In my head they are very normalburger if that makes sense. They think Trump can stop the war enough to affect the market, right?
Things are bad, and are going to get a lot worse before it’s over.
I’m self-employed, and 2025 had one of my best starts in 18 years of business. 2026 is one of the worst starts in my history. January can be hit if miss, but February is usually pretty good, and March is always one of my best months. Tomorrow is the last job on my schedule, and I have nothing beyond that until the Fall. I’m talking to other small biz owners, and they’re saying the same thing.
Economic indicators always lag by a few months, so the rest of the world is going to find out in a couple months what those in the trenches, like me, already know - we’re already in a really bad economic situation.
And it won’t get better until somebody in power starts admitting it, and committing to fix it. I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
I was fired a month or so after the intentional stock market crash. Jobs are no longer existent, likely to be worse than 2008. Most of us can’t afford a home let alone rent for an apartment. Medication is expensive even with insurance, and that’s assuming you can even obtain it as the fda/dea are in some sort war causing shortages. Our government is killing people. Our friends are being put on lists/into databases for being queer. Our government is threatening our allies, resulting in them hating us further inhibiting our ability to get assistance and or leave. Concentration camps are being built. Drones are being tested around the country along with mass deployment of facial recognition cameras. Data centers are sucking up the water. All of our data was looted by foreign connected individuals posing as government waste reduction. They’re attempting to get rid of physical cash by removing production of the penny. Age verification laws are being baked into everything we love in an effort for additional surveillance. We’ve been infiltrated by Russia and Israel. We’re being dragged into another oil war even though many of us witnessed the effects of the previous one on our friends and family. They’re rolling back women’s rights. Pedophile billionaires are wrapped up in all this. And it seems anyone who could have done anything in their positions have failed us. So yes, I’d say that’s the definition of crashing out.
No, I’m not okay at all. Sometimes I’m anxious, but most of the time I’m enraged. I’m enraged at the administration, the courts that enable them, the evil Republicans and the spineless Democrats. But mostly I’m enraged at the 60 some-odd percent of Americans who either voted for this catastrophe or couldn’t be bothered to vote at at. I can almost forgive people for voting for Trump 1.0. But, after fours years of that dumpster fire, it’s unforgivable that people voted to do it again.
My most incandescent rage is directed at progressive non-voters. There is nothing more careless and entitled than not voting because “both sides are bad”. It’s choosing to let millions of other Americans suffer because someone doesn’t meet your purity test. The Republican party has been captured by end times religious cranks and literal insane psychopaths; the worst corporate Democrat is orders of magnitude better for the health and well-being of the nation and the world.
At the same time, I have to go to work every day, interact with my colleagues, take care of my family and do all the everyday things that one has to do. I take strength in other people around the world living their lives in authoritarian hellholes. You survive and do what you can to effect change.
If I had to generalize, I’d say that most people in 2026 America believe that they are “right” about absolutely everything. I blame loneliness, social media, and our narcissistic culture.
I’m an extremely privileged hedonistic inner city party queer. This shit weighs so heavily on me I’m consumed with visions of war whenever I go out to have fun now.
Tripping mushrooms at the beach unable to escape horrible visions of the cruel calculus of war. The anger and shortages spilling into violence, famine, and fleeing your home, the way hunger and exhaustion will beat you down long before a gun is ever in your face. Occult dance party the night after the war started, could barely dance or enjoy myself just weighed down by the war, as was my wife, so we left very early.
Asking other people who were around me at the dance party, on the beach, other recent concerts, no one else was that bothered by the war, it wasn’t something anyone had put much thought into.
I live very close to where the Battle of Atlanta started in the Civil War. It’s been 150+ years since this land and its people actually knew war. Sure there are soldiers overseas but that’s exactly it, overseas, out of sight out of mind. By and large I don’t think most Americans comprehend in the slightest what war is. A lot of us grew up in the Global War on Terror where aside from the toxic political discourse a persistent state of war really didn’t feel all that much different than peace felt before.
