Honestly I don’t know what’s going on in the USA. You’re so proud of your “democracy and freedom” yet one of your 2 political parties is able to effectively dismantle the entire thing in less than a decade. You’re now one election away from being a christofascist state.
…and yet you’re all just going to work tomorrow. You’re all doing pretty much nothing except “make sure you vote in 2024.” So I guess every 4 years you’re going to be one election away from a literal Nazi takeover?
I don’t know. Riot or something. I have no idea how you’re all coping so hard.
We are usually not given a good example of how bad things actually happen. We imagine the barbarians storming the gate, raping and pillaging. That does happen, but more often, things getting worse is more complicated, and it affects different people at different times.
For the one in five (!!) children facing hunger, our society has failed. For a poor person with diabetes and no medical insurance, our society has already failed. For an uber driver with no family support whose car broke down and missed rent, facing an eviction, society is about to break down for them. I’m a dude in my mid thirties that writes code, so for me, things are fine, but if I get hit by a bus tomorrow and lose the ability to use my hands, society will probably fail for me.
More and more people are experiencing that failure. Most of us are fine, but our being fine is becoming incredibly fucking precarious. More often than not, society collapsing looks like a daily constitution saving throw that becomes harder and harder to pass, and more and more of us who have a stroke of bad luck here or there fail.
Understanding society this way is important, and it’s why solidarity is the foundation of leftist politics. I march for people without healthcare because I care about them, and also, because there but for the grace of god go I. Bakunin put this beautifully almost 200 years ago:
Just in case that happens, don’t hesitate a second, don’t feed your flawed system a single dime, but buy tickets to a decent country with your nose and get affordable healthcare in one of the hundred+ countries you can visit visa-free. Returning is optional.
Signed: a dude in his mid-thirties that writes code, has lost the ability to use his hands for months twice so far and genuinely worries about holders of one of the most travel-suited passports seemingly being brainwashed into thinking they’re chained to freedomland or something.
Have you actually done what you’re suggesting? Because my understanding is that it is incredibly difficult to immigrate with a disability, even if you have useful skills. Profoundly more so if your disability has made you unable to work.
Without going into much details: yes, but it seems like you’re speaking of a permanent disability, while I had temporary disability in mind when I was writing that. A permanent one would require changing careers and a chunk of a lifestyle so large that emigration is peanuts in comparison.
Ha, thank you. Fortunately for me, I’m a dual citizen, with family happy to have me anytime. I suspect that day will come, though I really , really love the life and community I’ve built where I am and will be devastated to leave it.
I wish you many years of good health, friend!