Just as I imagine it. I would change one thing though. I would expand on the daily routine of the work that you will be doing. Going out to the fields to raise & tend the crops, since all the immigrants are gone & there is no one left to harvest what's there. Or perhaps a stint at the slaughter house/meat packing plant. Thank goodness there is no FDA with all those pesky inspections, now you get to wrap up the meat from diseased animals & slap a "prime" label on it. Or maybe you'll take a turn at the sausage machine, nothing like adding the protein of cockroaches & rats & mice to the mix. Just throw in more spices & the public will never know & like you said the media will never report the outbreaks of ecoli or listeria & people won't be going to the doctor anyway.
Yes, it will indeed be a "Brave New World" with the realization of the 1984 & Sinclair Lewis's The Jungle as the playbook for our food.
Great but depressing read, Thom. Words to shudder to!
Brilliant, Thomas! Unfortunately, it also happens to be a possibility if tfg wins. So many of us who are “useless to society” will be in mass graves. I’m 84 and disabled, so there’s no way I can earn my keep. My children and grandchildren will be put to use on farms and in factories providing food and other products to serve the ‘ruling class’.
Please vote blue. This dystopian society can be avoided if Harris/Walz are elected.
I'm 76 & have cancer so I guess we could be gas chamber sisters huh?
Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't write that. It's disrespectful to make any comparison to what happened then &:what may happen now. Maybe they'll just kick us out of our homes, tell us to live on the street. My guess it wouldn't take long for us to succumb & then maybe we'd make it into the historical news reels showing people just walking by the bodies in the streets in the ghettos of Hitler's empire.
Do you remember how the state took the mansions and divided them into living quarters for the poor in Dr. Zhavago? The doctor agreed that it was fair under pressure but also really did think it was fair. It's too bad that Russia, France, and other societies were so unequal that the people resorted to revolution to survive.
RTN, they want to steal our home and everything in it don't forget that! Maybe they could use that money and attack Europe with it? Wherever there is freedom will be an active Target! Until eventually they go broke.
The immigrants will not be gone. The cult will be replaced by cheaper union busting labor. The unhealthy American citizens and immigrants will be left to starve to death or sent to concentration camps, is my prediction. They will be called the"bad" ones. Trump will throw in a few criminals to make it look good.
If you’re reading this note, I’ve left the stage to give heroin a try. A lifelong atheist, Democracy was the only thing I truly believed in. Seeing half the country’s willingness to throw it away to embrace the Hitler of today was more than I could handle.
Thank you for your tireless efforts to right the ship. You were the person I thought of back when I was still naïvely trying to “see the good” in humanity.
I hope they’re feeding you well. As for me, I’ve always thought living under a bridge was underrated.
This is just what many Americans don’t get. They don’t think it could possibly happen. My father grew up in Germany in the 1930’s and saw first hand what happened. Reading about it in a grammar school history book is like trying to experience the Grand Canyon from a postcard. Not the same as first hand. More detailed accounts of what it could be like, like your writings, are sorely needed. Let’s hope it’s not too late.
In 1962, our fifth-grade teacher introduced us to "The Diary of Ann Frank," she did an excellent job of describing the horrors of World War II. I mainly had neophyte teachers because our district was new and didn't pay much. They were the reason I wanted to teach as my profession.
My first book on the subject was Five Chimneys, I checked it out from the library in 1952, the images of Auschwitz Birkenau are seared into my mind, there were no photos, mental images.
Epilogue: Thom learns through another prisoner convicted of treason, Keith Olbermann, that Louise has been sent to a privatized women's prison along with other women convicted of aiding and abetting treasonous left-leaning podcasters. There is little hope of making contact with her. Thom is told it is better if he doesn't try to contact any other members of his family, or they may also be accused and convicted of aiding and abetting enemies along with thousands who are tried and sentenced together in trials without evidence or juries in the ten-minute long hearing to purge the "enemies within" held in old NFL stadiums.
Or maybe Washington, Oregon and California secede. Or NY, NJ, Conn, MD and DE. to form the Freedom country. We kick out the MAGA's to MAGA country, use the national guard to close the borders and adopt our own laws. We can take the majority of both coasts. Any goods from the ports to the country of MAGA will have 300% tariffs. Good luck with that.
Freedom country would have to pick up, Social Security and Universal Health Care. There is also the matter of passports, diplomatic relations, treaties, and the status of federal installations and personnel like military installations. Secession of Texas or any state would face the same problems.
