Observing American politics feels really strange at the moment
Observing American politics feels really strange at the moment
As an outsider (I live in Belgium) it feels very weird and dystopian to see everything happening in American politics with Trump and Musk.
On one side, it's very interesting and almost entertaining; on the other side, it's scary. I can't imagine what it must be like to live in the USA.
Americans, how do you cope? What's your take on the situation?
I smoke a lot of pot. Probably the strangest part is how...I still have to live? I still have to go into work tomorrow, I've still got bills to pay. People just go about their day like nothing is happening. You sit in the office and joke about the ongoing hostile government takeover. Meanwhile, federal employees are getting fucked, trans people are getting erased, they're building fuckin camps down in Guantanamo, people are fuckin starving outside shuttered USAID depots, and I still got work tomorrow. It's like I'm just sitting here waiting for somebody to put a gun in my hands and tell me "the revolution starts now." My local organizations are very focused on making sure people survive right now, which is a very good and noble focus to have, but I haven't really heard of anyone planning something serious to fight back.
I'm from Russia, and I totally get your experience. When the war started, I had to go to the work. There is the whole ass war, the government invades other countries under the most batshit pretense possible, people are being conscripted to go die in a ditch, the future just got canceled, and I need to care about my stupid little job, and stupid little rent, and stupid little groceries.
The only thing that helped me getting by head back in place (slightly) was getting the fuck out of there, but even that helped only a bit.
As a 50something American, it has never been weirder. While I saw this building during most of my life, I didn’t think I would actually live to see Americans voting to get rid of democracy.
But here we are - no longer a functioning democratic republic.
I am trying to ignore it. It’s like all the worst fears I could have coming true. The richest man in the world, a naked fascist and virulent transphobe, is gobbling up all the sensitive data the government has and is feeding it to AI so he can tear down the government and usher in techno-feudalism.
Meanwhile, I still have to go to work and pretend that everything is fine and normal, while the government is trying to define trans people out of existence, help Israel ethnically cleanse Palestine, and threaten every ally we’ve had.
I want to leave, but it’s extraordinarily difficult to uproot your life, and there’s no guarantee that finding a viable way to move elsewhere is going to happen.
So I’m just trying to imagine myself as a tiny individual, trying to hide from the brutality and eke out a good life with my little resources and community, and pray that whatever happens doesn’t happen to me directly.
Maybe I should be out protesting - I feel like I should - but there isn’t a mass movement right now, and there’s no leverage in government to stop them. So things are feeling pretty bleak right now.
but there isn’t a mass movement right now
Lookup the 50501 movement. There were protests across the entire country in every single state yesterday and they are planning future ones too. Many of them were quite large especially considering how short notice they were prepared
Here's one video montage with just handful of some of the protests https://bsky.app/profile/50501movement.bsky.social/post/3lifqkjki2k2o
"a peaceful movement". Ok. Unilaterally disarming seems like a dubious move to me.
I don't think protests where you just stand around and chant are especially effective. Maybe in 1950 when seeing people get firehosed was shocking, but the world is different today. Media is captured by the wealthy and most people don't care.
Maybe I should be out protesting - I feel like I should - but there isn’t a mass movement right now, and there’s no leverage in government to stop them. So things are feeling pretty bleak right now.
Nothing is going to change in a big hurry, no matter what happens, but the efforts great and small that we all make are cumulative over time, so that when observable change happens, it'll be solid.
You're enough. What you can do is enough, even if it's as simple as making some space in your home to be able to accomodate someone who needs safety on short notice, getting involved in mutual aid, printing flyers, being observant and identifying small opportunities to make fascists think twice. Even just getting into a resistance mindset is a positive move.
Everything has risk, of course, and the level of risk you are prepared to take on, for you, is up to you. A teeny tiny bit of risk today might just make you feel that you can take on a bit more tomorrow, and a bit more the day after that.
and there’s no leverage in government to stop them.
