As a Canadian who had no control over the outcome but will be disproportionally effected by the negative outcomes due to our shared border, I can't be anything other than angry. I now have to endure your bullshit and I get no say in any of it. It's important to remember we live in a globalized society. That's true whether you build a wall or not. So when you act out like this, the effects it has on the rest of the world are huge.
I fully agree with your analysis. What I find a bit maddening is that yes, democrats didn’t connect enough with voters on their most pressing issue (their economic insecurity), but it is very self-centered and myopic to blame the current US administration for issues that ALL of the Western world faced in the last few years. The US economy generally, but also real wages and purchasing power specifically, faired better in the US than in most other countries.
US commentators and, frankly, voters, are so blind to what is happening outside of the US bubble that their perspective is completely off-base. Biden managed to stir the ship well in that environment. It is wild to think that Trump, of all people, would have done better.
That is all forgetting the extremely terrible blow this will do to the environment, the issue of climate change, healthcare, women specifically, the economy (!) and immigrants.
Dems had to know this and adjust their messaging accordingly though, it's not rocket science. They were arrogant, out of touch and slow to react. And they keep sliding to the right instead of embracing popular, left-leaning policy.
As much as I attribute almost all of modern societies ills to Reagan I was always able to agree with his idea of America as a “shining city in a hill”. Now not only do I not know what we are. I don’t even know what Americans want their country to be.
I wonder if you are close to the same age I am (57). Because that was exactly where my mind went. What I wrote to my friends was that even though I had lived my adult life knowingly cynical about our government I was still surprised at the scope of the loss and "...it turned out I did think of America as a city on a hill. Not shining but amenable to polishing. I bought the bullshit."
Just read this, and finished listening to the latest post-mortem podcast, and I wanted to thank you, Dave, and your wife, for sharing your journey and your story the last few weeks. I've been listening along, rapt, cheering you on, and admiring your efforts.
I was heartened by Joy's positivity in the post-mortem. I hope it's not insulting when I say I was expecting her to be despondent. Her rationality was a breath of fresh air on a day when I've been spiralling.
I aligned myself with your despair, Dave. I revelled in it. I want to give up. I want to give in. I want to rage against all of America and scream at you that whatever happens from here on out, you deserve it.
I also wanted to say, "Thank you" for being raw and real with us, and being our parasocial pal through all of this. What you do *helps* people like me. Thanks for that.
This country is a bad, sick joke. All the talk we were raised on- "Liberty, and justice for all", "the land of freedom", etc. etc. is just masturbation. I will never again stand for the pledge, or sing the anthem. 47% of this f'd up s'hole has given the shaft to its own citizens, as well as the rest of the whole doomed world.
I never would have believed after nearly 250 years, we'd throw it all away over a stinking pile of bullshit.
I am simply heartsick over this, and all the resulting suffering that will come from America’s baffling decision to once again elect a woefully unqualified, unbalanced, and deeply selfish man over yet another eminently qualified, compassionate woman. I just don’t understand this country anymore.
Hey Dave. Bradly Martin from AB Canada. Thank you for sharing this analysis. My heart aches and breaks for the state of humanity. About 20 years ago in WA I fell in love with my Darling and married her. She was an illegal alien from Canada and I thought marriage did away with any of those issues. It did not. Long story short she was deported and I migrated with our 3 kids to Canada. We've been together since with a growing family.
Long ago my oldest sons asked me why we left the States. I said in the most simplest terms it was just not a safe place to be for our family because we are a just a little bit different.
It seems every year since the exodus I've hoped that what I told them was silly dramatics controlled by paranoia of losing the people I love. Alas.
Dave thank you for all your discourse and podcast endevors and the large and growing community of diverse voices you've built through them. Much love to you and your family.
What is really hard to digest is not that Kamala lost, but that Trump won by such a large margin.
Some analysis seems to indicate that it wasn’t that a lot more people voted for him, but that Democrats did show up to support Kamala. You mentioned in one of the Wisconsin diaries episodes that young men were feeling disenfranchised. I just saw a statistic that says that for the first time in history, younger generations, specially men, are more conservative than older ones. I don’t know if this also is one of the factors that contributed to what we saw this week, but casting a protest vote for Trump has to be one of the stupidest self owns in history.
