Discussion USA election - a note from staff

[opheliaoveragain]

Thank you to our incredible mods for officially addressing this, inside the US or not. I have the utmost respect for you lot.

 

[ArteriesBindEveryon]

I respectfully disagree . I see it as He's got two years to totally screw everything up for so many people. And he's going to have a lot of power because he has the Senate controlled by Republicans, possibly the house since we don't know yet, and the Supreme Court filled with judges that he appointed. I am no political expert by any means, but as far as I know, Roe versus Wade being overturned was solely the result of the Supreme Court and had nothing to do with Congress.It is going to take years and years to not have a Republican majority there since they stick around forever. Yes, Congress can overturn it, but who's to say there won't be another case that the Supreme Court will hear in the future that could overturn that. And this is assuming that the Democrats actually get some power in two years. He obviously has more supporters than many of us even realized. Who's to say they won't Stop supporting him.
A lot can happen in two years. Even more in four. But I think the lasting damage and amount of suffering for individuals can last way longer.
Believe me, I wish I could be as optimistic as you.

Your feelings and worries are totally valid. To be honest, I'm coping pretty hard right now. What I'm counting on is that after Trump is gone (assuming he doesn't try for a third term) Republicans will return to sanity and stop acting like a cult. Yes it'll still be majority republican, but maybe the republicans won't be as crazy once Trump is gone. No matter what though, the damage will last over a decade. And there's no guarantees that things will improve. But we won't know for sure what will happen until time moves forward.

Just remember, things that took years, decades, even centuries to fight for, build, create, revise, etc, they can be destroyed in an instant.

And just because something was created once, doesn't mean it can ever be created again. Trans kids who are bullied -simply because their bullies have been empowered by orange man and his cronies- and kill themselves as a result will be lost forever. Now throw in trans-kids who are actively denied hormone blockers by their policies. Or young transmen who are raped by empowered assailants and get pregnant with no access the abortion.

I'm going to stop by agreeing that yes -eventually and at the macro-level- much of the damage he and his cronies will cause is likely to be undone, but just logically following the probable impacts of actions that they have repeatedly threatened to do they will absolutely continue to harm kids -kids who aren't even born yet- for their entire lives, and some of those actions will likely shorten many lives (e.g. banning vaccinations will likely cause deadly outbreaks); so in the short-term and on the individual scale, people have every right to be very concerned, especially if they've already lived with the impacts of his and his cronies' previous time in office.

You are completely right. I was speaking only in long terms because I'm trying to stay optimistic on a website where so many suicidal people gather. I just don't want anyone to CTB due to Trump before his second term even starts. I am deeply concerned for what trans people are about to go through. Some states like California and Minnesota are likely to be more welcoming, but it's completely unacceptable that many human beings will have to move states just to be treated like a normal citizen. I still hold out hope that the future will be bright, but there is no denying what will happen until that future comes. I'm not trying to say that people don't have reason to be worried, I'm just trying to say that there is reason to be hopeful too.