Do you think government will do anything at all in the coming weeks, months, years? I can't wrap my head around the situation at all. How does anyone with a slight bit of brains and a small grasp of history just accept this? It's so dystopian...
There have been people fighting back. They just get 10x less media coverage than all the horrible things going on. This is part of what people mean when they say the revolution will not be televised
Many of their actions have been blocked in many of the federal courts and they are largely complying with those orders
There are many federal workers refusing to go along with all kinds of their action that slow them down
Many blue states and localities have already passed laws/ordinances to stop cooperating with the federal government ICE raid making them more difficult to carry out
Most people are living paycheck to paycheck, and the US is so big that getting from bumfuck, Arizona to DC is a monumental task. Hell, even getting from bumfuck, NY to Albany NY is impossible for some. It's all on purpose. Most Americans are barely getting by.
To add to that, half the country wants this
Over 50% of our population reads below a 6th year education and our school system has been steadily defunded and dumbed down over the past 40 years. A large portion of Americans only have 2 brain cells and they're both busy fighting for 3rd place. Ignorance and a lack of critical thinking skills is what has gotten us into this situation and I don't know if we have what it takes to get us out of it.
The people that want to rule in the coming dictatorship run the government currently, the GOP holds every lever of power including the federal "police" force and has installed loyal "yes men." It's the whole reason you read about "buyouts" to let people resign, it's so they can all be replaced with people who have to undergo a new loyalty test they're implementing which apparently ask questions along the lines of "how do you feel the January 6th protestors were treated?" Looking for an answer of "unfairly" or something.
There is no force within the government that isn't under their control. There are individual judges scattered around the country that can try to stop the worst offences with sternly written letters, but with no method of enforcement, the paper just gets torn and ignored.
The people with "brains" are diseased with the greed virus and have looked to history, seeing that Germany was stopped by force and knowing there is no force that could stop us. There is no stopping fascism when it goes full tilt here in America, there is no outside force that has the capacity to free us. It will somehow have to happen from within and I honestly don't see that happening with all the new methods of technology driven monitoring and successful propaganda outlets.
It is bleak. Trust me, I've been fighting this for ten years. Can't say it feels good to have been right all along about what Trump is capable of.
But still, fight back, even in small ways. They want us to be too afraid to try anything, that's been the entire point.
For anyone feeling small: Take a stand, join us. Masters are merely men.
Is there a website with this info somewhere? Mostly curious. Still going to share the image.
The no spending/not buying from amazon is hilarious. Not only will people in general not do it, even if they see a dip in profits, they'll have record profits the next day.
I don’t understand why people just can’t stop buying shit form Amazon. At some point a few years back, I had had enough. I stopped buying stuff from Amazon. I…didn’t think it was that hard. If anything, I’ll browse Amazon for something vague I’m looking for, find it, search the company names and buy it direct.
As a Canadian, I and many others have been boycotting Amazon for over a month.
I wonder if ya'll read this before you post. Its a display of unity. Its a warning.
I'm trans. I don't have the luxury of ignoring it.
I have been fighting against this bullshit for ten years. I even got arrested protesting Trump's bullshit once. Met some fantastic socialists and amarchists in jail.
Yeah, entertaining, isn't it? Seeing that every warning bell that was rung was ignored? That every day I waved a sign or shoved a cop, was just a day delaying this from happening?
Has it all been futile? Have I wasted ten years fighting the same fascists my grandfather fought in WW2?
The scariest thing is that the only reason we haven't done the violent uprising thing yet is because the only way it would succeed is if the military instigated the countercoup. We won't survive under American martial law, and they're bullbaiting us into giving them an exuse to kill and imprison us all. We must fight back, but we can't fight back.
This is hell. This is hell. Never, ever, ever let it happen in Belgium. For the love of any god that gives enough of a fuck to listen, care about politics. Care about politics before they decide they don't care about you.
