America has been dead to me for years. It’s a crumbling empire and I have no respect for any of its leadership. I will never give up on myself or the working class, but we have far too much rabid individualism and egos to work together.

The people will weather the storm and come out the other side, albeit differently, but any semblance of government here is trash. Both parties are nothing but greed-driven parasites and everyone knows it. The new generations aren’t fooled by the same bullshit propaganda and the ruling class knows it. That’s why they’re ruling with an iron fist and the cops have zero accountability.

Cop cities going up everywhere; a military base on every continent; Israeli money weaving into everything; the Democrats are useless fucks; the Republicans are unmasked fascists. This country is in the final stages of late capitalism. I don’t want to live here and haven’t for years, but I persevere for family and friends. I’ve already told my wife if a revolution ever happens, I’m probably going to be the 65-year-old man that dies in it.

This is something my fellow Americans need to come to terms with:

I will continue to fight, annoy, and agitate the capitalist status quo. Majority of Americans do not agree with current politics, our current “leader”, or oligarchs controlling everything.

If everyone gave up on a place when futures there look bleak, there wouldnt be a place left in the world worth living in.

I know you’re looking for people currently living there, but I left not long after Trump got elected the first time (coincidence, not cause), and I feel like it’s helped me be a bit more objective about it.

I’ve seen my dad go from a die-hard conservative who makes a couple edgy jokes to someone who isn’t even trying to hide his support for Trump. At best, he says that Trump’s statements are overblown, at worst he supports them wholeheartedly. It didn’t improve under Biden’s term, and his behavior was one of the big reasons I feared a Trump victory in 2024. He felt no need to hide what he had before (that is, if he had it then. It could have grown over time as well). There was no reform coming for him, just deeper entrenchment.

On the other hand, my sister and Mom represent some of another segment of the US. Neither one follows politics because they’re just busy. When they do have time to relax, the last thing they want to do is catch up on things they’ve missed. Unless my sister has something blasted across her social media feeds, she doesn’t know about it. My mom just doesn’t really watch anything at all, mostly because she’s dealing with her own stuff.

I got to see the US change drastically when Trump got elected, with issues that affected literally everyone, and it turned out that part of my family ignored it, and the part that did know about it supported it. I know my immediate family isn’t a representative sample of the entire US (hell, they’re not even representative of my entire family), but seeing is believing. I never would have thought that people could be like this, but if this can happen to people I know, it’s not that hard to see it happening to others.

So, yeah. Even assuming Trump peacefully leaves power in 2029 (I’ve got no hopes of removal from impeachment), that’s four years of destroying good will, soft power, government services, and legal protections, and this is happening just after we had a president who, at best, could stabilize the country a bit before building back some of what was torn down in the four years prior. This time, the administration is moving faster and with more purpose in some of these areas, too. Assuming it takes twice the amount of time to completely rebuild all that the Trump administrations have removed, that’s still 20 years down the road to be at par with where we were 8 years ago. Foreign countries don’t trust the US to not elect a lunatic. It can be a normal country, some day, but not until I’m old, and not without a lot of internal changes I don’t see happening yet.

To preface, I was born in and live in the US. Before I answer, there are several things you say that I disagree with. First, why are the answers from folks like me and you the most relevant? There are more folks who live outside the United States than within. If you are specifically are looking for the opinions of those who live here, the question should be posed as such. A small change in wording shows that those of us who do live here can change to take a more global perspective. You’ll also notice I haven’t called myself an ‘American’ or referred to ‘America’. This is a small change I have made to the same end.

I also disagree that one can ‘vote wrongly’. People have the right to vote, and to vote according to their belief in their best interest, however misguided they may be. They trust the system which lies to them and has been propagandized for centuries. They have a desire for many of the same improvements the rest of us have (e.g. affordable healthcare), but they ignorantly turn to the snakeoil salesmen who promise them what they want. Perhaps we need to work on our own propaganda

But to answer your question, no I haven’t given up hope, and probably never will. Year after year I teach young compassionate people who, immediately desiring to change the world or not, will have a positive impact simply through their actions. It’s that proximity to the younger generation, which doesn’t give me hope, but gives me an immediate view of the people who will make a positive impact on our country and the world as a whole.

To that end perhaps, we need to identify that ‘hope is lost’ for our generation. We had the expectation that we would be the ones who would impart that change. I may have lost hope in that, and whether I live to see that change or not, I will never lose faith in those who come after us. I have seen far too much of what they are capable of.

I have never bought into it, so nothing to give up, really… This is just an affirmation as to why…

Absolutely. Left America 15 years ago. The culture is glorified narcissism. The culture believes the earth is infinite. The culture believes they are the best in the world. The culture believes any criticism is self hatred and must be removed.

I think America will walk back from this particular brink, but I don’t think the American people have the chutzpah to liberate themselves from their shackles.

C’est la guerre, I wouldn’t raise kids here.

Yes. I do not believe there is any chance whatsoever to make America great again, as we were 1 year ago.

There are some lovely, smart and aware people in that huge country. It’s not homogeneous. But overall? It won’t get much better without a revolution. And that’s a huge ask. It’s possible, other countries have managed despite police repression and mass illiteracy, but it’s a long journey, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the people with the awareness and the means will just try fleeing instead.

Pretty much. I don’t see how we can fix what’s wrong with this country from within the system. The US is fundamentally broken because we have lost any semblance of a shared reality. There are four distinct and incompatible realities fighting for dominance: MAGA, republicans, democrats, and leftists. All four groups believe in a different set of facts about the world we live in and let their fear and cruelty drive their actions. It’s not sustainable.

I wish there was something we could do to reunite our understanding of the world we share, but it’s too far gone now.

No, the US is lost. This is a situation that voting cannot possibly fix. We cannot say what needs to be done without getting banned. We cannot even post pictures of a guillotine or a Mario based video game character on most sites.

It’s not political, that is the distraction game … it is the billionaires doing this; however, we cannot break out of the disinformation they create.

I’m going to start with one phrase of yours that galls me: “voted wrongly”. There’s no such thing. There’s votes that you or others disagree with, but no such thing as a wrong vote. And as long as you keep going with the narrative that any vote against your preference is wrong, you’re going to make more enemies in places and times when you need allies.

As far as my own hope? I don’t know. I only know that some people who were prosperous before are suffering now, and that some who were suffering are now prospering. I’m sure it will keep going like that. So I don’t know if it’s hope, but rather comfort in the knowledge that nothing ever ends. Giving up isn’t an answer I can accept, so I have to keep going and do what I can to build a future for myself and those I love.

I’ve never taken down on them to begin with

The US Empire cannot be reformed from within, it needs to be completely dismantled as a state. This new state needs to place indigenous Americans at the forefront as a starter for decolonization, must be Socialist in character, and comprehensively democratic with minority protections. The current US State works entirely off of Imperialism, and maintains hundreds of overseas millitary bases to terrorize the world into bending the knee. The state is not democratic, candidates are pre-approved by the capitalist class. Megacorps rule the US, and have dominance over both parties.

This does not mean “genocide against all who live in the US.” Rather, it means that the working class of the US must overthrow the state and replace it with one run by and for the working class, in an anti-Imperialist and de-colonial manner.