musingsdeme:

I’m a historian.  Don’t know how many of you know that.  I’m getting a PhD in history, with a specialty in dictatorship, trauma, and childhood.  It’s a field I’ve never wanted to actually be this useful in real life…

I’ve been dreading a Trump presidency from the outset of his candidacy because I’ve studied dictatorial regimes and the fragile lines between democratic and authoritarian rule for the entirety of my adult life.  I know what the collapse of democratic rule looks like. 

This is it people.  We’re at that point.  It’s not a joke, it’s not hyperbole, it’s not conjecture.  We’re about to live in a xenophobic police state.  That’s about to become our reality.

Now, more than ever before, it is essential for us to stick together.  Love one another, support one another, stand with one another.  All forms of oppression are linked.  People like Trump will want to divide us.  They’ll want to break us down from the inside and outside.  They’ll want to fracture our spirit and our sense of worth.  Don’t let them. Know that you matter, know that you are not alone, know that small acts of kindness and solidarity can mean the difference between life and death. 

I can use history to make predictions based on past knowledge, but the present and the future are constantly being rewritten.  We are the agents of change in this world.  We can make a difference.