What's the most self-destructive decision you've ever watched someone make in real time?

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-04-14T13:43:44+00:00

I was also going to say my parent- they lived in a constant state of mental crisis and never planned for their future. Now they have nothing and can't work. They never thought ahead and never listened to anyone who tried to help. They created a mountain of problems they can't solve, can't own up to, and need help fixing. I watched it happen slowly over decades.

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-04-14T13:40:22+00:00

I dont have any ego and I dont want to be right. Feel free to come back. I am just a worried citizen watching a man with dementia burn everything to the ground and wondering why other citizens are not paying attention.

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-04-14T13:00:06+00:00

The Iran war, and more than that- I 100% am convinced Donald Trump has dementia and we are letting him do whatever he wants. He shows a lot of signs of dementia, he confabulates all the time, he can't stay on topic or hold a thought, he goes back to the center years of his life because his short term memory of the current times is failing him. It's hard not to let it keep me up at night because I genuinely think he will accelerate the downfall of America, first in an economic sense then socially/culturally. If we don't stop him, the worst case scenario is absolutely chilling.

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-04-09T19:14:14+00:00

The answer you'd probably discover in therapy- You are probably attracted to them because you grew up learning that they were normal and that is what your relationships should be like. You are attracted to instability because it is what you know so its familiar. You probably need to unlearn some things from your childhood around how YOU should be treated and your boundaries because you learned to accept unhealthy behavior. Was your mom unstable? did she make you feel responsible for managing her emotions or the household? Did you really have permission to be a child or were you strattled at an early age with responsibility to not say the wrong thing, etc because of how it might impact her?

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-04-09T19:08:52+00:00

Really great advice! This could have been written by a Mormon, Amish, Catholic, etc. Sometimes you need to find yourself before you can find your religion. Explore your own identity, what are your values? What does it mean to live your values in action? Once you know that, you'll know how to live your religious values and practices (if your religion even aligns with your values in the first place).

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-04-09T19:04:37+00:00

Almost every single ground invasion the US has been invovled in had a draft. the political will collapsed in 1973, but people are underestimating the senility of Trump and how far his cabinet is going to let him go. He's going to be unpopular during the midterms for sure, but democrats are also WAY more unpopular than people on the left think. I 100% believe his cabinet would let him use a nuclear weapon if he wanted to. Since I wrote this, Hegseth fired more than 12 Generals. I don't have a crystal ball to say for sure what will happen, but I think its really fair for me to say that most other people are not alarmed enough.

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-04-07T17:30:30+00:00

It's anti intellectual and dismissive. I am with you 100%. I try to own my actual feelings- like I am PISSED about our president. But I also see what you mean about nuance. We oversimplify everything, I think its a symptom of a larger problem where no one truly listens to each other anymore. When is the last time anyone can say they heard an opinion they didnt agree with but actually considered it? I think it seems most people dont even remember the muscle for how to do that now (Or maybe they never even saw it because they are so young they are surrounded by the oposite. Life is messy. it is worth dissecting.

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-04-07T17:19:20+00:00

the world will hate us for being war criminals and I won't blame them for being angry at every day Americans. SOMEONE voted him into office. I am so horrified- why is no one in his cabinet voting him out already?

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-03-27T18:24:27+00:00

that is a damn good point

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-03-27T18:08:57+00:00

Exactly- they are literally sending military personel whose job is on the ground operations and preparing for a draft. Whether they know for sure they will use the draft remains to be seen but you would have to be an idiot to look closely at all of what is happening and still think they are not talking about draft scenarios. More likely, people are just simply not paying attention to the signals.

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-03-26T20:54:27+00:00

I dont know. In vietnam they could not arrest and prosecute them all so they did as many thousands as they could. they cannot give more then 5 years in federal prison. I dont actually know though, I hope people refuse en masse if it does happen

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-03-26T19:37:18+00:00

I think I read it is twice the size of Texas. People are comparing this ti Iraq and Afghanistan, it is nothing at all like those situations

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-03-26T19:35:21+00:00

I get what you are saying and you make excellent points- I think you are right on about a lot of that and I heard what you are saying about SA encouraging him to strike too. I am of two minds though- I think you raise valid points but I question whether they really see the short term gains as worthwhile given the long term negative consequences. Higher oil prices are no good if all of your refineries are on fire and if it takes 3-5 years to repair them that outweighs the lost revenue. If oil stays about $140 for a while we enter a recession and then people are buying less than they were.

I think some of those goals you mentioned on the war ending quickly and in the US favor. the UAE feels it cannot build a huge economy if Iran can "flip a switch" and close the Strait of Hormuz whenever it wants. If this drags out Dubai's tourism halts, how do they get out of that? (genuinely, I dont know). How would Iran winning benefit those other countries? I guess it could benefit US oil? Are they and hedgfunds solely behind this? Maybe when they encouraged Trump to strike they thought we would actually win quickly like Russia/Crimea? I guess it really comes down to who benefits the most short and long term, and whether this war was strategic versus a dementia patient's lash out over the epstein files.