A lot of Americans have also wised up to the idea that we fight forever wars, to a lot of people they can’t even keep up with when the fighting has started or stopped, just this vague awareness there are constant military actions happening in the backgound. So when they hear about all this with Iran it’s just another drop in the bucket of forever wars, something they have become desensitized to after decades of the Bush’s, Obama’s, and Clinton’s killing sprees around the world. So much murder not only can they not keep up they just tune out.
So in conclusion I think America has fully internalized the Orwellian mantra War Is Peace. They just can’t tell the difference anymore not that they would’ve cared much about Iran back when they could.
Americans acting normal as fuck. People were crashing out 10x harder when the invasion of Ukraine started in 2022
I am not worried about the war, the only affect it has on me is that gas prices have gone up.
I am worried about the fact that Hegseth has managed to replace the entire command structure with cristofacists that believe they are going to initiate armageddon.
I am worried about what those commanders will do when it comes time for this administration to step down.
I am also very worried about how many people I know who cannot find work and are unable to pay their mounting debts. I’ve been helping a friend pay for her cell phone bill while she tries to get a new job. I have multiple friends who cannot even get minimum wage jobs because they are “over qualified”.
I am worried about how much damage and harm the AI industry is doing to our entire fucking society.
The war in Iran is nothing compared to all of this.
You said it yourself, gas prices are up. That’s the first of many knock-on effects.
All food is transported using fuel. All packaging, from the case your computer is in to the wrapper around your bread, is made from plastic. It all must be manufactured and then transported as well.
Every job available also needs fuel and power to exist.
Oil prices will affect everything above that you already mentioned.
Depends on the person. I’m a therapist, tons of my clients are very upset, scared, crying, having trouble sleeping, depressed, feeling powerless and angry, etc.
This administration’s actions are taking a huge toll on some people’s mental health.
And people who are trans or gay? They are scared and many want to get out but can’t.
Having said all that… there are plenty of people who are not bothered because they are not informed and don’t realize how bad things really are.
it’s propaganda… they are using all media (which they essentially not control) to overwhelm and force people to stop paying attention. you’ll probably notice that your clients, slowly over time are getting less and less angry/extremely emotional and are essentially becoming numb to all the random information that they are consuming.
their goal with propaganda isn’t to make you think, it’s to make you not think. our human tendencies to rationalize and question is essentially being bombarded to the point of emotional collapse. this is the end goal for propaganda, to force complicity through emotional shutdown.
Things are not normal. It is like a lot of people are waiting for the next shoe to drop.
Resistance is legal, so long as it does not go “too far”. I am near an “ICE” city. When empty cars with cut seat belts started showing up, there was an added level of horror film unease. The kidnapping by random “not ICE” didn’t amount to much, though we have yet to truly know who was kidnapped by “not ICE” (likely few). The murders have on not been good, but are at least fairly public.
No one is arming, as a shooting war on American soil will get everyone killed. There were days I wondered if we would be bombed. So far the “keep calm, and resist.” Crowd is making progress, which helps keep tensions from boiling over.
Elections are coming up, which is providing an outlet for energy. Real voting won’t be until November, and zero changes will happen until January 2027. Expect crazy shit to ramp up.
America is huge though. For any trend in one location, the opposite is happening elsewhere.
This is a very good time for the privileged to take a “mini-vacation”. It both slows production and gives one a chance to enjoy their last days on Earth.
No one is arming
This is anecdotal, but I’m basically what passes for being the “gun guy” among my mostly very liberal friends
Basically my qualifications are that I went shooting when I was in boy scouts, have a few friends who own guns and have gone shooting with them, and have a lot of outdoorsy hobbies that have overlap with hunters and such (my own attempts at hunting have been with a bow, and I wasn’t very successful,) and generally have a casual interest in guns, but don’t really have money to throw at them, I have plenty of other hobbies and things I’m worried about and guns are near the bottom of my priority list.
