In the US, compare a city like Houston, TX to a city like Portland, OR. Seems like two different planets.

So much for the 1st Amendment. Guess that's only valid when it fuels the Trumpsterfire.

It's been a while since I've gone through a whole day being proud of my US citizenship. Today was one of the most shameful.

What if you only use the apps?

Americans are too dumb to have this much power. It's all size and no substance. We need to find a better way to distribute power in this world.

The Republicans have all the power in Congress and they are all afraid of Trump.

There's nothing that can be done. Republicans have every bit of power there is. At least for the next two years.

Not being defeatist, just a realist. Judges don't matter when SCOTUS is in Trump's pocket. Republicans know they have these two years to dismantle the government and set it back decades while they have literally all the power. They have everything they need to get it done.

This is what happens when some people choose to stay home on election day because "the Democrats are not doing enough for Palestinians." Now watch what happens to Palestinians.

Yes, it matter to us, but it doesn't matter to them. And there's nothing we can do anything about it. That's the point. They have the power to do whatever they want right now, every branch of the government, and their supporters and voters with find any excuse to defend their actions no matter how wrong those actions are, because it's "necessary."

Sorry, but none of this matters. Republicans are all powerful now. They have the White House, the House, the Senate, SCOTUS, the Fed, the Treasury. For the next two years, they can do whatever they want and act however they like. The voters walked right into this with eyes wide open. I don't want to hear the excuses and cries. America is just getting what it voted for.

Capitalism

No

Welcome to the United States of America anno 2025.

Trump never mentions anything that can make him look like he gave anything up. His fragile ego just doesn't allow that. He always has to come out as the winner and everyone else has to come out as the loser. And that's what he will call them.

Elon and Trump are butt-buddies.

Yet, no one's doing anything about it or can do anything. These people are all powerful now. The White House, the House, the Senate, SCOTUS, Fed. Everything belongs to the Republican Party and they can do whatever, whenever. No checks and balances.

From my viewpoint, Trump is and will be causing social hardship much more than economic hardship.

I could possibly see a benefit in preparing for a harder times socially. Further division among neighbors might be the main casualty of this administration. Social cohesion is already struggling from his first four years.

Economically, I have no confidence in Trump's actions overall, but I am very confident that his massive ego determines his actions, and that ego is largely held up by the performance of the stock market. He will be very careful not to take any action that will rattle the markets too much. Whenever he see a negative reaction in the markets, he pulls back, claims a moral victory and moves on to the next thing.

Very good read. Thank you.

And great to have a reasonable conversation with someone you don't necessarily agree with. That is unfortunately a rarity these days.

I'm going to leave it here on a high note. Thank you again and have a great weekend, my fellow philosopher.

I appreciate your response, even though I disagree. Still appreciated.

As an American who grew up in Europe, I have experienced the freedom that comes with living in societies that are largely weaponless. I don't use the word "freedom" lightly here. It truly is a huge mental burden here in the US to send kids to school not being a 100 percent sure that there will not be a school shooting that day. Or go to the movie theater or just stroll down the street. It just feels and is much safer in most of western Europe.

I understand that it's impossible to remove all these weapons from the American society, but I do think we need much stricter common sense gun laws. No need for bans, except for military-style weapons. But we do need to make sure that we don't keep experiencing these insane massacres of children caused by firearms. Arguing that weapons have nothing to do with it, or even that we need more weapons to prevent it, is just ridiculous. The firearm is the tool used and it's designed specifically to take life as efficiently as possible. It must be met with common sense rules.