I live in a pretty red part of PA, which swung red this past election. I used to be thankful to live in a blue state. Not sure if PA is still blue but many just didn’t vote or there was cheating or what. I guess the next election cycle, if we get one, will reveal the truth. Our neighbors are all MAGA and are outwardly pleasant and helpful - and I’m grateful for that, but I can’t get over how they vote. I’m not going to rely on their help if Jack booted goons come to take me away.

that they are probably very mean toward another segment of the population. You "belong", even if they know you don't support TSF, so they will not treat you badly, outwardly anyway. But if they are MAGA and particularly if they are educated - then they are downright MEAN to some other groups of people. Probably completely callous to the plight of immigrants, for example.

I live in a similar neighborhood and it is wealthy enough (not "don't need a job" wealthy, but "someone in this house has a GOOD job" wealthy) that I have to assume those that put up Trump signs are MEAN, not stupid. Because there aren't that many GOOD jobs one can get in this country that didn't require someone to have at least a little smarts. If they are smart enough to live here, they should have been smart enough to see what TSF was about, and that it is evil.

AS an 82 year old widow with health and financial issues, I doubt if I'll be around for the next 4 years.
I am filled with anger and despair as I go through the daily news.

I can't afford to stay in my house, but can't afford to move.
Living on Social Security is hard. Now my town has reassessed properties and things are worse.

Move? Can't find an apartment at less than $3500 to $4000 a month. All require first, last and security deposits. Not in the cards.
If trump eliminates Social Security, I, along with millions of other seniors will be up a creek.

Best wishes to all who grit their teeth at the latest news coming form this idiot who now hold the office of president. He and his cronies will bring us down. Working all your life means nothing to the republican party. Not just the MAGA'S but the rest of those who hide in the closet and pretend all is well.

- if I live that long - if the MAGA* mentality or the MAGA-caused destruction continues to hold sway that long.

I try to limit my news consumption, with mixed results.

I am trying to get as much sleep as I can.

I work full time at a decent paying job. I am not old enough for SS yet but approaching it. I am worried that it will be whisked away from me. I do have retirement accounts but who knows what will happen to them in the markets, and that is a whole other set of stressors. Then my own mental health issues make me pretty phenomenal at thinking of all the ways what I have could be stolen from me, and others like me, by this regime.

My job has its own stressors - huge ones - and 90% of those I put on the fact that I have difficulty understanding most of the people I am required to work with, thanks partly to at least borderline Asperger's , combined with a so-called (but not) "high-skilled" visa program that favors hiring non-Americans over Americans, for the last 20 or so years, and particularly in my skill area. My company is twisting and turning to hire these folks over Americans. Democrats have not cared about this issue; and this is one promise that TSF has already announced he will break. With Eloon running the show - he wants to hire MORE by visa - my situation at work will only get worse - possibly much worse. The only thing I can think to do, is prepare myself for lay off (they will replace me with someone cheaper who is less than half as qualified or knowledgeable as I am). Then I will be relying on the social safety net that the GFP is hell-bent on destroying.

Last year I gave up booze and any thoughts of using marijuana, with or without a card, for other health reasons. The healthcare network I've been using is crumbling due to the private equity scam, and even in my supposedly well-off suburb it is now hard to have reliable health care.

Sorry, didn't mean to make it about me, but really, when I put it that way my own situation looks bad, and I know it is maybe only 1/10th as bad as it is for many others, such as yourself.

ETA:
*MAGA = Make America Grotesque Again

I grew up in a family with mean spirited people and I barely survived all of the abuse.

But I’m still here so I guess it’s proof a person can survive even 18 years of it.

You have inner strength and resilience they don’t have. You have empathy and wisdom. Stay close to the people who share your traits and do your best to avoid people who don’t.

I find myself vacillating between wanting to know about every awful thing, so I can maybe prepare for the dystopia as it worsens, and wanting to turn away and focus on art, baking, cooking.

I love the term you coined, I hope it becomes viral, as it should!

Please know you are not alone. 🤗🤗🤗

...just how many mean and/or blindly stupid people live in our country. Didn't we used to be better than this, or is my memory faulty?

But remember there was slavery, then after that Jim Crow, and even with the surface death of Jim Crow, there were still many, many ways of exploiting and abusing non-whites.

A woman could not get a credit card in her own name until 1974.

I have been loathe to publicly acknowledge that America was once very much NOT "great" - because I hate the implication of "Make America Great Again" being that it wasn't "great" under Obama - but the fact is, we have had very ugly times in our history. Especially for anyone not a white hetero male.

My second coinage of this post is that MAGA really means, Make America Grotesque Again. Sadly, this is what too many wanted, and Trump actually is getting the help this time to make that happen.

I drink herbal stress tea as needed, take luteolin in the morning. It is an amazing supplement. I started taking it to help with brain fog and I find it extremely useful for my asthma, and chronic pain. I later found that it is often prescribed by allergists as it cuts the mast cell reaction, which is part of asthma as well. It also increases dopamine in the brain and has synergistic properties for other meds and supplements. I took it the other day with Bacopa and was surprised at the boost I got.

I had not heard of luteolin. I looked it up and was happy to find that that it is naturally occurring in many of the raw veggies I try to eat daily (celery and carrots for example). For several months now, I have been developing a practice of setting up a large bowl of fresh veggies to snack on as I work - hoping to replace the less healthy snacks by volume at least . It is great to hear of another benefit of this practice.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2615542/

I have tried the liposomal version, but find it expensive and not quite as effective unless dosed much higher.

Thanks for writing this. My blood pressure is getting out of control because of these days. Just knowing there are normal folks out there gives me hope which is in short supply.