fuck out yet. Perhaps this is my crash out? 

Anyway, the horrors persist, but so do we. And the road may be long, but traveling it together will see us through to the other end of it all. 

Glimmers of Hope

If you’ve followed my writing and poetry over the years, you know that I reserve the end for some hope. And somehow, after all this time, I still cling to it. And, it will have to be pried from my cold, dead hands. That or planted into the ground.

So, as I previously said, while the horrors persist, so too do we. With all the violence happening at the hands of our government and the people who support its fascist takeover, there is still light in the dark, and we must always remind ourselves that it is there, even if we don’t see it. 

And being so thoroughly immersed in the happenings, I would like to share the glimmers of hope I’ve seen. Being burdened with awareness means I also get to witness the good that humanity is truly capable of, even amid the absolute evil that surrounds us. Here are some of the things that have given me faith that even though things are going to get much, MUCH worse, we will get through it. While the horrors will be beyond our comprehension, so too will the people’s response. The ugliness of their violence will be juxtaposed with the beauty of our solidarity.

[Listen to Willowbrook’s ‘The Revolution Drinking Song‘]

The Creative Revolution, or Renaissance, If You Will

As more people speak truth to power and call this fascist regime for what it is and what it’s doing, the power of the people grows alongside it by resisting through mediums such as their writing, art, poetry, music, or even comedy. 

Growth of Independent Journalism

More people are actively discussing and writing about everything happening. They’re documenting history, keeping up with and reporting the unending deluge of news, and breaking down and connecting the dots on everything. Independent journalists are bringing truth and reality to light in a world desperately trying to destroy them. More people are calling bullshit on what’s being said or reported. And the powers that be are struggling to control the narrative now. The propaganda is working overtime now, but it’s more obvious than ever. (At least for those who see it.) 

The Creation of Revolutionary Art

Artists are providing much-needed connection, commentary, and criticism related to everything as well. From cartoons to graffiti, artists of all mediums are turning their despair and rage and everything else they’re feeling into something beautiful, sincere, and thought-provoking.  And, more people all over are rejecting generative AI/AI art, supporting real human artists, and calling out the people and businesses that use gen AI. 

Poetry for the Ages

Poets have more source material than ever to comment on and connect with people in whimsical and haunting ways. Personally, I’ve never been more active as a poet than I have this year, as for me, it was difficult to write much of anything lately, except for poetry, which came naturally. And I’ve come across so many amazing poems and poets, both online and in person, who are making the most amazing works of poetry that encapsulate the times we live in, and what the experience of being alive right now is like. 

The Magic of Music and Movements

With music right now, more than ever, it brings us all together and fills us with an energy that few other things can equal, as it (and by proxy dance) moves us in beautiful, unexpected ways. A comment I saw recently said, “You know things are bad when the music starts getting REALLY good again.” 

Which I wholeheartedly agree with. The folk-style music and revolutionary-feeling songs I’ve come across lately from artists like Mon Rovia, Earth to Eve, Jesse Welles, and more have breathed life into my soul and given me energy for continued resistance. The indie-pop band AJR, which has become my absolute favorite band, has carried me since last summer with their music relating to mental health, identity, and the human experience in general (all while bringing their brotherly love and theater-kid energy to their craft).  

I can feel and hear the very essence of humanity in music, and know that we are intricately connected through it all. The very sound of a violin or horn, or a certain verse being sung, feels healing to me at times; it feels like pure magic. (I’m literally listening to a lo-fi version of Lord of the Rings music as I write this, so I don’t lose what’s left of the shred of sanity I somehow hold). 

Lastly, music reminds me that all this is worth fighting for, and that if such a beautiful thing can exist, that means something. And it reminds me that we are capable of creating beautiful things when we come together, from the concrete sense like instruments and technology, to the abstracts of things like ideas, music, or a compassionate society.   

The Resonance and Ridicule of Comedy

Lastly, I want to more deeply highlight the glimmer of comedy and its special place in resistance. 

Comedy at its core helps to ease the pain of living through the human experience with humor and laughter, and holds a mirror to society. Humanity has always faced violence and whatever horrors of the times, and humor has always been there to get people through it all. Laughing about the bad doesn’t fix the bad, but it does shine a light on things and makes it slightly more bearable because it’s being talked about. Calling out things and criticising what’s happening humorously resonates with people, and reminds them they’re not alone in their madness, while releasing some of the stress of it all. Much like music, it’s carried me these last few years.

