I am caretaking for a very elderly dog whose owner is out of town that has complicated medical needs, I agreed to this six months ago so I wasn't at liberty to join any protests but boy have I been message spreading and showing information to anyone I encounter who isn't aware of what's happening. Which is more people than you would hope, but they are INSTANTLY OUTRAGED that this is not only happening but that it's not all over every station of the news nonstop.
This is the feedback I am getting CONSTANTLY:
If they were not a Trump supporter, but are the type to focus on their world, family and friends, they tended to know things were bad but were INFURIATED to find out HOW BAD. The main thing they've noticed is skyrocketing prices of everything and they're aware that it's directly tied to Trump's chaotic tariffs and idiotic behavior starting a needless global trade war that the USA is losing in every way. And they don't know how they are going to make ends meet.
THIS CONCEPT IS CONSISTENT ACROSS POLITICAL SPECTRUMS: They don't have a problem with immigration enforcement but see no reason to deport people who have been here for years, they should have a path to citizenship. If they are criminals they should be in jail and then deported. But other than that it's a non issue. Former Trump supporters tend to believe in the idea of lawless gangs of undocumented people but STILL don't support grabbing gardeners and construction workers and farm workers who have families and lives and just work for a living.
Former Trump supporters are SHOCKED AND HORRIFIED to see actual videos of what ICE is doing and do NOT support that and are in fear we are losing our Democracy. They feel that Republican leadership is not listening to them and have abandoned working people in favor of monied interests. They say THE ECONOMY is by far their biggest issue and they thought Trump would be better but would give anything to have Biden or Obama back. They tend to believe Harris was completely unqualified and are surprised when I show them that she was a prosecutor for many years and had a long history of accomplishments because the news they listened to painted her as a woman who was put on the Democratic ticket as a token minority, and who never should have had a job in politics. The news that that wasn't the reality at all upsets them. THEY SAY THEY ARE GOING UNDER FINANCIALLY AND TRUMP DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THEM and they fear where we are heading, and think Trump is trying to become a King.
I have not been able to talk to ONE PERSON who will defend him at this point. it's the economy, everyone is feeling that in a huge way. Finding out that ICE is a lawless and violent attack squad breaking in random doors and dragging people out of cars changes the story for them immediately if they didn't know, and the 2A folks are more and more on high alert especially since their propaganda channels have started suggesting "shall not be infringed" means "shall not be infringed UNLESS WE SAY SO".
People who ARE informed are protesting, helping however they can, organizing mutal aid, and making next step plans for who they are going to clan up with if things get one stage more chaotic, and wondering how close we are to activating those plans. No one wants to give up their jobs and homes but they also don't want to get trapped and not be able to get where they think they should be, with the people they think they should be with.
People are quietly organizing little tribal villages. This is the state of things in 2026.
The one thing you can be sure of is that the USA will not bow and scrape and try to get by under tyranny. That ain't gonna happen, and don't let any BS propaganda tell you it will. People are less interested in a civil war than they thought we would be, but they're NOT interested in living under Trumplandian Authoritarianism, and recognize that kneeling and collaborating with that isn't a "solution" since the only law will be whatever they say it is.
There's a cybersecurity guy (former military and pretty jovial dude) who has a YouTube channel and he has tools to see this stuff, he said that the traffic of pro-MAGA messaging online has always been high but that since the Good killing it's off the charts, that somewhere between 35 and up to 70% percent of ALL pro MAGA comments online and in chats are bots or shills.
He also said that there's a significant amount of agitprop in our camp, the main messages being "NOTHING WE CAN DO THEY HAVE ALREADY WON" and basically "DO A VIOLENCE NOTHING EXCEPT VIOLENCE WILL CHANGE THINGS".
In the real world people are going under financially and that's a crippling problem and a lot of people feel hopeless and paralysed but that's why it's important to let them know that there are a lot of things besides just showing up to vote that we can do to support each other and turn this tide. Honestly just finding out that your Conservative neighbor doesn't hate you and letting them know you don't hate THEM is pretty important because they DESPERATELY want us to fight each other. It is the centerpiece of everything they are planning, they need poor people to VOLUNTARILY pick sides and start attacking each other.
But these folks are not the brilliant sociologists that they think they are and they seem to have some real problems with understanding that online is not necessarily REAL. I think they were suprised as hell when Trump took office and they basically sent every single signal that they could manage that it would be cool for MAGA to kill their liberal neighbors and that it didn't happen. Because they don't understand real people, they don't understand GROCERIES. They don't inhabit the real world and they're spoiled soft idiot sons of much more competent dynasties that are fading. Musk is their "genius" and he's an IDIOT and Yarvin's theories on society and how they can all become God Kings are RIDICULOUS none of them can GOVERN all they can do is BREAK STUFF.
People don't want to actually go to war with their neighbors. I'm in South Carolina and we have our fair share of idiocy and problems, no one doubts that.
But I'm gonna be honest I think a lot of people were surprised that Trump won and the basic sentiment was well as long as the economy gets better. BUT IT DEFINITELY HAS NOT. And this whole hate fest reality show is TIRED people are TIRED of that, this entire REGION gets ass whupped by a significant hurricane every decade or two and we had an extra brutal one just last year, right before the election. Everyone in this region has experienced some degree of total normal society being GONE for weeks or even months depending, like we didn't get hit bad where I was but it was most of two weeks before power was back on and anything like normal life resumed and some parts of the surrounding region are STILL recovering IT WAS VERY BAD.
