Graphic by Forrester Toews.

A short rant about politics.

America once stated itself to be the “land of the free.” Regardless of what it actually was, the world once believed that the U.S.A was a place of progress, freedom, and liberty for all. But recently, with Donald Trump’s second term, the States are viewed much more as a danger to those values. 

The American federal government now spreads blatant lies to the president’s ever-loyal fans. It’s rolling back human and civil rights, and it’s funding a foreign genocide against the Palestinians on top of it all. The president has also appointed countless frauds into positions of power, such as RFK Jr., who recently “found” the cause of autism is Tylenol taken by women during their pregnancies. Most recently, the Trump administration has been making a martyr of Charlie Kirk, “memorializing” him as a saint and making A.I produce things he has never said.

Even in Canada we have seen the effects of Trump’s government on our own. Danielle Smith is planning on using the notwithstanding clause to force through three pieces of anti-trans legislature in the midst of blaming teachers for the government’s faults. The Alberta government is also actively stealing from people on income support and AISH, and in the middle of a massive healthcare scandal. She’s doing the same thing as Trump, which is unsurprising due to the fact she would rather spend time in the States celebrating with him than here fixing our own issues. The rise of ultranationalism — better known as fascism — has been rapid in the States, and complicity has enabled it to fade back into their collective thoughts because, for some reason, people forgot why facism is bad. The erasure of history and painting it in a less harmful light means turning one’s back on history. The only way to combat a rise in anti-intellectualism is knowledge. 

Read the books that are being banned. The ability to protect yourself from lies and fight them isn’t just a cautionary skill anymore. It’s a lifeline in the deep-end.

America is a shameful example of what happens when complicity runs rampant. Groypers, grifters, and the entire alt-right sphere have taken the reins and if you don’t think that’s bad, you’re a part of the problem. I have no empathy for a man who claimed that school shooting victims were just the cost of firearm access, who was then killed in a school shooting. His martyrdom across the world aims to paint him as someone he was not, which is a good man. 

Finally, free Palestine and hold the world powers who fund this genocide accountable.