Political Discussion and Commentary

Probably, you won't. After the 2020 elections, the tension did not decrease to the levels that were before the elections. It will be the same this time. But what's worst is that if Trump wins, there won't be any more elections - just like freedom of speech and many other democratic things. The United States will turn into what Russia has become over the last 30 years. And this is only in the best-case scenario. In the worst case, the political system of the Combine in Half-Life 2 will seem to you not an anti-utopian dictatorship but a very comfortable and even progressive form of social organization compared to what the Trumpists are achieving.

When fascists won in Germany, there was a force that could stop them, and eventually stopped them. If they win in the United States, no one will be able to stop them. Considering that they promise an isolationist policy, all sorts of predatory authoritarian and totalitarian regimes will suddenly feel like they can do anything - and this will start happening all over the world.

I'm sincerely (not sarcastically) glad you're in a position where all you need to worry about is the volume of political debate, and where you can go back to your normal life after election day, as if nothing happened. I hope you have a healthy and happy family and can go back to a normal 9-5 job where you're paid what you're worth and you have a good healthcare plan that covers your needs when you get sick.

However, there are people who are dying, could die, or will die, as a result of the elections taking place in the next few days. A presidential candidate is threatening to be a dictator, imprison his adversaries and political opponents, and has solicited the help of interest groups who are advocating not only mass deportation of millions of immigrants, but also mass firing of hundreds or thousands of government employees. For those tens of millions of people, they will not be glad when the election is over. Some of us may be imprisoned or worse when this election is over, and we wish with every fiber of our being we were in your shoes, where it being over were in any way comforting.

Sadly, this election doesn't end in two weeks if Trump loses... he'll keep it going until Harris is sworn in.

And in three years we'll probably start this bullshit all over again. Please, if you can, talk to your local state government about the national popular vote interstate compact.

I hate the sound of this fire alarm. It's way too noisy and stressful. I can't wait for it to stop ringing so I can get back to work.

This will continue for months after the election. We're still talking about the last one. I don't mean this to be mean, but I really feel that you have to figure out a way to disconnect from it, emotionally. There will always be nasty people and crazies out there, that will never change. Politics just brings them out in droves. The real question is how you react to that and if you can come up with a way that is healthy for you. I don't know what the answer is for you, but there surely is one.

Me too. I just want it to be over at this piont, even though I am terrified of a Trump win. I'm going to vote early but this constant sense of creeping dread just won't go away.

I've made peace with either result. I'm definitely wanting for one side to win and I've already done my part by voting early... in a Red district in a Red state, so my vote is essentially meaningless anyways, though there's a local gerrymandering issue that hopefully gets through that can help. Otherwise, whatever happens, happens. As hard as it is to see positives, I've tried to think about what opportunities might be available should the unthinkable happen, there's some potential upsides for me personally, so there's that. The rest of the world will go to hell in a handbasket and we're all fucked, but there's the still the potential to find some personal benefit from it.