Because in ten years, those of us who aren't in prison camps are going to be starving and freezing. Take a good look. Take a good, long look, and be smart enough to get up and do something dangerous and crazy once in a while when it matters most.
This is hell. This is hell. Never, ever, ever let it happen in Belgium. For the love of any god that gives enough of a fuck to listen, care about politics. Care about politics before they decide they don’t care about you.
I try! It's a hard battle, sometimes, because even here right-wing nutjobs are getting more and more normalised. We can only hope that they see the situation in the US and realise they don't want this kind of shitshow. On the other hand... even here some of those nutjobs are celebrating Donny and Elmo. That's very scary.
Has it all been futile? Have I wasted ten years fighting the same fascists my grandfather fought in WW2?
It's not! I really believe it hasn't been futile! Keep on fighting! I know it's very demanding, but never underestimate the power of the masses. I support you, even if I can only raise my voice online. And here in Belgium, I'm fighting for sure to evade the same situation.
I’m trans too. I’m still closeted, though, and now I’m getting scared that I’ll never be able to transition. They’re restricting gender-affirming care for minors right now, but it feels like a small step for them to ban it for adults too. And I have ADHD and take antidepressants- I’m starting to be genuinely worried that they might put me in a camp. What do we do? Where can we go that is safe?
With his talk of invading Canada, I'm wondering how much of that is to drill oil in the Arctic, and how much of it is to hunt down the people who ran away from him.
Has it all been futile? Have I wasted ten years fighting the same fascists my grandfather fought in WW2?
You didn't waste your time any more than he wasted his. Plenty of people died fighting without seeing victory on the horizon. If WW2 had ended differently, it still wouldn't have been a waste of time fighting Nazis. You can't always win, but you can always fight.
Martial law would be devastating but no matter how well-funded they are, the American defense industry is bloated, mismanaged, and full of flawed humans. Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, even Ukraine - all prove that defeat is far from guaranteed against what appears to be an unstoppable force.
But to tell the truth, I am struggling to figure out how to fight at this stage. Messaging, communication, organization - these appear sparse and unreliable right now, drowned out in the sea of disinformation. What will bring us together? Do we need heros to rally around? Martyrs to avenge? Slogans to shout? Organizations to unite? Platforms to coordinate? All of the above?
A military force with a moral conscience would be nice. A revolution in America will be impossible without defectors, and a LOT of them.
We're dealing with the most heavily armed police force in the world, the most well-funded secret police in the world, the most insanely overarmed military on the planet, and a citizen's army of heavily armed zealots.
We have teenagers with winter boots whistling Hunger Games.
I've heard people say they've never felt more american than they ever have since the last month. It's a different perspective for everyone. But it does concern me that some people base their entire perspectives on the first ten words they hear, and refuse to think further
It's not a good time, let me tell ya.
Oh I can imagine... I really don't know what I would do if I was in the same situation
American here. Terrified about what's happening and even more terrified how unaware people like my parents are. The department of education going away is, to my mom, something that won't happen but if it does, they had good intentions. This is from someone who has always claimed "both sides are bad". But suddenly now the most nakedly evil people in the history of the country have taken over, it's out of our hands and just stop worrying.
Someone told me recently "People don't want to think. They want to be ruled."
AI can help them with that
Same. My parents tell me to just stop reading the news so I'll feel better. I can't look away from the train crash that is our country, how can you guys?
Exactly. I would feel this way, even if I didn't know people affected and I may be as well, but I do and I might be, so that doesn't help. I was told I stress too much. Fucking absurd dismissive bullshit. This is how we got here. People thinking the American way is to only give a damn about yourself and the people right in front of (assuming your uninformed political beliefs don't conflict with caring about those people). Maybe it is the American way but it didn't have to be.
Americans, how do you cope? What’s your take on the situation?
Trying not to think about it. It very well may lead to my death, but so does every avenue radical enough to avert it by my personal intervention.
