Have your friends/families taken the current situation and you seriously?

[BigmanPigman]

Last edited Sun Oct 5, 2025, 02:04 AM - Edit history (1)

I'm asking this since I have been a very vocal anti-tRump American who is very alert, informed and currant. I have ZERO friends and family who are GOP. I have been to over 30 anti-tRump protests. I am LOUD and not afraid to speak up.

Yet, a few people I know have told me to "relax, you're making yourself sick over this. There's nothing you can do at this point. Stop watching the news". I DID NOT watch the "news" for 6 months. I stopped posting on DU for 6 months. And you know what?!?!? EVERYTHING IS WORSE BY FAR!!!!!!!

I am NOT a moron and my brain is still functioning and whether or not I "watch the news" is irrelevant.

Have your friends and families attsepted to placate your very informed thoughts about the tRump agenda with the same BS I have received?!? I am extremely frustrated with those who say "RELAX" and to wait until the midterms.

:banged: :Ger:

[markodochartaigh]

1. I have Asperger's so I have only three real friends.

One has retired back to India and two have retired back to Germany. They are all solidly Democratic, although definitely not as far to the left as am I. They are horrified at what is happening here, although now that the social media of people entering the US is being scrutinized discretion is the better part of valor.

Thankfully we have no Republicans in our family, although one cousin's wife could best be described as a libertarian. I won't go into what the genuinely socialist older members of our family said about her beliefs a half century ago when she and my cousin were married. I have only one niece and one nephew and neither of them are going to have children. My niece married a Muslim guy from Morocco when she was working in France and they are now planning to return permanently. We are all sad, nauseated, disgusted, fearful, etc. of what is happening and what is shortly to come.

When I meet people who say that I pay too much attention to the news or worry too much, I tell them that ignorance and apathy are the Achilles' heels of democracy. One of the main reasons that our country is in the state that it is in is because so many people pay more attention to sports and entertainment than to politics and current events. If you have an electorate that doesn't know and doesn't care it is inevitable that you will get corrupt and vile political leaders who will take advantage of their foolish electorate. And here we are.

[BigmanPigman]

3. "...and here we are"

That is so true... but it's also brutally painful too.

[Skittles]

5. HEAR HEAR

what is that old saying, if you're not angry you're not paying attention? WTF is it with people who care more about SPORTS than DEMOCRACY......it is insane

[Mister Ed]

2. All of my friends and family are as keenly aware of the peril as I am.

That's dozens of people. I don't associate with MAGAs, and all of those dozens with whom I do associate are clear-sighted.

[Cherrycheeks]

4. Exactly!

[blue_jay]

6. I would say some around me have concern but not nearly enough imo.

and some are just plainly on the wrong side of the game or avoiding the game. It's exasperating and mind boggling. Can only pick the battles that are within my ability to make a difference, envisioning one by one more will wake TFU. Pretty sure the youngest generations are utterly clueless about the history of this country, so much to try to teach them.

[DFW]

7. Of my siblings and children.....

That is five couples. Only one out of the five involves a marriage with two partners from the same country. Well, one and a half if you count my daughters as half German and half American. Still, definitely a minority. Two out of three live in the USA, so yes, of course, we keep a close eye on things. My New York based daughter has kept her German nationality current, and though her husband is now a US citizen, their children are dual citizens of the USA and Germany.. They can come live here any time they want. With my brother, it's more complicated, as his wife had to give up her Japanese citizenship for him top keep his job (security clearance issues), so, while she could probably go back to Japan, he would have a hard time following her, and their sons never kept their Japanese nationality current, though their parents got it for them at birth.

