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Top Comments: Degrees of Separation From ::Gestures Around:: Edition [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-03-03
Well, it’s another week here in America. I hope you’re all keeping busy doing what you can, and making time for self-care as well. For me, self-care includes not watching or listening to tomorrow’s shitshow live. There will be transcripts and analysis up over my eyeballs and while I was a faithful listener of all SOTU speeches ever since I became old enough to vote, I only made it through one of his before tapping out forevermore on hearing him speak. 609 days until Election Day 2026. Yes, I have a site bookmarked to keep track so I don’t have to type “days until election day 2026” into my browser regularly.
A friend asked a question on their social media this weekend that caught my eye…
How many degrees of separation between you and Trump's cruelty and chaos?
When I first read the question, my instinctive response was “aren’t we all zero degrees away?!” And yes, we’re all feeling threatened. But what my friend was asking, or at least what people seemed to have heard based on responses, was a little different. It felt more like personally are you living through an effect of this Regime now, is a friend or family member, a neighbor, are you concerned that If Something Else Happens you will be, etc.
Some of the responses were wrenching: Those in same-sex marriages. Those working for the federal government (In one case, someone whose same-sex spouse is a federal employee in their probationary period, a twofer). Folks either currently/previously in or with children in the military. And the list went on...
I thought it was an excellent topic to bring here! Hopefully folks know the concept of Six Degrees of Separation, the idea that any two people on the planet can be connected with a chain of five people between them. Or, as the game goes, how many actors are between Actor #1 and Kevin Bacon? Spoiler I am terrible at deciding degrees of separation, and this question isn’t easy… but how close are you to the horrific awfulness happening now?
Personally
I am not significantly affected as of today (ie, 0 degrees): (1) While I am female, I am long past my childbearing years so the immediate affects of reproductive restrictions are not applicable to me. (2) I am not on Medicare or Medicaid, do not yet receive Social Security, and do not receive safety net benefits like SNAP. (3) I am white, cis and straight-passing in an opposite-gender marriage. (4) I have Type 2 diabetes but do not require insulin, and the medicines I take are available in generics. (5) Our household income is not dependent on the Federal government (although a few years ago, this was not the case). (6) I was born in the United States to US citizens. (7) Mr. Brillig is a cis white straight male US citizen by birth with no major (current) medical conditions. Yes, we are EXTREMELY lucky.
However, that could change in an instant. If the Regime guts the ACA, we both have medical histories that could preclude our being covered. We are in our early 60s and aging; Medicare is approaching.
Let’s go out a degree or two…
My MIL and FIL are in their late 80s and on Medicare (thankfully NOT an advantage plan!). Any cuts to Medicare will impact them greatly.
My eldest and their partner work in education. Eldest is a school counselor, and most of what school counselors do likely will be frowned upon by the Regime. Their school has a large Haitian population, and TPS for Haitian migrants has been rolled back. They discuss what they will do if ICE shows up. School funding cuts could eliminate their positions. In addition, eldest has a chronic autoimmune condition that requires expensive medications.
My youngest is a naturalized US citizen, a Black young adult studying at a very liberal private college. The atmosphere at colleges and universities right now is frightening, with Trump and his Republican toadies trying to gut everything good about higher education if you’re not a straight white Christian male. If he ever ends up in an ICE raid, his name is not a standard American European one, and we’re talking with him about how to respond and what paper documents to have in his wallet.
One of my grad school colleagues has been active since the start of the war in Ukraine with a group of families whose children have autism. Last year she was able to travel to meet them in person. through her I am two degrees of separation from the carnage there.
I could go on, but I wanted to share a response I saw when another friend shared this question. Essentially, someone said they didn’t know because they don’t think about these things (or something, I can’t remember where I saw it so this is from memory). Someone else pointed out the absolute privilege of not having even to consider the question. I know I am privileged in my current circumstances, but am ACUTELY aware of the fact many people are severely affected, or will be.
So how about you? How would you describe your degrees of separation from the chaos and cruelty? Please share with us in the comments, after perusing tonight’s Tops!
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