(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Why I'm Forced to Chose [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-05-25
Since the election of Trump the country has become a scary place, as has the world. The depth of his outright destruction to America and the world is terrifying. In just a few short months he’s attacked the most basic promises of our Constitution, including due process, judicial independence and free speech.
He jails and deports people without any care for their most basic rights, and then convinces ICE and local police to become his “brown shirts” to carry out unconstitutional, illegal acts designed to terrorize society into compliance. This is unprecedented in the history of the country as it attacks and undermines our most cherished Constitutional rights.
He’s attacked our allies and turned America into an international pariah. In doing so he's driven the world to recoil and protest against his authoritarianism, which is already showing up in plummeting tourism and international boycotts of America. Just look at how quickly he’s turned Canada, arguably our strongest historical ally, against us with his insane talk of annexing them.
He’s thrown domestic and international markets into disarray, and decimated trade relationships, agreements and treaties. These delicate understandings took decades of careful diplomacy to create, all of which are at risk of being permanently obliterated. We’re now facing unprecedented product shortages as international trade plummets and supply chains are destroyed. These highly complex supply chains may take decades to rebuild domestically, assuming that’s even possible. His justification is that he thinks it will bring jobs back to America. But who, exactly, will fill these jobs? After all, the country is nearly at full employment and he’s determined to deport immigrants. So how will America develop the labor pool needed to fill these jobs and keep the economy humming?
The answer is we won’t. Instead, we’ll face permanent supply shortages, persistent inflation as demand outstrips supply, and constant economic hardship. We could soon find ourselves living with the kind of economic scarcity not seen since Soviet Russia. The result will be wide-scale unemployment across society as the Trump Tariff Tax causes businesses to implement massive layoffs, while product scarcity drives up prices right when people are least able to absorb them. Under these economic strains, the recession we’re already heading for might devolve into a worldwide depression.
He’s dismantled many government agencies and services that were created to help average people, upending the lives of thousands of government workers in the process. Not only is this resulting in reduced services for things we pay taxes for, as well as causing immeasurable economic hardship for these displaced government workers, but these workers are now vulnerable to being recruited by foreign adversaries. This puts all of us in extreme danger. Yet no appreciable savings will be realized. In fact, due to his irresponsible slashing he’s actually creating more problems, and more costs, than existed before.
And his cabinet is no better. Pete Hegseth is a known drunk who’s already caused multiple security breaches at the DOD that under any other Administration would have resulted in immediate action. His extreme incompetency is undermining our most cherished security systems, and putting every American at unnecessary risk of attacks both domestic and foreign.
RFK is spreading misinformation and conspiratorial nonsense that will result in the unnecessary deaths of potentially thousands, possibly millions, of Americans. Kash Patel is reforming the FBI to become an illegal secret police in order to sow fear & terror throughout society. And Pam Biondi, the number one justice person in America, is actively promoting lawlessness and disorder, and the unconstitutional acts of President Trump and his lackeys. Our cherished judicial system is the outcome of centuries of legal precedent, and to blindly undermine it in this manner will be very, very bad…for everybody (including his MAGA supporters!).
All this, and much more, has been foisted upon Americans over the space of barely four months, merely 1/12 the length of his term in office. Needless to say, the horrors that await us are terrifying. Yet this is merely the opening act.
This was weighing heavily upon me when I received a text from my MAGA sister who continues to believe that Trumpism is somehow “good for the country” because it will stamp out the evil Wokness and DEI, and what we’re experiencing is a “painful correction.” Seriously? In what actual reality are any of the unconstitutional, illegal acts of this madman going to “make America great.” They will not. Not now. Not ever. There is no “short-term pain for long-term gain” around the corner. No great society will result from stripping us of our most basic Constitutional rights. Instead, what will transpire is long-term pain leading to a dystopian, authoritarian society that feels more like North Korea than America.