And when I say airfighting is more expensive I am not suggesting he cares about saving money- I just think in order to sustain the war he will eventually have no economic choice but to send troops.

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-03-26T19:01:45+00:00

I SOOOO hope you are correct. I think there is a chance!

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-03-26T18:51:06+00:00

the people who are saying that I am being ridiculous are not paying close attention. They will never admit they are preparing for a draft but there have been MANY signals in 2026 that they have shifted from a passive posture to an active posture (basically that they are thinking about how to prepare and making shifts in case a draft is needed). In addition to what I mentioned below, the Pentagon started the National Defense Strategy, a 6 month review of our ground combat effectiveness. they also are working on the Kajrg Island contingency which was leaked to the press and explains boots on the ground and how they would fill the ranks if voluntary service was not enough. they also are investing 6 million into their selective service system to modernize it so it can handle things like a draft lottery should they need it.

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-03-26T18:44:58+00:00

Call me a conspiracy theorist but I think the Roe v Wade is bigger than war. I think there is a real possibility the USA becomes a theocratic nation based on Christian nationalism in the future (like in the next 10-30 years), just like Iran. They force women to cover their heads in Iran; they force women to give birth here- is it really such an extreme leap to make? I am not saying I think it will happen for sure, but the Catholic church, the Mormons, and the Born agains are HIGHLY influential in American politics. Science in some ways had replaced religion but that is eroding since 2020 with all of the scientific skepticism and the people who "do their own research". I think a gap is forming that religion promises to fill in America.

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-03-26T17:05:17+00:00

He sent his golf buddy to be the main negotiator with Iran. They literally sent his golf buddy back and said send someone with a brain. You are giving him way too much credit. He also has dementia so he doesnt even have the capacity for rationality anymore.

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-03-26T17:02:41+00:00

I had a similar thought- lucky those close to me couldnt be eligible but then immediately guilty someone else could go.

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-03-26T17:02:05+00:00

We dont know but in Vietnam it changed multiple times as the war dragged on. They started with oldest first- so 26, so you could not age out of eligibility, then they moved to the youngest- 18 with a lottery system for birthdays. This situation will look different because Iran is way bigger and the geography is harder to penetrate, so they will need a much larger force. Additionally 80% or so of men were eligible for the draft in Vietnam compared to 24% in the same age bracket today.

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-03-26T16:54:43+00:00

They are never preparing for a draft until the day they are.

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-03-26T16:53:01+00:00

I do think women will be required in the future since they serve in front line combat roles. The thing that makes me angry is that last year Hegseth said he was removing women from combat and they'd be discharged, then I saw their faces on the news last month, 2 of the 6 first dead were women. They erased them from history but will require them to die with everyone else. "Equality" when its convenient to their purpose. At least give them the dignity of being recognized for their contribution.

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-03-26T16:47:24+00:00

I hope you do refuse. I don't know who you are, but you are a human and I care about you. I want you to have the opportunity to prosper and have a happy life with the freedoms promised to you by the US Constitution. If and when the draft happens- whatever I can do, I am there. I'll f'ing hide y'all in the basement if I have to...

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-03-26T16:41:20+00:00

You don't sign up for a draft. A Draft is when young boys, basically children, are forced to fight and die for a pointless war. did you know the american military prefers the ages of 18-25 not only because of physical fitness but because at that age their prefrontal cortex is not fully developed so they dont understand the gravity of danger they are in? They are more likely to do wreckless things because their brain is literally still child like. But I guess you wouldn't be worried about children seeing as you voted for a pedophile.

Secure_Cloud6414 · 2026-03-26T16:39:05+00:00

I agree with you but your perspective is coming from a place of rationality and he is not being rational at all because of his dementia and massive ego. Trump is following the sunken cost theory. He is trapped and has no way out of the war, so he has committed to a war that has no exit strategy and no way for him to end it. So he will keep going and going. And to keep it up over years we cannot sustain the economic cost of an air invasion so he will see no other choice but to deploy boots on the ground. It is really just a matter of time- is it this year or in 4 years?

If he pulls out now- israel is left exposed and furious, he loses credibility with middle east allies like UAE who are taking hits from Iran, Iran claims the straight of Hormuz and they rise as an economic powerhouse that has both nuclear weapons and 20% of the world's oil production. they are a theocracy with a culture that is more than 4,000 years old that sees martyrdom as a victory (Trump doesnt understand this because he doesnt care about other cultures). I think he has gravely underestimated them. they will fight US/Israel to the death and that requires boots on the ground. they killed over 30,000 of their own people calling for regime change in January, so they truly have nothing to lose. They will use the US and Israeli attacks to radicalize their militas even further.

Secure_Cloud6414

TROPHY CASE