It is January 21st, 2025. We’re one (1) day into Trump’s second term, and it’s already a lot.
If you’re a writer, Mary Robinette posted a reminder of a video she has free on Patreon, which may help with productivity during these… uhm… interesting times.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/free-class-to-116768310
Beyond staying productive and busy, we must pace ourselves.
I deleted Twitter a while ago, and Facebook and Instagram last week, so one might think I sufficiently reduced the Social Media Attack Surface(tm). But no. BlueSky was going crazy today about everything, at high volume, constantly.
For example, there was great consternation about Marco Rubio getting unanimous approval from the Senate for Secretary of State. People were yelling about how Democrats are cowards, caving, yadda-yadda.
It’s important to maintain perspective on these things. Some asshole just swore to uphold The Constitution, then with his first set of executive orders, tried to wipe his ass with the 14th Amendment and end birthright citizenship. These are both terrible news, but the Dems giving Rubio a pass doesn’t even hit my top 10 list of bad things that happened already.
As I see it, there’s three types of people dealing with this news.
- People like me that looked at Project 2025 and started grieving as soon as the election was over. If you’re like me, you’re viewing these executive orders without surprise, because it was telegraphed. I’m kind of numb right now. I hate it, but nothing that’s happened the last couple of days is a real shock.
- People that voted for Trump, thinking they were going to get something other than what he is. He made your medicine more expensive. He’s putting the military in charge of the border. He’s going after trans folks, and minorities, and he’s unironically executing a witch hunt of our national security agencies. This group of people that voted for Trump may be experiencing some sticker shock. They were duped, or they didn’t believe people like me that said Trump was a monster, or maybe they’re still in disbelief and just hoping it’ll all be okay when the price of eggs goes down. Friends, the price of eggs is not going down. When he gets to the tariff portion of his dance, watch in shock and horror as the price of things you dearly love goes up.
- People that voted for Trump, getting exactly what they want. These are the racists, misogynists, Nazis, flat-earthers, fart smellers, mouth-breathers… you get it. These are the people that hate trans, gays, Mexicans, and women that don’t smile enough. A lot of them call themselves Christians, but actual Christians aren’t like this. Some people in this group aren’t dumb, either. They’re just opportunistic.
If you’re in Group 3, I don’t know what you’re doing here. I have been anti-Trump for about a decade. I’m not going to change your mind, and I don’t care what you have to say. If you’re still pro-Trump after all that he’s done, and all that’s trying to do, you and I cannot be friends. Our morality is incompatible.
If you’re in Group 1, you probably already know what I’m about to say.
Group 2 folks, I see you. You didn’t tell me you voted for Trump because you wanted to stay friends with me, but I knew, and I still care for you. I’m not going to say, “I told you so.” We can be cool.
We’re all fucked. The World Health Organization, The Paris Climate Agreement… the lawless idiot wants us to get sick and ruin our future. He does not care about you. He does not care about this country. He does not care about making a better future.
The only way to get through this is to hold each other up. Support each other. Look out for the people being targeted and give them your love and support and protection.
Pace yourself. There is a lot of shock and rough emotion right now. There is no one out there that is going to come in and make things right. It’s all up to us, so don’t burn out emotionally in the first week.