Which isn’t all that much, but it’s a lot more firearms experience than most of them have. And they also know I’m someone who will do some research and not just make stupid recommendations.
But a good handful of those people have been asking me about guns because they’ve been thinking about buying one themselves. And some of these same people were, at one point, fervently anti-gun.
And those who already have guns have been going to the range more, trying to stockpile a little extra ammo, maybe acquiring some new guns, getting a carry permit when they never felt the need to and we’re content to leave their guns at home in a safe before, etc.
They’re not out there talking about it, spreading it all over social media, posting pictures of their guns or at the range. Some of them, I think, are a little ashamed of it, others just (probably justifiably) think it’s not wise to spread that knowledge that they have them.
So there is arming happening, I don’t think it’s on a massive scale but I do think it’s happening, but you probably won’t hear much about it unless you’re someone those people have already decided that you’re a safe person to discuss guns with.
And I don’t think it’s specifically building up to any sort of an armed revolution or anything. I think it’s mostly people wanting to be prepared to defend themselves if/when things get bad. I think we’re a long way off from liberals wanting to take to the streets, pull a Jan 6, or even show up to protests armed in any significant numbers. The overwhelming sentiment I’ve gotten from most of my liberal gun owner friends is that they really don’t want to be the ones who take the first shot.
There were days I wondered if we would be bombed. So far the “keep calm, and resist.” Crowd is making progress, which helps keep tensions from boiling over.
What progress?
So far the “keep calm, and resist.” Crowd is making progress
Oh yea, I’ll bet
There have been many organized protests against Trump since he took office. I’m not sure how much press they’ve received outside the US. Though many still support him because they are indoctrinated into the MAGA cult, I would say that most (over half) of Americans are against the war for a variety of reasons.
The problem is that there is not much we can do in the short term to create change. Our system of government does not have an effective means to recall a leader.
The threat of legal action does little to deter this administration. For one thing, it’s slow. For another, they’ve shown that they can and will ignore court orders and this far don’t suffer any consequences. Finally, the administration has done as much as possible to install loyalists and remove honest people in every part of government, including the legal system.
Impeachment is a joke. Even if the process was started again, Republicans in the Senate would never convict one of their own.
So the average citizen doesn’t approve of what is happening but don’t see any effective means to change. It’s a very helpless feeling. Many disgruntled communities have been able to create some change in their local government but even changing political parties is not real change. We still have 2 right wing parties bought by special interests. I think many of us just try to do good where we can in our own sphere of influence.
I’m sure some people are. But constantly crashing out isn’t useful even in the worst situations. What is useful is taking real steps that have real effects. Action is the antidote for anxiety.
I’m not normal, no. I can’t say I’m doing great. But I’m actually far more stable now than I’ve ever been. I’m preparing for bad times to help others as best I can. I’m not ready enough. I protest when I can. I try to read older books rather than the latest clickbait. My work actually matters, so I don’t feel drained from it. I mostly quit arguing with idiots, online and off. They’ll feel the pain soon enough. Good. I do mock them to their faces. If they change, I might help them. If it gets as bad as I’ve always suspected it will, I’ve already lived longer and better than anticipated. I’ve never feared oblivion. Sounds nice these days. If I die, I’ll die fighting the darkness. I’m content. Let them come. Good people will still live on. If we let the fools and psychos in power destroy our entire biosphere, well then we will have proved Humanity never deserved the stars in the first place.
If we make it, keep pushing humanity forward. We are all one people and we are worth the struggle. We are the only known intelligence in the Universe and we must learn to act like it, or die. Don’t let us down.
So that’s how I’m doing.
People rarely distinguish between the sentiment of a demographic versus the sentiment of the individuals that make up that demographic. Hence, stereotypes.
“Americans” are not a monolith. There’s almost 400 million people in this country. Idk how each individual is doing, but most of the people I know are too busy trying to keep their heads financially above water to care. The actual American people have very little say over what happens in this country, and most are just as trapped in the horror as the rest of the world.