I'll be the First to bake you a cake with a Finger Nail File in it. This is a really Scary read this morning ☕ and one that is in the realm of possibilities. The America that trump invisions will be unrecognizable to most people, and the World. I just can't let my mind take me to this Dark Place. Thank You,Thom, Blessings to you and Louise 🙏 "Happy Halloween" 👻🎃 and will reStack ASAP 💙🌊
“The Handmaid’s Tale” would seem to be even more prescient than “1984” if Donny manages to regain power. Thom and David Pepper have been scaring the pants off me with these fictional takes!
It can be considered compulsory that in an authoritarian takeover of a democracy the first thing the new dictator must do is to arrest his/her enemies. They cannot be given time to organize opposition. Better safe than sorry. You never know what list you might end up on. I am reminded of the many Jews who could have opted to leave Germany but who thought things would never transpire as badly as they did, and ended up dying in Auschwitz. Time to update your passport!
Quite a distressful scenario. And it will get worse when climate change really rears its ugly head because of the denial and oil begins to be depleted, the earth will only be able to support a limited number of people. Guess who will be asked to leave, not too kindly?
I won't be that bad. It'll be like living in TX or FL. Won't be too bad unless you're gay, trans, a woman needing an abortion, a minority who doesn't know his/her place, or a political activist/protester. And, of course, children who will grow up in a degraded planet. Let's GOTV so none of this happens!!!
Just as I imagine it. I would change one thing though. I would expand on the daily routine of the work that you will be doing. Going out to the fields to raise & tend the crops, since all the immigrants are gone & there is no one left to harvest what's there. Or perhaps a stint at the slaughter house/meat packing plant. Thank goodness there is no FDA with all those pesky inspections, now you get to wrap up the meat from diseased animals & slap a "prime" label on it. Or maybe you'll take a turn at the sausage machine, nothing like adding the protein of cockroaches & rats & mice to the mix. Just throw in more spices & the public will never know & like you said the media will never report the outbreaks of ecoli or listeria & people won't be going to the doctor anyway.
Yes, it will indeed be a "Brave New World" with the realization of the 1984 & Sinclair Lewis's The Jungle as the playbook for our food.
Great but depressing read, Thom. Words to shudder to!
Brilliant, Thomas! Unfortunately, it also happens to be a possibility if tfg wins. So many of us who are “useless to society” will be in mass graves. I’m 84 and disabled, so there’s no way I can earn my keep. My children and grandchildren will be put to use on farms and in factories providing food and other products to serve the ‘ruling class’.
Please vote blue. This dystopian society can be avoided if Harris/Walz are elected.
I'm 76 & have cancer so I guess we could be gas chamber sisters huh?
Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't write that. It's disrespectful to make any comparison to what happened then &:what may happen now. Maybe they'll just kick us out of our homes, tell us to live on the street. My guess it wouldn't take long for us to succumb & then maybe we'd make it into the historical news reels showing people just walking by the bodies in the streets in the ghettos of Hitler's empire.
Soylent green is in our future, not as a food but as ingredients.
Do you remember how the state took the mansions and divided them into living quarters for the poor in Dr. Zhavago? The doctor agreed that it was fair under pressure but also really did think it was fair. It's too bad that Russia, France, and other societies were so unequal that the people resorted to revolution to survive.
RTN, they want to steal our home and everything in it don't forget that! Maybe they could use that money and attack Europe with it? Wherever there is freedom will be an active Target! Until eventually they go broke.
The immigrants will not be gone. The cult will be replaced by cheaper union busting labor. The unhealthy American citizens and immigrants will be left to starve to death or sent to concentration camps, is my prediction. They will be called the"bad" ones. Trump will throw in a few criminals to make it look good.
Unfortunately I could see this playing out exactly as you've written it. Terrifying thought.
Yep, according to the 2025 plan.
Sorta like living in Florida. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2024/10/31/former-top-broward-schools-lawyer-accepts-plea-deal-in-grand-jury-related-probe/
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2024/10/22/florida-doctors-find-themselves-in-the-middle-and-on-both-sides-of-the-abortion-access-battle/
Dear Thom,
If you’re reading this note, I’ve left the stage to give heroin a try. A lifelong atheist, Democracy was the only thing I truly believed in. Seeing half the country’s willingness to throw it away to embrace the Hitler of today was more than I could handle.
Thank you for your tireless efforts to right the ship. You were the person I thought of back when I was still naïvely trying to “see the good” in humanity.
I hope they’re feeding you well. As for me, I’ve always thought living under a bridge was underrated.
S
This is just what many Americans don’t get. They don’t think it could possibly happen. My father grew up in Germany in the 1930’s and saw first hand what happened. Reading about it in a grammar school history book is like trying to experience the Grand Canyon from a postcard. Not the same as first hand. More detailed accounts of what it could be like, like your writings, are sorely needed. Let’s hope it’s not too late.
