We've seen tough times before.

[surfered]

My generation’s parents suffered the Great Depression as youngsters, then as young adults, Pearl Harbor and WWII, when the length of military service was “for the duration,” meaning until the end of the war, however it turned out.

During the Cold War my generation practiced getting under our elementary school desks in case of a nuclear attack. We survived only to witness the assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963 and Martin Luther King, and Robert F Kennedy in 1968.

We watched the fighting on TV after intervening in a civil war in Vietnam, suffering 58,000 US military deaths and 300,000 wounded. Worst of all for the survivors, we realized we had been lied to. The Gulf of Tonkin incident was the first lie and the pretext for troops on the ground. Then President Johnson went on TV to tell us if “we quit Vietnam, tomorrow we’ll be fighting in Hawaii and next week we’ll have to fight in San Francisco.” Saigon fell in 1975 and none of that happened. It’s a cold feeling to know your government will lie about matters of your life or death.

They lied to us again in Iraq, where we unleashed a civil war, when we were told “we don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.” A lot of us had seen this movie before and spoke out, loudly and often, but to no avail.

Then the 1986 real estate crash, the 2008 housing bubble, climate change, Trump’s election, climate change, Covid, climate change, Trump’s re-election and climate change.

By luck, we’re still here. Times can look very dark. I’ve been scared, too, but life goes on. What else can you do, but to put one foot in front of the other?

I’m scared now, but don’t give up because that’s a dead end. There’s no guarantee, but it’s worked out so far and there’s another election in just two years.

Peace

[BeerBarrelPolka]

1. History repeats itself

Except this time, Adolph is our President come Jan 20.

[wnylib]

8. There are many parallels today to 1930s Germany

But I also see a comparison to the downfall of a much older, ancient republic. After Julius Caesar and his successors, Rome ceased to be a republic and spiraled downward into rule by decadent, insane emperors and public death games for entertainment.

[ForgedCrank]

2. I really do

wish more people could see it this way.
Life deals out it's blows as time passes, but we always find our way through. This time will be no different, but we are going to have to work on change. Change in culture, and I mean everyone, not just one side or the other. Some need more work than others of course, but somehow we have to get past the my way or the highway mentality. America is a spectrum of people and ideals, and we need to be Ok with that and learn to once again work within that realm. I'm just not sure how we get back to that again.
Thanks for staying positive, we need more of that.

[Silent Type]

3. Excellent points. I had my period where I thought we were done when Kerry lost.

I detested George war bush and was really emotionally invested in Kerry. Finally got over the loss.

trump 1 was bad, but we made it. We’ll make this and you are right mid-terms are just around the corner AND WE HAVE A NEW ISSUE— Healthcare reform.

[Ilikepurple]

4. Thanks, I too am trying to fight through the despair and grab a few tendrils of hope

I think the situation today is unique when compared to those events, but it is important to establish some strategy moving forward. I hope somebody has a good idea of what that strategy should be.

[UTUSN]

5. Raygun 8 yrs, W.Shrub 8 - now this - (but am old, didn't want to end this way) - EDIT how forget NIXON?!

[barbtries]

6. i comfort myself with these facts.

My ex-MIL survived the Holocaust. But the cost was great, almost unimaginable. I lost my daughter to an impaired driver. There was also a lot of shit that went on between now and then. 9/11 less than 2 months after Bekah died; an illegal and disastrous war in Iraq. List goes on and on.

There's always something somewhere and it is almost universally lamentable because it doesn't have to be this way. Mother Nature can do terrible things, but the most terrible things that happen are caused by humans. At some point, Earth will naturally cease to be a place that supports life. I hate that humans will probably kill off the planet before it happens naturally. They'll kill off the human race with greed.

Today my country is being lost to a fascist authoritarian. I never knew how many Americans just whistle past the graveyard and never give a thought to these things. They don't care. This right wing propaganda-inspired mass sociopathy is not an accident.

Republicans won. They may be worse at winning than they are at losing. I am not comforted knowing there's another election in 2 years; I think there's an excellent chance that the outcome will be pre-ordained as it is in Russia. Nonetheless I will continue to persist, resist, and be as active as I can between now and my last breath. I won't change for these fascist fucks. I will be part of the Opposition. I owe this much to the generations who will be living in the aftermath of the election for years, decades, who knows how long.

[surfered]

7. Good for you!

[Easterncedar]

9. I am saving this for the next time I feel hopeless.

It’s a good antidote. Well written. Thank you.

[electric_blue68]

10. Well, there's different kinds of changes, and "tough times"......

Slashing SS, Medicare, and Medicaid which pays for my rent, and meals in a good assisted living facility might, probably put me in a homeless shelter. Wtf?!

I'm as a Dem/Liberal also concerned about other many vunerable, and targeted groups by MAGATS, and many Repuglicans, and not just my own possible future, very scary situation.

[JoseBalow]

11. Might they not round up people into camps?

Because that shit ain't gonna fly with me, at all. I know exactly where that will lead.

[usonian]

12. History "rhymes", they say, instead of repeating.

I just reposted my "Braver than all hell" people who fought for justice.
https://democraticunderground.com/100219813493

That's the good news.

Now the bad news.

I just found this tonight, in my web searching.



But he can also be defeated, peacefully I might add.
Patterns? Sure.
But they all fall down. We have to limit the damage.