The terrifying thing is that US society is actually pretty stable. So if you want people to cling to your authoritarian regime you have radically destabilize society, which happens to be something both Trump and his propaganda minister Bannon have previously advocated in those words.

You can cross your previously-set boundaries, if those boundaries no longer serve the person you are right now. Life is all about evaluating and reevaluating your priorities, values, options, thresholds. Your old boundaries can either be used to shape your current ones, maintained ironclad, or jettisoned completely.

Good for you. I’m lucky because my parents are staunch Republicans, but they are willing to listen and learn. They change their views when they encounter facts that necessitate it. So, maybe imperfect, but I do believe they are mostly good people.

Lucky. My aunt thinks Trump is brillaint and in excellent phyiscal shape and of course doesn’t have the hots for his daughter and admitted even if he did she wouldn’t care since ha-ha he made the Democrats lose.

It’s true. Many of us will be ok. I live in a liberal city in a liberal state with a good job and reasonable health insurance, and while I could always use more money, I’m not in danger of not being able to pay my bills and I’m not at risk for becoming homeless. If I lost my job, I have family who are able to lend me…

I did this when I was 11, and to this day I still won’t rake the leaves. Fuck you dad

The only bright spots at this moment are the unlikely alliances being formed among disparate groups opposing of Trump. Too bad we never seem to be able to do except under direct threat of a common enemy.

Yes! I’m terrified for the future but knowing there are people to stand and fight with is reassuring.

“one savior could swoop in and single-handedly fix what are really complex and collective problems” <- It’s mirror is also the thin varnish that subtle racists used to paint any problems in US citizens’ unity as all the fault of President Obama.

A bright spot. Talking to my Republican, non-Trump voting mom after the election and I mentioned that Holocaust survivors are feeling a sense of familiarity to Nazi Germany. She.....okay brace yourselves. She said that this is what she felt when Obama was elected. Because....oh god.....Obamacare. Yes, my mom compared…

A friend at a party this weekend responded to a sarcastic “We’ll be fine!...” with “No, seriously, most of us in this room will be fine. And we need to remember that if things seem bad to us, they’re a thousand times worse for many others.”

The dominant feature of fascism, historically, is that it does offer a lot of people something very attractive - stability. I have Russian people in my family, and their example is telling. They KNOW Putin is a dictator and kills opponents and whatnot. This is not a case of ignorance. But he does offer a degree of…

It makes me feel ever-so-slightly better to be reminded that Kellyanne Conway actually saw Trump with clear eyes once upon a time, and her promotion of him really is completely cynical and not the act of a true believer.

Only WE can save us. The idea that a one savior could swoop in and single-handedly fix what are really complex and collective problems is the type of thinking that allowed Trump to thrive. A massive surge of grassroots participation in democratic institutions might mitigate or slow down the destruction of those…

If you want to never sleep again, you should read The Man Without a Face. It’s about the up-from-obscurity rise of Putin. She wrote it a few years ago so it would be great to have it updated, but I imagine it’s much more chilling now. I read it three years ago but can’t get it out of my head.

Gessen’s reading is essential to sanity of every US citizen after tomorrow.

Sarah Kendzior has been scarily prophetic up to now, and I really don’t like where she thinks we’re headed.

Gessen has been KILLING IT in places like the Times and the New York Review of Books!!!!!!!!!! Her analysis and insight are sharp like a razor blade! I just read a piece by her (one of many in the last few months) last night in the NYRB and then this interview came up on my youtube feed and I JUMPED! I was not…

The thing with fascism is that for the majority of people, it’s really easy to just accept it and go along. Too many of us have good enough lives and won’t want to risk safety or comfort for the sake of those who are being attacked. This is a country where half the voters couldn’t even be bothered to go and vote.…

Masha Gessen’s remarkable composure when she discusses impending doom makes her case all the more terrifying. Her interview with Sam Bee was scary, but her writing is downright paralyzing (and vital):