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marmar

(78,241 posts)
Mon Jan 27, 2025, 09:45 AM Jan 27

Surviving "political grief": You're not alone, and there is a path forward


Surviving "political grief": You're not alone, and there is a path forward

By Chauncey DeVega
Senior Writer
Published January 27, 2025 6:00AM (EST)


(Salon) Donald Trump is now the 47th president of the United States. Compared to the horrible things that will happen in America over (at least) the next four years, the weeks between Election Day and his inauguration may be remembered as the good times.

....(snip)....

Millions of Americans who voted for Kamala Harris, and who believe in American democracy and the common good, remain collectively stuck in the various stages of grief. That grief is made even more painful by the fact that tens of millions of other Americans are jubilant at Trump’s return to the White House and his vows of revenge against “the enemy within” as part making America "great again.” Most people who voted for Trump under the mistaken belief that he would improve their lives and “restore” the nation have no experience living under autocratic or authoritarian regimes. They perhaps voted to “shake things up” and believed they were supporting a leader who will "break the rules” to “get things done. That will turn out to be a Faustian bargain. While the MAGA are likely to feast on the proverbial fat of the land, the rank and file will be feasted upon like everyone else.

....(snip)....

I have been reading comment sections on a wide range of news, politics and general interest websites, as well as on forums focused on such subjects as health care and chronic illness, psychology and mental health, disability issues, money and finance, labor and economics, and aging. What I have encountered is widespread fear among ordinary people who are trying to survive financial precarity and avoid total household collapse and homelessness. Many fear the loss of social safety-net benefits and are concerned they will not be able to afford prescription drugs and medical care. They fear the loss of reproductive rights and the end of the Affordable Care Act. They fear extortionate student-loan payments and the rise of hate crimes and political violence. In other words, they are afraid of suffering life-altering harm from the Trump administration's plans and policies.

....(snip)....

In an interview with the Guardian, disability advocate Alice Wong offered this advice on navigating, surviving and successfully resisting the bad times now upon us:

I’m scared, like millions of marginalized people who know exactly who Trump is and what he stands for. Strangely, I’m not as panicked as I was in 2016, but I know he will unleash great harm in his second administration. All I know is that networks of mutual aid and community care will continue and require additional support and infrastructure….

I feel despondent and overwhelmed by the political situation often, but then I remind myself this is by design, that those in power want to erode our resolve and [for us to] give up.

“Doing” activism is neither linear or smooth and in times of frustration or exhaustion I tap into my memories of injustice. I remind myself of why I am doing what I am doing and this sustains me. Anger transforms into a battery charger that gives me a boost when it’s sorely needed.
...............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/01/27/surviving-political-grief-youre-not-alone-and-there-is-a-path-forward/





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