Does a country without public transit, universal healthcare, or any social safety nets sound like a country where the average person is in control to you?
The average American barely has any idea there’s a war even happening or who the president is. Half the people I know think Biden is still president. Even people who do know there’s a war wouldn’t be able to find Iran on a map. Everything about our government and everything it does might as well be a TV show to my fellow Americans. They see it as fiction that doesn’t impact our lives and most people think it’s extremely boring so they tune it out.
People are crashing out but for different but associated reasons. Everyone’s broke, no one can afford healthcare, there’s a mass shooting every 3 days. Everyone’s tired and the alienation is so thick that people are all pointing in different directions to where they think the problem is. People are getting more conspiracy brained and twitchy.
Even people who do know there’s a war wouldn’t be able to find Iran on a map.
I work a customer service facing job at the poop factory. The only person I’ve ever heard mention the war is one overly chatty customer who asked me “so did you hear we’re in another war now?” with the same cadence as “did you catch the big game last night?”
Americans are deep fried in every sense
Behavioral standards plummeted during the pandemic and never recovered. People are a lot more stressed, and they refuse to behave. We’re divided, and it really does not help that our leadership literally believes that AI is going to replace most jobs.
i think it doesn’t help that our leadership will try anyway
I do not think the leaders believe that AI is going to replace most jobs. They definitely believe that they can use the threat of AI taking most jobs to further exploit the working class.
These billionaire dipshits are not as bright as you think
They really do though. Like, you’re assuming a level of rationality that they don’t possess.
Americans really struggle to come to terms with their elites and leaders being fucking evil instead of merely stupid.
Jesus christ, look at your fucking history. Evil doesn’t always look like some hollywood ass villain.
After a certain point it doesn’t matrer, but still come ON
You say that like it has to be one or the other. Most evil people in history were also stupid.
Yeah that’s mostly a justification for layoffs. They’re not competitive robotics manufacturing AI that cuts down the need for enormous chunks of capital for factory floor space + varied equipment + switching things up to change what you’re producing. They’re not competitive on the large computational engineering models important for R&D (which they’re not doing either) and iterating new rocket engines. It’s a giant grift, but people need to be careful not to universalize the values of Silicon Valley AI companies.
How are the schools
I live in a rural area in the US. Public school teachers are generally very good at their jobs, but a lot of the school boards around me have been taken over by the far right and so-called conservatives. They run on platforms like “ending forced vaccines for children” and banning transgender flags and they mostly win because there’s a lot of dumb racists here.
Hectic and our teachers are constantly complaining about how kids can’t do basic reading comprehension tasks. Like copy a sentence from the board into their notebook and then repeat it back to you in their own words. There are 13 year olds who cannot do this. There are adults who can’t do this. The majority of Americans read at or below the level of an 11 year old.
Mostly okay. Slow discussion building on why test scores are dropping and are they still dropping. Is it COVID (immeidate shock), Long COVID (long term health issues), or nearly all course work and books being on tiny laptop screens (money showed up for a wholesale transfer to Chromebooks during COVID. They were actually helpful during lock-downs, but were kept after.).
What do you mean by that? The standards of education or mental health in schools?
In the U.S., schools are funded by property taxes, so schools in rich areas are fine, although educational standards suck across the nation.
In fucking shambles. One of my dreams, if I ever win big on the rarely purchased lotto tickets, is to open a free clinic with free pharmacy, and a private, means-tested Pre-K12 Montessori school that only accepts on the poorest first and donations only buy your name on a plaque.
Where I am (major metro) the schools are still decent but severely underfunded.
Seconding this. We’re in freefall right now.
Trying to conduct my day as normal (food needs buying and bills need to be paid, after all), but with a marked increase of episodes of staring of into space internally shrieking as avenues of opportunity and life plans made years ago are irrevocably altered.
What’s the alternative? Give up? That doesn’t help anyone.