I think the hardest part considering it is how okay people are with everything that's going on. Despite the high levels of copium from liberals and leftists about how there's TOTALLY a grassroots movement ready to rise up, the fact is... there isn't. The protests are smaller this time 'round than they were last time. Public opinion is more in favor of Trump than it was at the start of his last administration.
Many of us noted that this country isn't as left as many of the "Trump will make the moderates SEE that fascism is BAD!" types wanted to believe it was. We were ignored.
People live in a bubble, where what they want to believe is true, and goddamn reality.
Anyway. I'm fucked, and just trying to stay alive until I can't avoid dusting off my old suicide plans.
The way I see it, even if our lives are basically worthless anyway, we ought to at least give them in glorious revolution. Better to die on your feet for what you believe in surrounded by comrades than by your own hand alone. I'll go on living until that happens, and you should try to survive too.
All of the media about this stuff has felt increasingly like misleading propaganda to me since 2016, and getting an accurate, unbiased, big picture understanding of what is happening seems somewhere between a lot of work and actually impossible with so many people trying so hard to manipulate you. It is like reality television. I try to tune it out as I can but enough gets through.
I'm glad everyone is finally coming around to hating Twitter though.
It’s difficult. You’ve got people that vote red or blue for no other reason than that’s what they’re told to do by peers/family. They don’t look at the possible outcomes, just that “they win”. And wanting to help people is almost looked down upon in many facets of society.
America has a critical thinking problem, coupled with an extreme lack of genuine empathy. Don’t let the “nice American” bit fool you if you ever travel here. The nice small talk is a front, and you can very easily find yourself in an uncomfortable situation. Health care is a great example. Or anything LGBTQ+.
Honestly, it’s a culture thing. It’s toxic as hell and hard to navigate.
I visited New York years ago (2014, I think), but that's nothing like other regions in the States, I imagine. Where I live (Bruges), I sometimes stumble upon American tourists in bars, but due to the nature of the places I visit they're often more open minded.
They don’t look at the possible outcomes, just that “they win”
I think this way of thinking is a big problem in a democratic system. When you vote, you don't "win" or "lose". But maybe I compare this too much to the Belgian system. There's so many political parties to choose from and they have to form a coalition to represent the majority.
Out of curiosity: how do you see the next 4 years evolving? And do you have hope for the next elections?
I might just be a cynic. But I think we just had our last free election. If I know one thing about Trump, I know that he is an honest liar. He will breathe untruths like CO2, but he always makes his intentions nakedly clear. He's planning on invading countries. He's already parceling out Ukraine like the West did to the Middle East during the Sykes-Picot treaty.
Give a damn about keeping the EU democratic and healthy. You guys might be our last hope when he finally slams the jail cell door and crowns himself king.
I’ve had this discussion with a friend of mine at length. He’s an “independent” and votes such. I think an approach to the 2 party system without ranked choice will always be a losing battle. We agree the system is broken, but have vastly different opinions on how we can approach it.
Trying to explain that systemic issues that go back generations cannot be solved overnight. Even 20 years would not be enough to see a large enough change in society, and how others are perceived. Think about it, our civil rights movement was only 60 years ago where people of color and whites were segregated and explicitly did not have equal rights.
Personally, and I hope I’m wrong, I see the next 4 years being a downward spiral. Those who voted for Trump are so closed minded, they grasp for anything that remotely supports their position.
It’s impossible to help those who do not want to be helped.
If we don't stop the rich from using the American military to take over the world then pretty soon the rich will come for your country too.
Would this be the military that could only reach a standstill in Korea? That lost in Vietnam? That lost in Afghanistan? That ran away scared from Mogadishu? That "won" in Iraq by generating the world's largest collection of terrorists until the blowback lost you two large towers and a smaller one?
That military?
I think you'll find, as a regular civilian or a VIP in the target country, that you're making a distinction without a difference.