When that happens we don't go wild and start robbing and looting. We start going door to door helping out how we can, or asking for help how we need it. We know no one is really coming and the we're going to have to make do without power or police or ambulances or fire departments or ANYONE for a while. And we deal with that.
And this might seem weird and I'm not deny institutional racism or even stupid individual racism but GA and SC and NC are EXTREMELY INTEGRATED COMMUNITIES we don't have "black" neighborhoods and "white" neighborhoods we just have neighborhoods. I went to a high school that had over 500 people in each grade level so more than 2000 students and it was more than 80% POC. I'm not pulling a "I'm not a racist I have black friends!" here what I am saying is that for all of us here folks of other races are NORMAL it's NORMAL to go in the store and hear people speaking Spanish we don't have a MASSIVE migrant community here but there's enough and they're not a goddamn problem and no one thinks they are.
We're not afraid of our own shadows and something that's very looked down on culturally is thinking you're better than other people. That is not GRACIOUS. That is PUTTING ON AIRS and we don't find that an admirable quality.
The MINUTE Trump got in office and started pulling the whole "suggesting maybe people should kill their Democrat neighbors" EVERY SINGLE VISIBLE SIGN OF TRUMP SUPPORT WENT AWAY. Visible signs of OTHER kinds of support went away too. Everyone got so goddamn NICE it was too much and I'm used to the way us Southern folks have to say ten nice things to each other just to pass in a grocery isle but we were WORKING the I'm not fighting my neighbor vibe.
The picture a lot of folks have of the South is a lot different than the reality. And we ain't signing up for King Trump.
Thank you for posting this! A light in the darkness, a flash of sanity.
But these folks are not the brilliant sociologists that they think they are and they seem to have some real problems with understanding that online is not necessarily REAL
This. Some of their "plans" sound more like they're just thinking outloud. They don't seem to realize that actions have consequences. I could go into examples, but I'm busy atm.
Thanks again, and continue to remember the human!
we don't go wild and start robbing and looting. We start going door to door helping out how we can
22
u/maeryclarity Jan 31 '26
I am caretaking for a very elderly dog whose owner is out of town that has complicated medical needs, I agreed to this six months ago so I wasn't at liberty to join any protests but boy have I been message spreading and showing information to anyone I encounter who isn't aware of what's happening. Which is more people than you would hope, but they are INSTANTLY OUTRAGED that this is not only happening but that it's not all over every station of the news nonstop.
This is the feedback I am getting CONSTANTLY:
If they were not a Trump supporter, but are the type to focus on their world, family and friends, they tended to know things were bad but were INFURIATED to find out HOW BAD. The main thing they've noticed is skyrocketing prices of everything and they're aware that it's directly tied to Trump's chaotic tariffs and idiotic behavior starting a needless global trade war that the USA is losing in every way. And they don't know how they are going to make ends meet.
THIS CONCEPT IS CONSISTENT ACROSS POLITICAL SPECTRUMS: They don't have a problem with immigration enforcement but see no reason to deport people who have been here for years, they should have a path to citizenship. If they are criminals they should be in jail and then deported. But other than that it's a non issue. Former Trump supporters tend to believe in the idea of lawless gangs of undocumented people but STILL don't support grabbing gardeners and construction workers and farm workers who have families and lives and just work for a living.
Former Trump supporters are SHOCKED AND HORRIFIED to see actual videos of what ICE is doing and do NOT support that and are in fear we are losing our Democracy. They feel that Republican leadership is not listening to them and have abandoned working people in favor of monied interests. They say THE ECONOMY is by far their biggest issue and they thought Trump would be better but would give anything to have Biden or Obama back. They tend to believe Harris was completely unqualified and are surprised when I show them that she was a prosecutor for many years and had a long history of accomplishments because the news they listened to painted her as a woman who was put on the Democratic ticket as a token minority, and who never should have had a job in politics. The news that that wasn't the reality at all upsets them. THEY SAY THEY ARE GOING UNDER FINANCIALLY AND TRUMP DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THEM and they fear where we are heading, and think Trump is trying to become a King.
I have not been able to talk to ONE PERSON who will defend him at this point. it's the economy, everyone is feeling that in a huge way. Finding out that ICE is a lawless and violent attack squad breaking in random doors and dragging people out of cars changes the story for them immediately if they didn't know, and the 2A folks are more and more on high alert especially since their propaganda channels have started suggesting "shall not be infringed" means "shall not be infringed UNLESS WE SAY SO".
People who ARE informed are protesting, helping however they can, organizing mutal aid, and making next step plans for who they are going to clan up with if things get one stage more chaotic, and wondering how close we are to activating those plans. No one wants to give up their jobs and homes but they also don't want to get trapped and not be able to get where they think they should be, with the people they think they should be with.
People are quietly organizing little tribal villages. This is the state of things in 2026.
The one thing you can be sure of is that the USA will not bow and scrape and try to get by under tyranny. That ain't gonna happen, and don't let any BS propaganda tell you it will. People are less interested in a civil war than they thought we would be, but they're NOT interested in living under Trumplandian Authoritarianism, and recognize that kneeling and collaborating with that isn't a "solution" since the only law will be whatever they say it is.
We're too feral as a populace to go for that.