In a month or two, I'm going to be touring in a red state too. Kansas might be even redder than Montana, but that doesn't scare me because I rarely talk to anybody on my tours other than store clerks, motel clerks, park rangers, and the occasional bike rider. I never get myself into a political discussion with any of them. Despite the temptation to argue with those folks, I'd rather walk away and put the idea out of my head that half of our country agrees with what's going on. I use the same strategy here in MY Town. I'm seriously Blue and I live in a Blue State, but half of my friends and neighbors are conservatives. Despite their strange politics, I'd hate to lose some of them as friends.
Wayne; wow, I could have written much of your post myself. I have also experienced real sickness from our current situation - the basic problem is that for the first time in my life I honestly don't know what I should do. I've twice been told that I was likely to die from different cancers, and while that was stressful, I developed a plan and have so far managed to thwart such an outcome - I knew what to do and how to fight that enemy. But our current political situation is far worse for me than being told I'm likely to die. I'm concerned about my children and grandchildren and their future - they don't want to live in a country such as our country is rapidly becoming. My children are highly educated and are productive members of society, my wife and I aren't poor and we would be a positive financial gain for a new country, so we could almost certainly move elsewhere. But should I do that or should I stay here and try to fight for what's right? I really don't know, and that uncertainty is making me sick. I have lost a lot of sleep fretting over it, and it occasionally causes me to go into AFIB.
I don't hate the half of our citizens who knowingly voted for the destruction of our government, but I will never forgive them. Since the election I've read books in an effort to help me understand their thought process (basically trying to understand dissonance theory and how folks deal with their own cognitive dissonance) - understanding doesn't make me sympathetic, it's just that for my own sanity I felt the need to try and understand.
The little bit of good news, if there is any, is that many folks are beginning to see that they made a mistake. Maybe it's not too late. That "maybe" is all I have to sustain myself at the moment. Like you, I can't be at peace with what is happening, and I find it almost impossible for me to tune out and ignore the news. And that has affected my own touring plans for this year - honestly, I've been too depressed to muster up the desire to cycle enough to train for a tour. I have some health issues that would at least somewhat inhibit my ability to tour, but in the past my enthusiasm has overcame those and allowed me to enjoy the tour. But this year my energy has been directed towards home repairs so that I'm able to sell the homestead and abandon this country if need be. I really hope things calm down enough so that touring can once again become a priority for me. This situation really sucks.
Germany has just issued a travel advisory for the USA.
German authorities updated travel advisories for the U.S., warning of immigration enforcement at the border, following the detentions of Germans.
The UK has as well, after a Welsh backpacker was detained at the Canadian border. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly67j35y99o.amp
This comment from Sweden showed up in the NYT earlier today:
“A high profile French academic (space researcher) was denied entry to US for 'personal opinion' on Trump's educational "reforms". He did not, apparently, even volunteer any opinions but they just searched his phone. This is receiving huge amounts of attention in Europe, partly because there was apparently no cause and because this person was a really high-profile academic who had a professional meeting in the US. This certainly makes any academic or someone else in Europe think twice before attending any conferences in the or taking any speaking assignments in the US. For context, in the US, there are typically around 250,000 to 300,000 conferences held annually. This includes a wide range of events, from small professional gatherings to large-scale conventions (some with tens of thousand of attendees).
They bring maybe around 300 billion dollars to the US economy each year (quick "research").
Many conferences have significant numbers of attendees from abroad, especially from Europe.”
We’ve become the pariahs of the civilized world overnight. We leave for Italy in just 19 days, but are starting to wonder if we’re at risk of being denied entry as a retaliatory measure.
yes it seems the south african has brought to the usa the world reaction to apartheid..,.boyycotting the usa.
I wonder too about travelling now...if ukraine falls europe might not be safe either.
Happy upcoming birthday to Rachael. Stay safe
Racpat
But how safe will it remain here? There’s trouble and uncertainty everywhere. We’re at least staying far from the front lines, and France, Italy, Spain and England dont feel like armed camps where it feels like civil war could break out at any moment. Good luck yourself, and thanks for remembering Rachael! We have big plans for the day.
Thanks all. The events listed above are deeply upsetting - and I will not be travelling to the US while the situation continues - but I just want to second what Graham said here, which is that absolutely no apologies are required from our friends from the US on this site. The degree of anguish from journalers I respect and whose writing has given me great joy over the years is heartbreaking. I think it probably does good to express it, but I certainly want to make it clear that we know you (and the majority of decent people in the US) are not responsible.
[Sorry if this breaks the political rules - I will remove if so!]
I want to mention some positive paths. I don't know what will happen, but I believe these positive eventualities are just as likely, if not more, than disaster.
SOLIDARITY. Sometimes over the last 10 years it has felt like the forces of decency - spanning the political spectrum - have been in disarray. This is certainly true in the UK. In the last two months, something incredible has happened: Europe has stood up, and pretty much as one said "nope, we won't have that". The US administration tried, and failed, to divide us. Now those figures are about as popular as covid, and there is a clear rallying cry for liberal democracy, from Poland and Baltic, to France and Germany, to the UK and Canada, to South Korea and Australia. Populists are in confusion and are running a mile from association with the US. Just look at how Germany is meeting the moment. The UK is by Europe's side. I know it may be hard to feel this solidarity in the US - but when it comes time for the decent majority there to reassert themselves - and I won't pretend to know the mechanism by which that might come about - we will be here.
STRENGTH. Our enemies dress up and pretend to be strong. They look ridiculous. But they may not even be as strong as we imagine them to be. They have nothing really to offer as a vision of a better life; no realistic plan for prosperity; and constantly make terrible decisions because of their disdain for evidence. They struggle to form even transactional alliances because they despise everyone. Meanwhile, we are much stronger than we have realised. It may not always be clear from reporting - but Ukraine has humbled Russia over the last 3 years. And at the beginning, with tanks 20km from Kyiv, they were almost alone. So don't worry, Europe (and Ukraine is now firmly part of Europe) can deal with a rotten, sclerotic kleptocracy with a tenth of our economy to our east. It was a question of will - this may be poor consolation, but what the US is doing has supplied that will. Now I've seen such solidarity emerge: I really have no doubt.
Again, I can imagine it is hard to feel this way in the US. But I believe the current US administration running amok is a sign of weakness, and is built on a delusion. The delusion is that: because they believe it is somehow "synthetic", they can permanently destroy the politics they hate through cruelty and the destruction of state apparatus. They are moving much too fast to build a methodical, stable autocracy along the lines of Erdogan; they seek to do it quickly because of their intrinsic insecurity, and because they certainly cannot deliver prosperity.
But that politics: of decency, fairness, equality, and the rule of law - is not a fiction. It does not reside only in institutions. It is not synthetic, but organic: it represents the values of the majority and the best of the USA, and is in abundant display here on this site. Your values are not going anywhere: take courage, show solidarity, defend your fellow citizens (and non-citizens) and the time will come when the pendulum swings.
I won't be protesting in the streets.
But I will support the right to peaceful protest, and the people exercising that right.
1 month ago