Comedy also makes bad news and information more digestible. It’s the commentary and comic relief of life itself, in both its silliness and the seriousness of the inherent subtleties. It’s watching stand-up comedians like Sammy Obeid and Gianmarco Soresi, or comedy show hosts like Jon Stewart and John Oliver, break down the horrors happening in the world, from Portland to Gaza, while making fun of those complicit in the horrors, like Trump or Netanyahu, and calling out the insanity of all their violence and cruelty through the sheer audacity of it. 

The jokes practically write themselves when it comes to this administration, and have comics working overtime. The headlines in the news often sound like an Onion article, with how ridiculous they sound. It doesn’t sound real. At least, you read it and desperately hope it’s satire. Somehow, it feels simultaneously like one of the worst times in history and one of the funniest, as a result of our collective descent into madness. And all we have left is incredibly dark humor.

Comedy, and by proxy satire, also more specifically provides the valuable social service of ridicule by calling out inherently ridiculous things. When done right (punching up instead of punching down), comedy speaks truth to power while laughing directly in its face. One recent example has been South Park, making fun of people in this latest season like Trump, Vance, Kristi Noem, ICE, and even Peter Thiel (the billionaire who owns Palantir, helped hand-pick Vance as Trump’s VP, and won’t shut the fuck up about the anti-Christ). 

Power doesn’t like being called out, let alone ridiculed or made fun of. That’s why the administration pressured ABC to suspend Jimmy Kimmel for his comments after the Charlie Kirk shooting. It’s also why they ended the Stephen Colbert Show for his comments criticising Trump. It follows the same path of all authoritarian regimes, like how Hitler made it illegal to disparage, criticize, or make fun of the Nazi party (or him), essentially going after comedians and journalists alike, and free speech in general. 

Threatening to revoke licenses from networks that platform people who comment negatively on a leader or administration is fascism 101. Which is why it’s so important not to concede or capitulate to power when it demands silence. So, to see comedy alive and well is a reason to have hope and laughter! Don’t ever let them take your joy away, or our laughter. Keep making fun of these fucking weenies. They’re trying to make jokes illegal (which is what they accused the left of doing), and they’re failing miserably. And I think that’s something worth celebrating.

People Standing Up to ICE and the Administration

[Listen to the songs ‘This Wish (Reprise)‘ and ‘Knowing What I Know Now‘ from the movie ‘Wish’ (in the context of the vibes, not the movie)]

While it’s been terrifying to see our own government invade our country and destroy it from within, it’s inspiring to see how people have responded. From day one of the administration, people have resisted, and the number of people resisting has only increased exponentially.

People around the country have come out in droves to protect their neighbors. They’ve chased off ICE agents from their targets, followed their vehicles and let their community know of their presence, have confronted these goons while arresting people, documented ICE’s crimes, and more. They’ve even found ingenious ways to alert others about ICE’s presence, from community group chats warning of sightings to working out special whistled codes that alert people of ICE in the area and marking map apps with “unplowed road” warnings in areas where ICE has been spotted. 

In the courts, Trump keeps hitting barriers, especially in cases where his own previously appointed judges have ruled against him on numerous constitutional violations and otherwise illegal actions by him and his administration. He’s lost the narrative on a number of things, and his approval rating continues to drop. According to The Economist, as of October 25, “The president’s net approval rating is -17%, down 0.5 points since last week.” This includes 39% who approve, 56% who disapprove, 5% unsure.” By comparison, the 28th, it was “-18%, down 1.3 points since last week. 39% approve, 57% disapprove, 5% not sure.” 

People across most of the political spectrum in America are against or starting to turn on Trump, including some of his followers. Though that’s to be taken with a grain of salt. Some only changed their mind or learned anything because they were personally affected by his tariffs or policies, and just because they regretted their vote for Trump doesn’t mean they’re suddenly Democrats.

Others, however, have seen the error of their ways and are actually attempting to make up for the harm they were complicit in bringing about by voting for the man who blatantly platformed harming people. These seem to be few and far between, but the fact that it’s happened at all deserves to be a glimmer of hope. Even if for their own self-interests, any opposition to the regime has a part to play in the grand scheme of things. (Ex. looking at the likes of Marjory Taylor Greene, who adamantly stood with the Epstein victims to release the files and even called out our country’s relationship with Israel – though that’s most likely because she’s unapologetically antisemitic.)