Ask Saddam Hussein's opinion on the US's loss in Iraq or the hundreds of thousands of dead civilians how they feel about winning in Afghanistan.
The one that is only currently setup to drone strike any human on earth yes that one.
I've got some bad news for you...
I'm not really sure I am coping. I've been seeing a decline for a long long time, but even though I knew it was possible I really didn't think we'd reach the point were we're pretty much going to be living under a dictatorship.
I knew that capitalist interests would continue to decrease everyone's standard of living, and I figured there would be some kind of reaction, I just never in a million years thought it would be the dumbfuck duo of Trump and Musk that actually harnessed the reaction in such a destructive manner.
It's been incredibly depressing to see the right get what they want time and time again making things worse for everyone and yet the propaganda machine somehow manages to create more right wingers.
But then again "the house always wins" and billionaires are the house so it shouldn't be a surprise. :/
My reaction is to get to work. The far-right is trying to take over much of the world, and it's going to take many of us to push it back. Don't wait for someone else to step up - everyone else is waiting too. Be the person who steps up. The people have power if we use it
There's groups like Indivisible doing directed pressure of those in government that need more people to contact their house representatives and senators. With that pressure for instance, they've started to get Democrats to use procedural tools to slow down senate confirmation of Trump's picks
There's movements like the 50501 protests in many cities in all 50 states yesterday, on Feb 5th, and there will be future protests
For anyone else reading this, don't think this can't happen wherever you are in the world, join the fight back locally. People in the US thought it couldn't happen to them too until it did. People in the UK thought Brexit wouldn't happen until it did. It can happen to you. Take what's happened in the US as a warning for you too to get involved in the push back
People have just started to realize after 50 years that both major parties, and our system undermines the formation of a third major party, stand with the robber barons against needs of the people while stoking social division to protect the robber barons from reprisal.
Kinda demoralizing. Especially considering all the "Herp derp Freedom" kool-aid poured down our throats from birth.
Can I offer you our political system with 6 governments?
If you're offering me a closet to live in over there where people act like a society then yes, yes, a thousand times yes.
This is exploitation, antisocial hell. We aren't a society so much as a gaggle of rugged individuals at each other's throats for ever dwindling oligarch scraps. There is no hope here, no community, only tribal division and hatred stoked 24/7 by for profit media, with intentionally poor public education that doesn't teach basic critical thinking or reasoning that leaves most unable to separate the propaganda from reality.
I used to be really frustrated with 2 party systems. Now I realize that each party is a coalition of special interest groups that only care about their narrow special interests and otherwise vote the party line on everything else.
Multi-party PR systems like Israel are basically the same thing, except the coalitions are explicit instead of informal. You vote for your favourite special interest party and they join a coalition to represent that interest but otherwise vote the “party line” on everything else.
I’ve encouraged my teenage children to seek employment outside of the States after college, and even attend college abroad if possible. Since the news information ecosystem is compromised, I have no hope for a future USA that is free and equitable.
Americans, how do you cope?
Alcohol
What's your take on the situation?
I'm leaving the country. My friends are stockpiling and getting sterilized.
Move to Belgium! We have lots of quality beers and delicious fries!
lol, Donald Trump ripping apart the American democratic underpinnings of Check and Balances, and driving a wedge into post war Western alliance so deep Europe can no longer rely on the US to fire at Russia ever again, coupled with threatened worldwide reciprocal tariffs which are sure to plunge the country and rest of the world into the greatest global economic depression (coincidentally) since the 1930's. Nope, not much going on over here, how the weather where you are?
It was freezing this morning. Right now the sun is shining which results in mild temperatures. Going to be a lot warmer later this week!
Isn't it ironic that Trumpyboy is ruining a lot of things righ-wing patriots care about and they themselves don't see the problem?