I just hope that compassion and reason prevail sooner rather than later.
Thank you Dave to you and your wife for sharing your journey and doing all that you could to avoid this outcome. These are dark times, even for us that live far away from the US (but not outside its influence), but we have to remember that there is light at the of tunnel. That as bad as things seem right now, it will get better. We can’t waver in our convictions of fighting for a better world. I owe my 8 year son that.
I live in europe and my home was recently flooded. My house was build in a no-flood zone. Climate change already affects millions of people around the world. As i am still working on rebuilding my home, all i can see is the US electing someone who openly denies climate change and who is willing to let europe slide more and more into russias grip. Yes, we are too dependent on the US, we all know that, yet our internal struggles, partially influenced by russia-friendly partys, keep us from acting to change that. It seems hopeless and when you see your most powerful ally turn their back on you it makes you angry and frustrated.
From the UK it’s a really weird feeling to not look up to America anymore, and I will miss what it was. As you say, that chapter is firmly closed now and we don’t know what comes next. It’s a unique emotion that sits somewhere between embarrassment and stark terror.
I’m pulling for you, Jeff and Devindra and your families. Your perspectives on all of this help us international fans process it alongside you.
Seconded. I work in a hospital with people from all over, mostly the Caribbean, South America, Africa and the Philippines. Almost none would support Trump but all were baffled anyone would be extremely sad or angry about his win. They were absolutely emotionally unfazed.
"What did you expect?"
"This is how it works."
They grew up with this flavor of government. They actually find it pretty funny the middle aged white guy has to "come to terms" he lives in what is just another fucking country.
IMO, most of our problems aren't with economic policies or due to them (which have seemingly been pretty damn good under Biden) it's corporate greed, corporate inflation, and everything to do with the rich taking an unequitable portion of profits from other peoples work.
We barely tax them - we barely hold them accountable - they are able to buy off politicians and have their way with policy. IT'S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE NOW WITH TRUMP IN OFFICE.
I feel you, friend. What's helped me is reminding myself to take the high road - always. It takes work to not succumb to despair. It's hard, and it's okay if you fail sometimes.
Ask yourself, "What kind of a person do you want to be?" the kind that gives up and gives in, or that takes stock, dusts yourself off, and finds a way to move forward. Somehow.
Dave, as an outsider to all of this, your last sentence really resonated. “we will never be able to ever say again that this is not who we are as a country.” I think much of the rest of the world will now see the US in this light.
We can only hope that the damage to your country and the world will be minimal during the next four years.
Honestly, I haven't seen the US in this light since 2016. I grew up in the 90s in Brazil, kind of idolizing the US for its culture, for its arts. I learned English by myself. I dreamt of one day living there. Today, I don't know what anyone could offer me that would make me want to go be a part of that society.
I couldn’t agree more. Generations to come will have to live with the consequences of what has been wrought with this election. The nearsightedness of those choosing Trump will haunt me for some time.
As a Canadian who had no control over the outcome but will be disproportionally effected by the negative outcomes due to our shared border, I can't be anything other than angry. I now have to endure your bullshit and I get no say in any of it. It's important to remember we live in a globalized society. That's true whether you build a wall or not. So when you act out like this, the effects it has on the rest of the world are huge.
I fully agree with your analysis. What I find a bit maddening is that yes, democrats didn’t connect enough with voters on their most pressing issue (their economic insecurity), but it is very self-centered and myopic to blame the current US administration for issues that ALL of the Western world faced in the last few years. The US economy generally, but also real wages and purchasing power specifically, faired better in the US than in most other countries.
US commentators and, frankly, voters, are so blind to what is happening outside of the US bubble that their perspective is completely off-base. Biden managed to stir the ship well in that environment. It is wild to think that Trump, of all people, would have done better.
That is all forgetting the extremely terrible blow this will do to the environment, the issue of climate change, healthcare, women specifically, the economy (!) and immigrants.