On the other hand, so far none of the family, all active Democrats, has been harassed for being so, but that doesn't mean they never will. Except for one of my nephews, currently stationed in the Ukraine, and one daughter, who lives with her family in the Taunus Hills near Frankfurt--and myself, of course--, my siblings and their families are all US-based. EVERYONE keeps active, and everyone keeps their passports current. We have friends in both high and low places, and we forget nothing, so we never relax. In the current situation, relaxing is a luxury we cannot afford. None of us can. It's odd--more of my family is under threat from violence right now than isn't. The ones in the NYC-D.C. areas and my nephew in Kyiv are all in danger of being subjected to government-sponsored violence (USA and Russian). My daughter and I in Germany are in the least danger.

My German-based daughter and I travel a lot, so we are exposed more than the rest, even if it's civilian violence. Just last week in Brussels, in a train station, someone was able to de-activate an escalator I was on while I has half way up. He then raced up to where I was, grabbed my small suitcase, and urged, "let me help you, let me help you!" I held on to it, and yelled, "let go, let go!" This was all in French, of course. It attracted enough attention--there are cops in all major European train stations--that he took off when he realized he wasn't getting my luggage without more of a fight then he was willing to be a part of. In most of western Europe, unarmed theft is not considered a crime by the justice system, so either hold on to your stuff, or kiss it good-bye. In Germany, if someone tries to rob you with a gun, and he's caught, it's an almost automatic five years. If there is no weapon involved, and they catch the thief, he is usually released in five minutes, and told, "bad boy, don't do it again (he will)."

[BigmanPigman]

16. "Not being able to relax"

Last edited Sun Oct 5, 2025, 04:53 PM - Edit history (1)

Sums up how I feel.

[DFW]

20. You would think it might get easier.

But just as peace cannot be defined solely by the absence of war, security is not defined by the mere fact that we could afford dinner and a bed to sleep in tonight. There must be the firm conviction that this will also be true tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. There must also the trust that neither we, nor our neighbors, nor the people they work for, or work for them will be stopped, harassed, carted off and mistreated by armed semi-official paramilitary sadists, with no chance of protest or redress. The fact that there had not yet been a large scale shootout between civilians and Noem’s armed thugs does not mean there never will be. That is not security enjoyed by all, and lacking that, no one can relax.

[BigmanPigman]

21. You're so right about our "sense of security".....

"The fact that there had not yet been a large scale shootout between civilians and Noem’s armed thugs does not mean there never will be. That is not security enjoyed by all, and lacking that, no one can relax".

These days a line from Pink Floyd's The Wall "What Shall We Do Now?" runs through my mind more than it ever has....
"But never relax at all
With our backs to the wall"

[coldtea]

8. At first, No. Now - Everyone's moving abroad

At first everyone I knew including my family was like yours. Stop stressing about it. The boogeyman isn't coming for you. Even if something does happen, it won't be immediate. Etc Etc. They slowly changed their tune and began making backup plans. Those backup plans slowly turned into serious plans. It's at the point where my family has a bugout plan in case we need to flee to the Canadian border within 24 hours without Google Maps. We also have a plan for if Mr. T. cuts our healthcare and we have to start paying for meds out of pocket.

Now all my friends and family, including elderly couples, are talking about moving abroad. And they're getting less picky about where they go and how they get there, too.

- One retired couple bought land in and moved to Columbia, because they couldn't get a visa to Europe. They've having a fantastic time.
- One neighbor was originally from Canada, had been living in the US for over 20 years, and moved back to Canada.
- Several people are getting citizenship or permanent residency by descent, to countries like Canada, Ukraine, Germany, Croatia and Italy. Unfortunately this is a process that usually takes quite a while, and in some cases (Italy) takes a few thousand dollars. The main holdup is that some states and counties are taking over 7 months to issue certified copies of vital records, and the federal gov is currently sometimes taking up to 3 months to issue federal apostilles. As a comparison, in January 2025, the feds were only taking 4 weeks to issue federal apostilles.
- People are rethinking their careers and looking into if they can somehow get a work visa, and if not, if they can either manage a student visa or change jobs.

