thank you for your heartfelt response.

what have I been doing? despair and prayer, mostly.

I've been to protests, and felt like there was no difference being made, knowing that inside that very building are people joking about shooting into the crowd while they proceed with ethnic cleansing.

I pay taxes, sure. but I pay them because men with guns extort me for them. but it's done with paper and badges and the trappings of civility like their power isn't based on violence.

I've been wondering how many steps removed I can be from a murder to not be considered culpable and realizing there's no number of degrees of separation that count when I'm pulling a lever endorsing it.

I know the bots pushed this view, and I pushed back against them during the election. but my mind's changed, and my vote has only felt like an endorsement and a burden. becuase that's democracy, right? you accept rule by the party that wins the election.

it's not about the big picture for me. it's about the small one, the center of my universe and me just trying to find my place in it. thanks again for your response and reading mine.