Republicans would light their own children on fire, if it meant that "mud people" (look it up), MIGHT have it worse than they do. This is the philosophy that has driven the American Republican Party since the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and ensuing Southern Strategy. Christofacsist racism, misogyny, and homophobia. They could not argue the merits of their political aims on their face and win for 60 years, so their hatred drove them to support simply burning it all down, and that's exactly what Donald Trump is doing now.
Surviving.
Right now, it feels like all I can do. Keep going, keep reaching out to other members of the local LGBT community to help be a wall to lean on, keep telling my partners that I love them. Keep sheltering whatever tiny spark is left.
And making sure that spark is fed, in whatever little ways I can. Letting myself be more open, letting my colors flash a bit more. Trying to smile in the face of hate.
As to my take on the situation, it's fucked. There's no nuance to it. We're watching our siblings and ourselves being actively erased, waking up wondering when our actual existence will be a crime. Even if we make it through, things somehow get better, there's so much trust that has been completely broken.
Our government has pissed on lines that, even with a total change of leadership, will take time to repair. Both within the country and on a global scale. Many people within the country have done the same, there will be no taking back things said and done while they thought it was "okay". There's no forgetting the hate that has been exposed.
I agree with your assessment: I find it both fascinating (who would have thought each new thing was actually possible, what insane bad idea will be launched today?) and horrifying.
Still working out the coping aspect, as what’s going on directly affects me and some of my family, but mostly switch between paying very close attention and trying to game out what the agenda is, and then taking a day to not pay attention and live in calm denial.
Shit’s pretty fucked right now, and yeah, it’s scary, distressing, and absolutely disturbing.
I live in a small, rural ex-urb. Plenty of people here definitely voted for this. I don’t interact with my neighbors and keep to myself. I live below my means and am financially sound, at least.
I can’t do much about any of this. I donate to my local food bank monthly because hungry people are angry people, and folks gotta eat, regardless is political leanings. And I donate to Wikipedia because I value information.
None of this helps with the insanity and the politics, but hopefully it helps somebody.
and folks gotta eat, regardless is political leanings
Nah. Fuck the filthy fascist supporting magats. They deserve to starve for their extreme stupidity.
From above:
A large portion of Americans only have 2 brain cells and they’re both busy fighting for 3rd place.
And here we have a case in point: an American who can't read history.
So… we war with each other forever and that’s the end of the country? Just head straight for civil war? Your attitude does nothing to make things better. I understand the anger, it’s righteous indignation because this shit is just absolutely wrong and completely fucked up. But the problem is class warfare and kleptocracy, and you’re feeding right into it, picking the wrong enemy.
Powerless people in bad situations make bad choices. They’re idiots, sure, but many voted on kitchen table issues, which Trump addressed, while Harris did not. Granted, once elected Trump promptly fucked off on that because he’s a grifter and that’s what he does.
I can’t stand the Trump cult, and yeah people are idiots for falling for it again. As another idiot leader once said, “fool me once, sh…uh, c-can’t fool me again.” But as I noted previously, hungry, desperate people aren’t rational actors.
I don’t pick who my donations go to, I just make sure I donate so food is available to those who need it.
I agree somewhat with your last 2 sentences, but their kids don't deserve knowing hunger. Hungry kids don't / can't pay attention in school. And I know the future of our education system is circling the drain, but kids don't deserve to be condemned for what their parents have done.
Every once in a while a group of mean spirited bullies would get elected to student government. But that didn’t really matter and was only a few months. This is real life and will have consequences for generations. Regan and W bush were both known for defUnding things like science, health, and education. We’re still dealing with ramifications from those defundings today. What we’re currently dealing with wants to make that look like nothing. I have my gripes with Clinton. But he managed to get the budget balanced without this kind of drama and malace. I refused to get sucked into watching this. Watching it only feeds it. I am trying to check on the situation periodically and complain to my representatives at intervals. It isn’t enough. But I’m doing what I can
And doing what you can is still better than doing nothing!
how do you cope?
