I tell people as often as I can, especially my trans and bipoc friends; now is the time. Get a couple guns (a long one and a short one) and learn how to use them. Learn some basic first aid, you really just need to know how to stabilize someone. Start networking with like-minded people in your communities.
The police will not protect you, they’ve proven they’ll happily club senior citizens to the ground and shoot any protesters in the face with rubber bullets while escorting a rightwing murderer to safety.
Iran was a secular, liberal monarchy until almost 1980 when they (mostly) elected an Islamist theocracy; it could happen here.
It’s hard for me to recommend that because what most people don’t know is the political violence in Iraq reached levels that would have been a civil war if not for the coalition’s presence. And having watched that level of violence once in my life I’m really hoping we can elect someone that puts the government to work stopping this violent far right theocracy movement. On the other hand I can’t in good faith deny anyone the basic tools I had to defend myself in that situation. I just know that every gun in the mix makes violence more likely and violence only begets more violence. If this kicks off we’ll need a real focus on deprogramming and welcoming people back into the normal population. The zero tolerance approach just doesn’t work, you can’t shoot an idea. Only defend yourself from the person who believes it.
Spoken like a person with absolutely no skin in the game. Talking it out is great but what happens when that doesn’t work? What happens when the next one successfully takes power and the congress and judiciary side with them?
I tell people as often as I can, especially my trans and bipoc friends; now is the time. Get a couple guns (a long one and a short one) and learn how to use them. Learn some basic first aid, you really just need to know how to stabilize someone. Start networking with like-minded people in your communities.
The police will not protect you, they’ve proven they’ll happily club senior citizens to the ground and shoot any protesters in the face with rubber bullets while escorting a rightwing murderer to safety.
Iran was a secular, liberal monarchy until almost 1980 when they (mostly) elected an Islamist theocracy; it could happen here.
It’s hard for me to recommend that because what most people don’t know is the political violence in Iraq reached levels that would have been a civil war if not for the coalition’s presence. And having watched that level of violence once in my life I’m really hoping we can elect someone that puts the government to work stopping this violent far right theocracy movement. On the other hand I can’t in good faith deny anyone the basic tools I had to defend myself in that situation. I just know that every gun in the mix makes violence more likely and violence only begets more violence. If this kicks off we’ll need a real focus on deprogramming and welcoming people back into the normal population. The zero tolerance approach just doesn’t work, you can’t shoot an idea. Only defend yourself from the person who believes it.
Spoken like a person with absolutely no skin in the game. Talking it out is great but what happens when that doesn’t work? What happens when the next one successfully takes power and the congress and judiciary side with them?
Fascists love pacifists committed to talking things out.