This is the world that my sister, including millions of other Americans, have convinced themselves will be “good for the country.” It will not. Not ever. In fact, if Trumpism persists we’ll see an economic meltdown, a catastrophe, of Depression Era proportions. Already countless farms and ranches are hurtling toward bankruptcy as low-cost immigrant labor is leaving in droves due to Trump’s scare tactics, and there are way too few domestic workers willing to fill their jobs. Reports are coming in that vast numbers of immigrant workers are simply not showing up for their jobs, which will soon decimate supply lines for food and other essential industries.
Further exacerbating this grim reality are Trump’s tariffs and the fact that authoritarian regimes are really bad for business. This is because tariffs are in fact a tax on society, either due to sharply higher prices as tariffs are ultimately paid by consumers, or persistent shortages as it becomes uneconomic for international firms to supply our needs. Small business failures will soon explode across society as it becomes progressively more difficult for them to survive. This is especially terrifying as small businesses are a major source of new jobs.
Yet my sister, and millions of others like her, continue to sustain these delusional beliefs, even though they have no meaningful connection to reality. Because reality, as in actual reality as opposed to the fake reality of Trumpism, doesn’t care what any of us believe. This is because beliefs consist of those things we wish to be true, whether or not they actually are. Occasionally beliefs may comport with reality, but that’s rarely the case. Most of the time, the beliefs people embrace have little to no connection to fact-based reality. But as these unfounded beliefs represent what they want, they continue to delude themselves into thinking that they can replace reality with what they want to believe, even when there’s no meaningful connection between them.
This cult of intentional ignorance has pushed society to the edge of permanently destroying pretty much everything we hold most dear. Our rights. Our freedoms. Our liberties. If we continue on this path of insanity our most basic individual rights will be denied us, maybe forever. All this should be terrifying to anybody who hasn’t fallen victim to the false promises of Trumpism. Maybe society will wake up in time, but as Trump’s Administration is just getting started the future looks very grim indeed.
But what’s really galling is that these delusional voters actually believe they’re on the right side of reality. They believe they represent the “real” Americans and patriots who are protecting American values. What a load of BS! These people don’t represent the best of society, but the worst. The absolute worst. By attacking such core Constitutional rights as due process and equality under the law they are in fact the most anti-American, unpatriotic enemies of America that have ever held power. Yet they actually think they’re the Good Guys! Ha. What a joke! These people are in fact the greatest threat to both America and the future of humanity. Because in they’re on the wrong side of everything. The wrong side of America. The wrong side of history. And most certainly, the wrong side of reality.
But it even gets more nauseating than that. Because these very same people also consider themselves Christians. What a farce! The Christian religion is so-named because it’s foundationally based on its namesake Jesus Christ. And the core precepts and doctrine of this faith are contained in only four books of the Bible; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, also known as the Gospels. It is within these four books that the direct words of Jesus Christ were passed down to us. The core themes of his ministry included such admonitions as Compassion, Charity, Humility, and a calling to provide aid and comfort to the “least of these. Consider Matthew 25:40 where Jesus says: "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." In this passage, Jesus makes it abundantly clear that his priority are those people with the largest burdens, and who face the most difficult challenges. Or how about Matthew 23:12 where Jesus states: "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” This passage clearly reveals that Jesus was no fan of the arrogant, and no one is more arrogant than Trump and his Administration. And in Luke 18:14, Jesus explains how true righteousness comes not from boasting or outward display, but from humility and self-abasement.
And yet Trump, Trumpism and the MAGA movement directly refute these powerful ideas that Jesus’ preached, and which form the basis of Christian belief. These MAGA people, and the dangerous ideas they espouse, are, according to the Bible, anti-Christian. That’s right. Those who assert their Christian beliefs the loudest these days are, in the eyes of the biblical Jesus Christ, actually the least Christian of all. They are, by all relevant measures, Anti-Christs, and thus Fake Christians. They pretend to be Christian in order to validate their imagined goodness, while holding beliefs that spit in the face of everything Jesus’ held most dear as recorded in the Bible. And this is the book they claim is the basis of their beliefs!
