"It’s all people and it’s all places" is something that my therapist used to say to me every time I would rant about sociopolitical issues during our sessions. She would remind me that the United States is no different than any other place. 'It’s all place and it’s all people' and 'it’s all people and it’s all places' -- that’s history! The point being is that we have a lot of people running around with a lot of opinions that don’t know the history at all and I’m not excusing how MAGA and Trump fascism is causing a ripple effect around the world. In my meanderings on social media, which is usually threads I see so much discourse so much narratives and much of it isn’t helping at all.
Finger pointing only gets you so far -- it might make you feel better, but it doesn’t change anything, nor does it fix anything. That said, on a daily basis, I see social media conversations from around the world -- why don’t you doing something? I don’t wanna hear excuses why you can’t do something! Yet, its never really met with any substantial actionable items.
We are protesting, we are writing and calling our Senators and Representatives, building support networks, mutual aid, taking care of our families, etc., but again, what is it that we should be doing? Should we burn it all down? If so, what does that look like? and are you okay sacrificing the lives of the disabled, children, impoverished, homeless, and elderly folks? We know we are acceptable causalities. In that equation, are you okay even suggesting sacrificing those folks? I don't have an answer, but would like to consent to be sacrificed for the 'burn it all down' of it all.
Again, what do you think we should be doing? We are in such a stranglehold. I don’t know that anyone has the answers at this point, but being told you’re not doing enough or you need to do more yet there’s never any further discourse like... here’s exactly what you need to do based upon empirical evidence that will help you. All we’re being told is do more do more, do better, do more, and then that flip-flops into everyone in United States sucks and the problem with America is America.
I am not MAGA, nor I am not a Trump supporter. I never have been and never will be. There’s a lot of us that who actively oppose Trump's Fascist Regime of Stupidity -- so when you’re like 'oh everyone in America sucks it’s all just fascist' -- its actually not. I leave the house most days and I can't even comprehend what MAGA is doing to undermine the entire stability of the world because everything appears to be normal and okay when I leave the house.
If you ethos is that "the west sucks" sorry Europe that includes most of you -- whether your country is part of "the west" or not, Americans aren't that smart and All of Europe = the West = the enemy, but I digress.
Let’s look at some other countries and their history... has your country ever gone through a period where something untoward happened like maybe it was invaded by Nazis during World War II and you got a bunch of concentration camps built in your on your countries land. Is that your fault? Should you be blamed for that in perpetuity? Are you a Nazi because at some point in time, Nazis built concentration camps on your countries land and carried out programs and all the atrocities? Of course not, that’s not your fault nor the fault of your parents so your grandparents -- maybe in some circumstances they were collaborators. That said when you got the German army rolling through your land, what are you gonna do? and would it have helped having your nose rubbed in it like you deserved it and maybe you should do more to keep those Nazis from invading your land and building concentration camps on it and whatever like do you realize how awful that sounds?
It comes back to the title: 'It’s all places and it’s all people' and that really stuck with me and I’ll be honest. I have trouble with that when my therapist first said that to me like it blindsided me like I felt like I got hit by a truck and all the sudden I was like -- it really caused me to pause and consider and take a step back because I say this often -- please point to a country on the map who has never done anything untoward, who has never had a war, who has never had shitty governments or fascist dictators, etc. Oh wait! that is because there are none -- because 'it’s all places and it’s all people' and that’s the lesson here is but it’s easy to point fingers to make yourself feel better, if not superior.
I feel the same way as someone of Ukrainian descent about Russia. Russia is terrible, but at the same time, I have to think that based upon my experiences of living in America under the Trump regime is that there have to be some decent Russians that are protesting against Putin and what not and hate everything Putin is doing to destabilize the world. That said, I totally understand that anyone living through war in Ukraine feel that all Russians are terrible. I accept that because that is their reality and I get it! After all, Russia sucking is how my fathers side of the family came to the United States. Yet, I sit here and think that half of the US is opposed to Trump, but our state run media is starting to mirror Russia's as well.
All I’m suggesting in this post is to pause and consider that 'it’s all people and all places' because -- it’s humanity. This is human ego whether its what’s happening in the United States or Russia or anywhere. It has happened before in other places it’ll happen again. It is what it is and that is not dismissive -- that is radical self acceptance. Things will get better eventually. If Germany can be de-nazified and work to do better in the post-war era - then there is hope for the rest of us. It's just not going to be fast enough for some folks. You can't burn shit down without having a plan for how to rebuild things in the aftermath.