Suffice to say, while history seems to be repeating itself, people are actively raising the alarm and refusing to be silent about what is happening. People are finding their voices and realizing their power, and they’re coming together to resist and push back. We aren’t going down without a fight. And that right there is what the real American spirit is about. That we can be proud of.

Frogs (and Friends) Unite! 

As an extension worthy of its own “glimmer”, the Frogs of Portland (and the other inflatable animals and characters) have brought me immense joy and hope. With what started out as one guy, Seth Todd, protesting ICE’s inhumane treatment of people while in an inflatable frog costume, and saying “[People] should be treated like a human being because that’s what they are.” After being face-to-face with ICE and federal agents and even air humping them, it quickly became a sensation that led to more people showing up as frogs and other delightful creatures. A fund, called “Operation Inflation,” was even set up to get more costumes and hand them out to people at the protests to wear. 

The trend even extended into the No Kings Protest as people dressed up in inflatable costumes throughout the country, and also used the upcoming Halloween holiday as an excuse to dress up and have fun while resisting the ridiculousness of this administration. People in Portland and around the country danced, sang, played music, and peacefully exercised their First Amendment rights while being absolutely and delightfully whimsical. It’s stuff like this that makes me feel like being “silly little guys” is going to be what gets us through all this. 

It also serves the purpose of presenting the juxtaposition of both reality and the ridiculousness of everything happening. For the juxtaposition of reality, people dressing up in silly costumes and dancing and singing outside ICE detention centers directly contradicts the administration’s accusation that these cities are “war zones” full of rampant violence and that “riots” are happening. People like JD Vance or Stephen Miller will be on Fox News talking about how violent these protests are and other straight lies about what’s happening, and have that overlaid on videos and photos of people dressed as frogs and unicorns. 

Speaker Mike Johnson came off like he was scared of the Naked Bike Riders of Portland, who rode butt naked in the rain during an emergency protest ride passing the detention center, calling it “threatening.” Again, hard to claim places like Portland are a war zone over a video of fully-naked people happily riding their bikes with animal costumes dancing in the background.

And it serves as a juxtaposition of the spectrum of ridiculousness, from the whimsical silliness of people protesting in frog costumes to the outright insane amounts of cruelty and violence being carried out by the administration and this country at large. We’re seeing people peacefully protest, and the government responded by doubling down on crushing our necks with its boot as it chooses violence. Our country is showing its true face and soul to the world, on both sides. 

And truly, at its heart, this new method of resistance presents a juxtaposition of humanity. This was witnessed with the man first showing up as a frog in Portland. At that first protest, an ICE agent was recorded setting off a tear gas canister directly into the vent of the man’s suit, causing the gas to fill the enclosed space. I will let you sit with that visual for a moment.

Luckily, the man was all right and was back to protesting after receiving medical care, this time with more frogs, as people were pissed the fuck off at this vile, unconstitutional treatment by our government. This is a testament to the resiliency of people, especially when they discover the power they hold individually and collectively.  

Whenever our individual moments come, and the opportunity to resist arises, I hope that we all have the strength, conviction, and courage to do whatever we must do in that moment to resist. When ICE or the National Guard makes their way to your community (which they’ve said all 50 states will see by April), or starts putting the unhoused in labor camps (and they will sooner or later), remember to be brave, and remember that whimsy is always an option. 

[Listen to Bob Dylan’s ‘The Times They Are A-Changin‘]

Pretty Little Glimmers

Lastly, I want to touch on the tiny, individual glimmers of light and hope that exist to remind us that good things are possible. These are the moments of feeling safe, where our nervous system can just breathe if only for a moment, and where there is still joy to be had. And those little moments of joy are what will get us through these dark, dangerous, and frightening times. Here are some of the glimmers I’ve noticed from my own recent observations and personal experiences.

