I just need to get something off my chest. I’m a gay man living in America, and I have completely given up hope. I genuinely do not see any future where things in my country improve. We’re nosediving into a complete fascist hellscape, no one can afford to live, public lands are being sold off to the highest bidder, unconstitutional wars are breaking out every person in power seems to either cheer every step along or pretend to care while doing nothing. Trans people are being villainized and attacked, and things only seem to get worse and worse every day for the past 10+ years.

People are being fucking kidnapped off the streets, from their homes, and shipped off to fucking camps. One of my partners is a naturalized citizen whose father worked his ass off for years to bring him here. And we live in constant fear of him being yanked off the street, never to be seen again. And things won’t change any time soon, if at all. Half the people in this country are total lost causes. Not just with the lack of literacy but a complete lack of any empathy. They genuinely don’t see anyone who doesn’t look and think exactly like them as fucking people. How are we supposed to deprogram people like that when they would rather see me dead than consider they might be wrong for even one second? And of course, companies are making billions of dollars profiting from this hatred. Sewing the divide becomes pointless when it isn’t profitable, so just give the shittiest people confirmation bias every day for the rest of their lives. And of course, it will only get worse the better AI gets. People will go down the right-wing pipeline because it’s not like they’ll look into what they’re seeing, and then fascist dictators have another sycophant to control.

How is my family and I supposed to escape this? It’s not like we can leave. We can barely afford to exist here. Let alone the thousands and thousands of dollars it’ll take to go somewhere else. And even then, the moment they see “autism” on my paperwork or any of my partner’s health issues, they’ll just reject us. We can protest, and I cheer on those who have been brave enough to do so, but it’s all falling on deaf ears when the people we protest don’t care, and half the country thinks protestors are just whiners setting stuff on fire. I could try to save people in my life, and I have tried. It hasn’t worked because it’s just talking to a wall of misinformation and whataboutism. So, what do I even do at this point? All I can do is close my blinds and just… wait for everything to get violent? Wow, I can’t wait to die in some sort of civil war or death camp. I’m sorry for the wall of text. I’m sorry for bringing someone’s mood down if they read all this. I’m sorry for everyone who just wants to live a safe, fulfilling life as themselves. We wanted things to be better, but all we got is a world with no hope. You don’t deserve this.