Thank you this sums up pretty accurately how I’ve felt lately too.

Like, we’re effectively a collection of pseudo-countries loosely tied together by a federal delegation spread across a contiguous landmass roughly a third the size of the continent of Asia. Our cross-border infrastructure is a joke, worker protections are nonexistent and to drive several hours/days to the nation’s capitol to protest (which we’re being told does and doesn’t work??) is a level of cost many literally cannot afford.

In a lot of states we do see grassroots efforts to fight back and improve. That is a better comparison to smaller European countries that have won in fighting against government corruptions, imo. Even Texas recently had a small wave of progressive wins in local races.

Unfortunately I think a lot of outsiders see “you have guns there!” and as such want us to start an all-out bloodbath. I don’t think it’s wrong for the average citizen to not want to die unnecessarily, and/or only use arms for literal self defense rather than reckless political violence. (inb4 “bUt Ur gubbermint is aLrEadY violent!1! DoN’t WaIt!2!” yeah no duh, see “literal self defense”)

A good chunk of the 20th and 21st century European revolutions people point to when we ask were largely nonviolent. That’s what we’ve been trying too. Not unarmed, but nonviolent (also corporate property damage doesn’t count as violence).

Malcolm X, the Black Panthers and of course MLK are solid figurehead examples of American protest that led to some level of success. Protesters during the AIDs crisis too. But it took them years. We’re trying.

I feel that. I got COVID (confirmed) back in august and while it screwed up my stomach for 3 weeks my respiratory was fine.

Forgot to vaxx for flu and got it in November, very literally couldn’t breathe properly for 8 weeks.

Got a lot of gray hair from COVID though.

ETA: I did get COVID vaccine when it first came out, and am pro-vax/pro-mask. Just sharing anecdotal experience.