Panic attacks, mostly
oh, valid... but stay strong! we'll all get through it one way or another
As Americans, we're really good at airing out our political dirty laundry on the world stage, as well as taking every item in the news to its most extreme conclusion (especially in online circles that are too homogeneous in their political leanings).
I just try to cut through all the noise and keep perspective.
This is the most positive take I've read on this topic so far. I hope it's true and it's all more circus than it seems, but it's scary tho
Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of decisions being made that I strongly disapprove of, but I just want to caution that we have a tendency to overwhelm online conversations and completely lose perspective.
Real life in the US is very different than it is presented online.
We live in a blue bubble so I'm just ignoring everything the next four years and saving money.
My biggest dream is my state along with the other western states just decides to leave the US and we create our own thing.
The notion that this will all blow over in four years is absurd. The damage that has already been done will take years to repair. I understand wanting to put your head in the sand, but if you do that during a rising tide, you’re gonna drown.
Has it ever not been weird, or are people just too young to remember. Like people lost their shit when obama wore a tan suit, or like dijon mustard. He got a nobel peace price while drone striking schools and being in 2 active wars. Bush was maybe a bit smarter than trump, but he was still an idiot son of an asshole. And just overall buffoon, that gor elected twice. I was too young to really care for clinton, but we all know how this went down. But every president you read up is either just a straight up criminal, or a spiteful asshole or both. And the ones who weren't comically evil just got fucked.
A lot of it depends on if your independently housed. If so you worry about losing it, if not you worry about ever having it.
I don’t have a take on the situation; I’m just making sure I stay informed about the news through reputable sources and nonprofit news networks local to me and other places. And I try to combat the situation by boycotting mega corporations every single day by voting with my wallet. By prioritizing mom and pop shops and Etsy stores, we can hurt Donald Trump and his greedy pals.
I absorb what i can through the media. I accept that i cant trust most information that reaches me. I keep track of what is right to me compared to what the news shows regardless if the event happened or was accurately portrayed. I try to understand how others feel about stuff too without being a bummer.
I have faith in myself to act according to my beliefs if/when the opportunity presents itself.
This is my disinformation cope. It takes the edge off of alarming news and keeps me engaged.
Still figuring out that coping part. Right now I have a daily anxiety spike early in the morning that wakes me up, so not going great currently.
I hope you guys can hold it together across the pond. I've heard that some of the same powers are turning their attention and money towards you guys now (or at least in Germany).
Yeah, Germany has its elections on Sunday. I'm anxiously awaiting those results, tbf. You'd think Germans know how well it went the last time the extreme right-wingers were in control, but you never know...
In Belgium, we had elections for the federal government in June and regional (Flanders, for me) government in October. Although the right wing gained a lot of votes, we were able to form a government without the extreme right. At the moment we still have a "cordon sanitaire", look it up, I think it's quite nice. The extreme right-wing party says it's undemocratic, of course, but in this case I don't mind. The formation took 236 days, tho, but that's another story. We still hold the world record for longest period without a government (592 days in 2018-202, breaking our own record of 541 days in 2010-2011)
Hearing about your election makes me realize how little I know about how your system works. The idea you form a new government every time is very wild sounding to me, but also the horribly entrenched two parties we have is an absolute disaster at this point and I'd be curious to see basically anything else at this point!
Well a lot of it is just rage bait. Our journalists aren't very honest.
For example, USAID was giving money to ridiculous things, like a musical in Ireland. There's no reason for it. You start digging into it, we were paying billions of dollars to even more nonsense.
Yet people are defending it because some people are now getting fired over it.
It's simply just stupid tribal fighting
USAID is a know corruption hot spot.
It was jobs for people of certain backgrpund, contracts awarded to certain companies, then there is classic over charging...
To be fiat this normal in all government contracting but US AID is specifically bad at it.
Most of the money is so that some people can have good jobs and live their best lives.