But the most hurtful of all is that they simply don’t care how their hypocritical beliefs will hurt millions, even billions, of people. How they can have such a selfish, callous disregard for humanity, while at the same time pretending to uphold American and Christian values, is beyond me. The idea that anything socially positive and nurturing can come out of this is not only crazy, it’s terrifying!
Like most people, I grew up in an America where our Constitution acknowledged that everybody could claim certain basic rights, including the right to speak freely, the right to due process, and the knowledge that nobody was above the law. Admittedly, on many occasions America has fallen short of delivering on these ideals. And yet I always knew there would be checks and balances that allowed even the most vulnerable among us to assert their rights against a Government that may not always treat us fairly. Although I might not like seeing Nazi’s being able to protest and spread their hateful rhetoric, or people burning flags in protest, I understand that upholding these rights is essential to the preservation of our constitutional right to free speech and association. But now Trumpism and MAGAs want to remove these guardrails and allow our Government to become an instrument of social oppression, not only to “the least of these,” but ultimately to every American, regardless of their beliefs and social standing.
So now I no longer feel that the America I was born into is the same country. In fact, it feels like I’ve been transported to Russia, or North Korea, or any country that arbitrarily restricts the behaviors of its citizens in pursuit of political power. Because just as Winston Churchill proclaimed after WW2 that an “iron curtain” had descended across Soviet Russia, a similar Iron Curtain is enveloping America and forcing its citizens toward a distinctly un-American reality.
But Trump doesn’t care. His Administration doesn’t care. Nor do his lackeys and the throngs of MAGAs who still carry the torch for this maniac. Because of these people, and their callous disregard for society’s rights and freedoms, I, and millions of other people like me, feel the weight of this Iron Curtain. For although my rights, as a privileged white male, are probably pretty secure as long as I remain silent, I feel for “least of these” who’s rights, and even very existence, are under attack by the same government that was supposed to protect them. This is not the America I was born into. It is not the America I’ve called home for over six decades. For as someone who cares deeply about the most vulnerable among us, even though I do not share their burden, I see an America that is slipping away to the point it’s barely recognizable. And I see vast multitudes of MAGAs and Trumupers who are perfectly okay with this.
Oh, and you know who else is perfectly okay with the unfolding social calamity enveloping us? My sister. That’s right. My own sister has become so hypnotized by Trumpism that she’s entirely okay that my rights, and the rights of millions of Americans, are being violently attacked. Because in just a few short months my life experience has been turned upside down. Every day I’m stressed and fearful, not only for my life, but also the lives of others whose rights are more tenuous than mine. It’s now a constant struggle just to make it through another day as I see my world crumble around me. But my sister is okay with that. Every night is yet another struggle to fall asleep as I lie awake for hours stressing about the unfolding tragedy. Then when I finally do get a few brief moments of restless sleep, I soon wake to find that my nightmares are real and the world really is decending into a dystopian chaos where basic, universal human rights will soon be a thing of the past. But apparently my sister is okay with that as well.
This Trump-fueled insecurity gripping the nation, and the world, impacts everyone, myself included. My personal reality may not be threatened anywhere near as much as those who count themselves among “the least of these,” but certainly enough to cause me great concern. And yes, once again my sister is okay with that as well. She’s probably so hypnotized by Trumpism that she can’t see it, but her level of callous disregard for the rest of society is un-american, un-patriotic and un-christian, though I have no doubt that she considers herself to be a standard-bearer for all of them.
So what’s at the heart of these full-scale delusions that have so thoroughly invaded my sister’s consciousness? Well, according to her text it’s her imagined evil of “wokeness and DEI.” In her mind, all Trump’s attacks on society, our Constitution and America, as well as the untold harm to millions of Americans, are all justified because of wokeness. So what exactly is this great social harm of wokeness and DEI?