[Listen to R. Carlos Nakai’s ‘Song for the Morning Star‘]

From sitting in my garden:

• The soft scent of rain on the breeze after an afternoon thunderstorm, with grumbles of thunder in the distance. 
• The warmth of gentle sunlight in the fresh, cool morning air and the sound of birds singing “good morning” to each other. 
• Delicious, fresh-brewed coffee with wispy tendrils of steam floating off of it as it sits on the little table next to me.
• The interchanging light and shade on my book’s pages as the sun disappears and reappears from behind the clouds as I sit under my tree. (Bonus glimmer for it being ‘Gathering Moss’ by Robin Wall Kimmerer.)
• The female hummingbird is sitting in the tree watching a male hummingbird sing and swoop as he courts her in a beautiful dance before they fly off together. 
• The soft touch of soil and sweet aroma of fresh flowers planted with rosemary and mint. 
• The feel of almost ripe pomegranates, all shiny and red. 

(To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.)

From being at home:

• The touch of warm, soft blankets fresh from the dryer, smelling of light lavender. 
• A cozy dog curled up, napping peacefully on the bed in a pile of blankets, fur fluttering in the fan’s breeze.
• The moments of quiet to sit and read or draw or write, and use my brain for something imaginative and expressive. 
• The taste of warm tea, and eating a small piece of dark chocolate with fresh fruit. 
• Listening to music while deep cleaning the house and dancing.
• Listening to music in general that evokes a passionate and emotional response in me helps me connect with concepts more deeply and fills my soul with love and energy as I hear the sounds of life, resistance, and the human experience. 
• Talking with my mom about her day, a recent movie, or anything really. 
• Hugging my partner tightly when he comes home from work and making dinner together before watching a movie in bed. 

(To enjoy the mundane is to always live in beauty.)

From being out and about:

• Going on a favorite hike, seeing the leaves change color, and getting to smell fresh creosote in the desert or the scent of pine in the mountains. (+ Getting to go to Sequoia for the first time and being amongst the giants.)
• Being able to meet up with friends for coffee to connect and commiserate over things happening in the world, so we don’t completely lose our minds. 
• Meeting people who are grounded in community and involved in things that root them in humanity, and feeling invigorated by the love they generously share with all around them. 
• Going to the pumpkin patch with my beloveds and making beautiful memories.
• Getting to see my favorite band three times this year and being amongst people momentarily forgetting about the horrors of the world as thousands of us sing together.
• Going to the book festival (that happened next to the No King’s Protest) and seeing all the amazing resistance through literature mixed with the families with their protest songs and costumes.
• Seeing people still pursuing their dreams and goals despite the general feeling of uncertainty about the future. 
• Seeing people help complete strangers in such small, but immensely beautiful ways. 
• Talking with random people about the state of the world, and being honest about how we’re doing instead of the general reply of “good, how are you?” Not lying to ourselves has been freeing.

(To know the community is to know love and be loved.)

I could go on and on and on (she says 31 pages into an article). The more I started paying attention to the glimmers of beauty and hope around me, the more I saw that hope and beauty shining through all the darkness surrounding me at all times. It’s these little things of pure joy and goodness that have helped me get through everything thus far. (Hard to think about fascism and collapse while gardening,) The glimmers have helped me process my emotions, work through my anxieties and depression, and not go completely insane in the face of all the violence and cruelty we’re facing. They make everything all the more necessary to fight for. And they are the essence of resistance in a pure form. 

Here’s a quick video from the guys over at We Love You to help settle the nervous system. <3

Finding Your Own Glimmers

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations (and thanks)! You still believe in hope and humanity, or at least are desperately trying to cling to it. Not giving up on hope or humanity this far into the political violence and horrors we face means you’re still alive; you still have your empathy; you’re still human; and you’re still HERE. And that means something. That’s something worth fighting for. 

So whatever happens, keep looking for the glimmers in your life that light up the darkness around you. Find what makes you happy and brings you moments of joy, peace, and safety. And, find moments to ground yourself and rest your nervous system. Whether you recognize it or not, our nervous systems are working at capacity, and it’s affecting us severely. This was always their plan, so we have to take steps to mitigate the harm they’re doing to our collective psyches, energy, cognitive sovereignty, and everything else that makes us human. 

Get in Motion in Your Community

As Mister Rogers once said, sharing a quote from his mom, “In times of crisis, look for the helpers.” So, find the helpers, and then become one yourself. We all have a role to play in what’s happening and whatever comes our way. Here are some easy and not-so-easy ways to help and get involved in supporting your community and resisting the violence happening to it right now. You do not need to do everything. Start with one, and grow from there as you’re able to. Doing something, anything, is better than doing nothing or feeling helpless. Reclaim your hope!