In 1962, our fifth-grade teacher introduced us to "The Diary of Ann Frank," she did an excellent job of describing the horrors of World War II. I mainly had neophyte teachers because our district was new and didn't pay much. They were the reason I wanted to teach as my profession.
My first book on the subject was Five Chimneys, I checked it out from the library in 1952, the images of Auschwitz Birkenau are seared into my mind, there were no photos, mental images.
It's on several banned book lists
https://www.marshall.edu/library/bannedbooks/diary-of-a-young-girl/
Epilogue: Thom learns through another prisoner convicted of treason, Keith Olbermann, that Louise has been sent to a privatized women's prison along with other women convicted of aiding and abetting treasonous left-leaning podcasters. There is little hope of making contact with her. Thom is told it is better if he doesn't try to contact any other members of his family, or they may also be accused and convicted of aiding and abetting enemies along with thousands who are tried and sentenced together in trials without evidence or juries in the ten-minute long hearing to purge the "enemies within" held in old NFL stadiums.
Yes. I don't put a Pinochet scenario beyond the depravity deployed by this group of rabid reactionaries at all.
Or maybe Washington, Oregon and California secede. Or NY, NJ, Conn, MD and DE. to form the Freedom country. We kick out the MAGA's to MAGA country, use the national guard to close the borders and adopt our own laws. We can take the majority of both coasts. Any goods from the ports to the country of MAGA will have 300% tariffs. Good luck with that.
Not sure they would pay their bill of GOP debt.
Freedom country would have to pick up, Social Security and Universal Health Care. There is also the matter of passports, diplomatic relations, treaties, and the status of federal installations and personnel like military installations. Secession of Texas or any state would face the same problems.
If there is a split as you describe, it would be more than just those states and it would play out first slowly but then all at once. Frightening!
Absolutely brilliant Thom. Now,if we could only convince those in our country who say it’d never happen. Especially not to them.
That's what we thought in 2016, which was only a preview of things to come.
I'll be the First to bake you a cake with a Finger Nail File in it. This is a really Scary read this morning ☕ and one that is in the realm of possibilities. The America that trump invisions will be unrecognizable to most people, and the World. I just can't let my mind take me to this Dark Place. Thank You,Thom, Blessings to you and Louise 🙏 "Happy Halloween" 👻🎃 and will reStack ASAP 💙🌊
Sounds so damn true... ouch... frightening! Vote BLUE.
I know this is fiction, but it is fiction that could become reality and it’s scary as hell.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” would seem to be even more prescient than “1984” if Donny manages to regain power. Thom and David Pepper have been scaring the pants off me with these fictional takes!
It can be considered compulsory that in an authoritarian takeover of a democracy the first thing the new dictator must do is to arrest his/her enemies. They cannot be given time to organize opposition. Better safe than sorry. You never know what list you might end up on. I am reminded of the many Jews who could have opted to leave Germany but who thought things would never transpire as badly as they did, and ended up dying in Auschwitz. Time to update your passport!
Quite a distressful scenario. And it will get worse when climate change really rears its ugly head because of the denial and oil begins to be depleted, the earth will only be able to support a limited number of people. Guess who will be asked to leave, not too kindly?
We can't let these people take over.
I won't be that bad. It'll be like living in TX or FL. Won't be too bad unless you're gay, trans, a woman needing an abortion, a minority who doesn't know his/her place, or a political activist/protester. And, of course, children who will grow up in a degraded planet. Let's GOTV so none of this happens!!!
This is so frightening and could happen, I know!
PS
a. We are at war w/ Canada, as their water is now more valuable than oil.
b. Official Hurricane policy dictates that we nuke 'all Atlantic storms like they were Nagasaki
c. Equal opportunity slavery [of any race [wink]] is a huge profit center
d. Mexican cartels now have contracts to supply the US Gov't w/ a sedative they call SOMA
e. Popping addictive SOMA gummies is not an option, starting w/ toddlers
f. The "Logan's Run" rule terminates (w/ extreme prejudice i.e., kills) Proles* at 45
g. Public hangings-by-crane are broadcast 24/7/365 on MSNBC (for ironic-payback).
h. The gibbet (1 at every bus stop) is back as are public bull whippings and the rack
i. Elon has donated sperm across the nation, insemination by Tesla robots is mandated
But we're happy.. . . ?
* In the novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four," the Proles are the working class of Oceania, making up about 85% of the population:
Living conditions: The Proles live in poverty in poorly maintained slums.
Jobs: The Proles do the physical labor that the Inner and Outer Party don't want to do.
Entertainment: The Proles are kept distracted with alcohol, gambling, television, and other entertainment.
Education: The Proles receive almost no education.
Government: The Proles are largely uninvolved in politics and don't participate in government.
Surveillance: The Thought Police occasionally visit Prole neighborhoods to check for unusual activity