People say we aren’t in a dictatorship because we can protest, but that’s far from the truth.
I hear this logic from the Republicans and leadership in that party, especially recently with the No Kings.2.0 protest, where over 7 million people took part in this day of protesting all over the country.
On the right, they called it the anti-American protest. I am not surprised they called it this at all. To them, they either refuse to see the problems facing millions of Americans because of this administration, or they just don’t give a damn. I 100% believe it’s both.
Let’s be honest here: we don’t want to do this.
Protesting is the last thing any of us wants to do right now, but because of what’s going on, we have to. The president/wannabe king and his administration are tearing our country apart bit by bit, with ICE agents grabbing people off the street just because, the government cutting SNAP funding this month for millions (including myself), a continuing government shutdown, or Medicaid cuts (which also affects me) – take your pick. These issues affect everyone, or, at the very least,, someone you care about.
Donld Trump is acting like a king, and we as Americans are saying you can’t do that to us, or to our institutions that we’ve had for centuries. He acts like he’s above the law, continuing to destroy and trying to rewrite history he doesn’t like.
Yes, we can protest, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t headed towards a dictatorship.
Two things can be true at the same time. If you think, “But Larissa, we aren’t headed towards a dictatorship,” then you haven’t been paying attention or listening to what’s happening around you closely enough.
I am not going to sit here and say I am not terrified of where we are headed every day. Every day, crap keeps getting worse, with the government taking away our rights one by one. This is not normal, and it never has been. My younger brother’s generation hasn’t really known anything but this, and that is not okay by any means. We can’t keep normalizing this behavior.
So what can we do to stop this from happening?
Keep being vocal, stand up for issues that affect you and your loved ones directly, and go to your first protest, as I recently did with my first No-Kings protest. You must find your voice in all of this.
As bothersome as Republicans find these protests, what should be bothering them more is everything that’s happening. At some point, it will affect them, whether they like it or not. And then we won’t have a country they can recognize and be proud of anymore.
And maybe, just maybe, they will get our point with these protests.
Photo by Vlad Tchompalov on Unsplash
