This is a message about how things are as of 1/25/2025, about America, and the state of things.
I don’t write these messages or comment on world events much. I believe I shouldn’t be the person commenting at the end of a chapter about world events and changing how readers see the story; that interferes with the tale I am telling.
I also believe that oversharing my opinions and politics can jeopardize my position as a writer. People should not see me, the person; they should read the story with whatever they bring to it, not with preconceived notions or biases against me.
J.K. Rowling is my best example of what not to do. She is a transphobic bigot who has tarnished the story that I loved growing up, for myself and so many people. I think she has ruined the legacy of the most famous tale of the modern day. I have seen her example, and it has made me cautious of all the things that I should not do to be a good author.
I did not comment during the United States elections last year. I should have.
I did not comment on the wars going on in this world. I should have.
I’m speaking out now, because I feel like I have an obligation to say something, just as I had in the past, or I will regret it for the rest of my life. It is not pure ego, thinking my voice matters or I have that large an audience. That’s not the point. Saying nothing normalizes what is clearly wrong, so this is the least of what I have to do. It is being one more voice calling out what is not sane or reasonable and pointing out how dire things are.
I should have spoken out long ago on things I found unjust in the world. If only to be that one voice. The lie I told myself is that my intent shone through my writing; that I should be a good author, which is to be silent and non-political. But the truth is, if my convictions were truly strong, I would say what matters.
People in my life have been hurt and had their liberties stripped away these last few years, and I did nothing. I said little except to my friends and family because I believed there would be a point where things reversed. This last week, it feels like we have jumped off the cliff into sheer insanity and I must say what I am seeing, because we are falling into the pits of hell. The plane is crashing. We have to say it. Everyone has to say it, loudly, not pretend they can’t see the flames.
Here is what has happened so far. During the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, the following events occurred:
-Elon Musk performed a salute on live television that appears to be identical to those used in Nazi Germany.
-An executive order pulled us out of the climate accords.
-An executive order was signed stating transgender people do not exist.
This is in addition to the threats of war with Canada, Mexico, Panama, and Denmark. Regarding the salute, there are people who may say that it was an unintentional or accidental gesture. Or claim that I cannot definitely prove that it was intended to be a salute reminiscent of Nazi Germany.
I believe that any reasonable person will conclude it was an intentional gesture by the tech-billionaire that controls numerous powerful companies. There are journalistic institutions and respected groups that have offered doubt about the meaning of the gesture. I believe they are failing everyone, their own codes of integrity and ethics, if they have any, and their consciences by denying what is obvious.
This is fascism in America. Not the rise of it; we are in the midst of a fascist government rapidly removing liberties from its citizens. I have heard the rhetoric of those asking how bad things could actually get, or speculating that President Trump will not follow through on all of his promises, or that things are overblown. There is, perhaps, a sense ‘it isn’t as bad as it looks’. Certainly, I saw former presidents and politicians sitting in the crowd and treating the inauguration as if this were normal.
Let me be clear. We are already within a fascist government. These days have come again. Less than a hundred years ago, there were people who performed that exact same salute on television and began targeting minorities and seizing power.
They will do worse. They may literally repeat history, from ambitions of war to the very worst of genocide in concentration camps. It never looks quite the same. But if it were migrants along the border in cages, or trans or gay people in religious education facilities, would you call that far-fetched?
Yesterday, I sat at a table with my sister-in-law, and she invoked a poem to me. I have heard its refrain in my own head myself these last few days. My sister-in-law is different from me in many ways, but we both see it. The poem is by Pastor Martin Niemöller, and if you have never read it, it is the following:
“First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me.”
It is happening. I would take this seriously. Several people I personally know have made plans to leave their countries, not just the USA, to keep themselves and their loved ones safe from potential invasions or war or persecution. They do not tell me they’re having second thoughts about moving to safer countries. Their fear is that they are too late; they should have moved last year.
I am not certain what the answer is. I feel frustrated, upset, and furious at what I am seeing and the way everyone in my government has bent over backwards in the face of what should be stopped. We have a bunch of tech-billionaires and other kinds of monsters flocking around an administration that only wants to reward them and strip everyone else’s rights away. I’m not sure what comes next, but I am stating what I see.
History is repeating, but this time, we all know the story that is playing out. We can see what is happening; it is going to reflect on Americans whether or not we learned anything, or whether the past will repeat itself a mere century later.
Lastly, if you have read through this and disagree with me, I would simply say this:
Where you think you’re standing may not be where history remembers you. If that bothers you, if you think I am writing nonsense and I am insane or I have broken from reality, I suggest you take a long look at everything around you.
To me, the dreadful thing about living in these times when the world changes for the worst is not that these days come fast or that they are unexpected. I have seen them coming. The dreadful thing is that there is, still, a voice in my head that still insists that it’s not happening. That it’s not today. I believe it will keep repeating that lie until the moment someone close to me is gravely hurt, or worse.
It is today.
Good luck,
–pirateaba