• Donate food or (especially) money to local food banks; they’re going to be hit hard by the loss of SNAP come November 1. Money is best because they can get better deals than you can, and they can buy the things they actually need. (Everyone donates Mac n’ Cheese, but rarely donates milk and butter with it, let alone other fresh ingredients.) 
• Sponsor a family who is on SNAP and ensure they have the food they need to survive. This can be someone you know personally, or someone you connect with on a community board or neighborhood app. 
• Join a food share/mutual aid group that feeds the unhoused in your community and provides resources to them, like clothes, new socks/underwear/bras, hygiene products, tents, etc. 
• If you see ICE or CBP in your community, call them out. Record them. Warn your neighbors. Report the sightings. Don’t turn away. And if a detention center pops up in your area, consider joining a protest outside of the building. 
• Can’t protest or don’t feel safe to? Help make signs for protesters, donate to funds for inflatable costumes at protests, or otherwise donate to groups doing mutual aid work. 
• Document everything you see happening, both online and offline. As the government erases history from its official websites and social media platforms remove entire archives of work, recording and archiving news and commentary is vital. 
• Keep calling, writing, emailing, and even faxing your representatives and senators for everything from the shutdown to the administration’s actions, especially if your legislators are Republicans. Tell them you’re fucking pissed. The more people they see upset at what’s happening, the less they can get away with it. Assuming we have another election, they need to feel like their seat will be challenged if they allow things to continue this way.
• Get involved with your local government. Everyone is focused on the federal stuff right now, but locally is where your biggest impacts are going to be. Go to city council and school board meetings. Show up and make your voice heard. If you have a special election coming up, VOTE, especially for local offices and initiatives/propositions. (Also worth looking at the mayoral race in New York City between Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo, and see how it’s got the Trump administration and billionaires terrified.) 
• Talk to your friends and family about what is happening in the country and your community. There’s so much, it’s easy to miss stuff. Even I struggle to keep up, and I am a fully immersed sponge of a person (don’t worry, I go touch grass often). If I can miss things, you more than likely are too. That said, don’t overwhelm yourself either. If you burn out from the news, you’ll burn out from your community. Pace yourself. Take breaks. Protect your mental health.
• If you have a skill like sewing, hair dressing, etc., or are a lawyer, chef, teacher, etc., consider offering your services to mutual aid groups and community groups to help people in the community, especially those who are impoverished or unhoused. 
• If you garden, consider growing something that you can donate or trade an excess of. And in general, learn to grow your own food to reduce your reliance on grocery stores, especially with the prices increasing (and they will increase more without SNAP). 
• Boycott major corporations, especially the ones that’ve donated to or otherwise supported Trump, the genocide, or other things harming the country and the world.
• Don’t buy things for Christmas. Practice “Presence, not presents” this year. Withhold your money and cherish your time with your family, friends, and neighbors.
• Prepare yourself and others for whatever comes – be it a general strike, economic collapse, or something better or worse. It will do us no good if we’re not ready to survive what we will face in the coming months or years. (Here’s a video breaking down what a general strike will entail and look like so you can prepare.)

[Listen to Muse’s ‘Uprising‘]

Closing Comments and a Final Song Suggestion

The above is but a small list of ways to resist the authoritarianism in our country and help your community. The world is big and scary, and it’s easy to feel small and helpless. That’s why we must “Think globally, act locally.” If you want to start somewhere, check out our brand new Get in Motion Community Resource page and get involved in some local groups! Little ripples make big waves!

In the meantime, it’s time to be prepared to be brave.

That bravery and courage are in all of us, but we have to practice them so we are ready and sure of our convictions when the moment comes for us to resist or protect our neighbors, families, and friends. We are all we have. Fascism will spare no one. And no one is coming to save us.

So we must save ourselves. Together, we can make this country stand for love, liberty, justice, and joy for all.

Thank you for reading my descent into madness. (And for coming to my TED Talk/crash out).

[Listen to AJR’s ‘The Big Goodbye‘ – This song is about closing out/saying goodbye to chapters of our lives, which I relate abstractly to the knowledge that no matter what happens, we (as individuals, a people, and a country/world) will never be the same again.]

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