The word Woke initially referred to the state of being alert and aware of racial prejudice and discrimination. It was used in phrases like "stay woke" to encourage vigilance. Its core meaning recognizes and acknoledges the plight of others. So, the word woke basically means caring, and being woke implies that the person cares about the plight of all people, especially those who are included among “the least of these.” Interestingly, this means that Jesus Chirst was possibly the wokest of us all as he cared deeply about the burdens of the less fortunate. In fact, it was central to the messages he preached. But don’t take my word, just read the Bible.
The thing is that conservatives, who are mostly Trumpists now, really don’t want to care about vulnerable people. Whether they’re poor, minorities, LGTBQ or immigrants, they do everything they can to oppress them. They seem to think that if they can just rid humanity of “the least of these” their world will somehow improve.
But of course they can’t actually take that position. They can’t make their platform be about not caring. That would be un-american and un-christian. No, that wouldn’t be a good look. Instead, they phrase their desire to hate and oppress with an all-encompassing term that sounds better, which is why they chose Woke, or Wokeness. This way they can act anti-christian by pretending that Wokeness (caring) is evil. This feat of mental trickery and faux-victimhood has replaced caring with callousness, and acceptance with exclusion. It has given the Radical Right a pretense to brand all things they don’t like as Woke, while absolving them of their nasty selfishness where they don’t give a damn about anybody but themselves. What they don’t realize, or acknowledge, is that underneath it all they’re still Fake Americans, Fake Patriots and Fake Christians.
DEI initiatives are simply attempts to bring fairness to historically disadvantaged people who need society to acknowledge their circumstances, and give them access to a more level playing field. Such programs are expressions of caring, which is why they represent the priorities of civilized societies.
So, wokeness and DEI are hardly the dangerous threats that the Radical Right seems to think. In fact, they’re just the opposite as there’s no civilized future in disenfranchising many millions of people. For some reason, they consider it a personal affront that they should be expected to care about people, and certainly not “the least of these.” So, no matter how many crosses and flags they drape themselves in to pretend they’re the good guys, the reality is that they’re pushing a radical agenda that makes them the most evil force ever in American politics. One thing is clear, history will not be kind to them.
So where does this leave my sister? Well, she’s clearly chosen the side of pure evil. And she’s chosen to stand against everything that I hold most dear, as do many millions of others. She, and the millions of Trump’s minions who share her brand of evil, have made their beds, so to speak, and now they can sleep in them.
Yet as my sister continues to spread these dangerous, delusional beliefs that cause enormous fear and stress in my life, and does so without any care as to how hurful they are, both to me and the rest of society, she concluded her texts by having the audacity to suggest she should be afforded “love and respect.” And why is this? Because we happen to share some DNA? The problem here is that this is not a simple policy disagreement. Instead, what’s at stake, as President Biden rightly observed, is a battle for the “soul of America.” And so no, I’m not willing to normalize the extreme damage being thrust on America by the misguided delusions of the Trumpists, even those I happen to be related to. Nor should anyone else who wants to see the continuation of a free America.
We’re facing an existential crisis in which we must choose between a free society with constitutionally-protected rights and liberties, or an authoritarian, dystopian future where we’re all forced to live under the constant threat of oppression. Given the severe and permanent implications of this choice, I cannot in good conscience give any Trumpists a “pass” just because I happen to have a familial or personal relationship with them. So, my only option is that I must permanently exclude my sister from my life as I’m unwilling to normalize her dangerous choices. The same goes for any other personal relationships I have, and I strongly encourage others to do the same. It may not be pleasant, but unless society stands up to the Trumpists in this manner, and does so on a friend-by-friend & family-by-family basis, we risk permanently losing the Soul of America. The stakes couldn’t be higher.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/5/25/2324103/-Why-I-m-Forced-to-Chose?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