Interestingly enough, our family and friends have come together a lot more over all this. We are all genuinely helping each other out with stuff like rent (several family members lost their jobs directly due to Mr. T. pulling funding) and many other things. We're talking about buying a family use condo in Europe or Canada and stuff like that. Even divorced and re-married people are helping their ex-spouses out. It really hit me how a lot of people have no savings and no way out, and will only be able to get out if they have serious help from others.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

11. Welcome to DU. . . .nt

[RussBLib]

13. Welcome to DU

We are considering a move too. Have a friend who just bought a place in Spain and they will be moved by the end of the year.

[Emile]

14. Welcome to du. We are staying right here for

SPITE!

[BigmanPigman]

17. My family was working on getting us Italian citizenship

but the more we learned the more disheartened we were. As you said, "It takes a loooong time and a lot of money".

[LetMyPeopleVote]

19. Welcome to DU

[chia]

9. I feel like a grim canary in a detached coal mine.

Most of them don't want to know or can't lift their eyes beyond their personal horizons. In some cases, understandable. They're dealing with job or family or health issues, just trying to get by day to day. But the level of detachment is mind-boggling to me. Very disheartening. I understand more clearly now about how yes, it could happen here.

[BigmanPigman]

18. I think I've noticed a slight change

with my sister. I told her about the NO KINGS protest on Oct., 18th. a few weeks ago. She went to the June 14th protest with me and we split apart right away, I move really, really fast and others can't keep up. She told me she didn't want to go to this newest protest since she thinks there are too many and they are losing the interest of Americans. I told her last week how big this one already was and to let her friend know. Now she says that she is"thinking about it since things are getting dirty fast".

"Getting dirty"!?! Everything has been dirty from Day One.

I think she is assuming I am inviting her to join me on Oct 18th but I am not doing that. I already decided that when I go alone I am happier and more productive.

[chia]

22. Be extra aware this time, please. Especially by yourself. Do you take your phone?

[BigmanPigman]

23. I'm never worried at all for some reason.

I'm only 5'1 1/2" but I am mighty. I think I developed this attitude when I was 18 and lived at Union Square in NYC in 1980 a d it was very dangerous at that time. There weren't Farmers Markets, there were junkies galore. I wouldn't even get off at that subway stop. I chose a different stop and walked the rest of the way. On the first day of art school we were given a "stay safe lesson" by the guy who Kojak was based on. Carry keys between your fingers, do not smile or make eye contact, and stomp on a mugger's shoe with your high heels (if you wore them). It did the trick for me! I have 100% confidence and zero fear.

At the first rally I went to in Jan., 2017 I was up front, as usual, so I could hear what the speakers were saying. Two assholes got an air horn and whistles and attempted to drown the speakers' voices out. A city council speaker called for the sheriffs to do something but the sheriffs just stood there. The "boys" were pushed back and after the protest I saw the 2 dudes with the sheriffs. They were PROUD BOYS who came to San Diego from LA to disrupt our protest. This was the first time I ever heard the name "proud boys". I also learned that day the difference between the police and the sheriffs. It turns out the sheriffs side with MAGA! Figures!

There were 80,000 marchers at the June 14th NO KINGS and it was 100% safe. Not a single problem at all! If we were a MAGA crowd it would be a different story. MAGA wants to instigate violence.

[chia]

24. Good for you!

I was at the June No Kings and the April Hands Off. There were no problems at either, but the atmosphere is different out there now, and I don't know if Oct 18 will feel different.

[edhopper]

10. Some do, some don't

Quite a few talk about leaving the country.

[tavernier]

12. The older people, like myself,

especially those who were touched by WWII and Iraq have much more of a vested interest are staying involved. The others who voted against him hate him but don’t think there is much they can do at this point. Waiting for the next election. The ones who voted for him are still for him but have expressed dislike about some “stuff”, mostly tariffs.

[dalton99a]

15. Relax. Say nothing. Everything is normal. And the normal will continue