How bad do you think it's REALLY going to get? (self.TwoXPreppers)

Hey guys! Basically as the title says, how bad do you think things will get? I have a lot of anxiety and tend to FLY to conclusions. So in my mind I see us moving towards a full blown dictatorship/ something of the sorts. Everyone around me calls this insane due to the constitution. But like, Roe V Wade. Plus historically governments fall.

What do yall think?

steeljubei 378 points 22 hours ago*

I'm sure this option will piss people off but it's just my take. I've traveled to some pretty not so great places in South America and s.e Asia. Places where people were dirt poor and the gov was basically just corrupt dictators with military police. What I noticed is the situation varies from town to town and people with tight community bonds and family did the best and stayed put. Only those fleeing for their lives, out of fear of retribution ( during the time Venezuela gov collapsed and there was a "purge") benefited from fleeing to a neighboring county, but only for so long. I watched as Ecuador absorbed a huge flow of refuges, ok with it at first but then things turned sour quickly the following year and political problems and violence flowed into that once peaceful country. My point being, you cannot run from these global problems, they follow you. The world is in a state of populist dictatorships and unless you truly fear for your life, stay put. Don't break your economic and social ties for nothing. If you're wealthy and you can uproot and re establish yourself in a culture more aligned with yours, go ahead and do it. You don't have anything to lose.

Mistaken_Frisbee 574 points 22 hours ago

I had a longer rant, but I'd just look to Texas. Our government is functionally controlled by 3 politicians who are in turn controlled by a tiny number of wealthy conservative donors. It's just accepted here. The legislature can no longer meaningfully stop the governor's agenda, and all 3 politicians retaliate aggressively against any Republican politicians who don't toe the MAGA line 100%. Project 2025 effectively started here. Free speech is curtailed, AG is constantly using his office to commit his own crimes and investigate women, trans people and their families, and basically anyone he wants. There's absolutely no connection between what Texans want or need, or bad things happening to us, and consequences for the state. But it looks mundane to everyone else and most people just live with it.

Sensitive-Yellow-450 35 points 18 hours ago

I'm a retired historian of the Cold War era. I'm using post-Soviet Russia for my template of what to expect: turnover of public assets to private oligarchs, arrests of journ*lists and lawyers, further consolidation of wealth at the top, elimination of social safety nets, consolidation of power so that all branches of govt are one party, elections that are neither free nor fair, elimination of personal and political enemies, elimination of individual rights especially for women and minorities, deepening poverty and scarcity, takeover of universities and science, blackout of legitimate information sources, and... Well, you get the idea.

It took about 15 years for this to fully occur in Russia. I anticipate it will take a few months here because there will be an all-out blitzkrieg once Trump is in office.

I have no helpful suggestions. It seems too late to do anything at this point.