Dems had to know this and adjust their messaging accordingly though, it's not rocket science. They were arrogant, out of touch and slow to react. And they keep sliding to the right instead of embracing popular, left-leaning policy.
As much as I attribute almost all of modern societies ills to Reagan I was always able to agree with his idea of America as a “shining city in a hill”. Now not only do I not know what we are. I don’t even know what Americans want their country to be.
I wonder if you are close to the same age I am (57). Because that was exactly where my mind went. What I wrote to my friends was that even though I had lived my adult life knowingly cynical about our government I was still surprised at the scope of the loss and "...it turned out I did think of America as a city on a hill. Not shining but amenable to polishing. I bought the bullshit."
Just read this, and finished listening to the latest post-mortem podcast, and I wanted to thank you, Dave, and your wife, for sharing your journey and your story the last few weeks. I've been listening along, rapt, cheering you on, and admiring your efforts.
I was heartened by Joy's positivity in the post-mortem. I hope it's not insulting when I say I was expecting her to be despondent. Her rationality was a breath of fresh air on a day when I've been spiralling.
I aligned myself with your despair, Dave. I revelled in it. I want to give up. I want to give in. I want to rage against all of America and scream at you that whatever happens from here on out, you deserve it.
I also wanted to say, "Thank you" for being raw and real with us, and being our parasocial pal through all of this. What you do *helps* people like me. Thanks for that.
This country is a bad, sick joke. All the talk we were raised on- "Liberty, and justice for all", "the land of freedom", etc. etc. is just masturbation. I will never again stand for the pledge, or sing the anthem. 47% of this f'd up s'hole has given the shaft to its own citizens, as well as the rest of the whole doomed world.
I never would have believed after nearly 250 years, we'd throw it all away over a stinking pile of bullshit.
I am simply heartsick over this, and all the resulting suffering that will come from America’s baffling decision to once again elect a woefully unqualified, unbalanced, and deeply selfish man over yet another eminently qualified, compassionate woman. I just don’t understand this country anymore.
Hey Dave. Bradly Martin from AB Canada. Thank you for sharing this analysis. My heart aches and breaks for the state of humanity. About 20 years ago in WA I fell in love with my Darling and married her. She was an illegal alien from Canada and I thought marriage did away with any of those issues. It did not. Long story short she was deported and I migrated with our 3 kids to Canada. We've been together since with a growing family.
Long ago my oldest sons asked me why we left the States. I said in the most simplest terms it was just not a safe place to be for our family because we are a just a little bit different.
It seems every year since the exodus I've hoped that what I told them was silly dramatics controlled by paranoia of losing the people I love. Alas.
Dave thank you for all your discourse and podcast endevors and the large and growing community of diverse voices you've built through them. Much love to you and your family.
This is yet another example of the stupidity of these policies. Your family is clearly a valuable asset. Canada is lucky to have all of you.
What is really hard to digest is not that Kamala lost, but that Trump won by such a large margin.
Some analysis seems to indicate that it wasn’t that a lot more people voted for him, but that Democrats did show up to support Kamala. You mentioned in one of the Wisconsin diaries episodes that young men were feeling disenfranchised. I just saw a statistic that says that for the first time in history, younger generations, specially men, are more conservative than older ones. I don’t know if this also is one of the factors that contributed to what we saw this week, but casting a protest vote for Trump has to be one of the stupidest self owns in history.
I just hope that compassion and reason prevail sooner rather than later.
Thank you Dave to you and your wife for sharing your journey and doing all that you could to avoid this outcome. These are dark times, even for us that live far away from the US (but not outside its influence), but we have to remember that there is light at the of tunnel. That as bad as things seem right now, it will get better. We can’t waver in our convictions of fighting for a better world. I owe my 8 year son that.
I live in europe and my home was recently flooded. My house was build in a no-flood zone. Climate change already affects millions of people around the world. As i am still working on rebuilding my home, all i can see is the US electing someone who openly denies climate change and who is willing to let europe slide more and more into russias grip. Yes, we are too dependent on the US, we all know that, yet our internal struggles, partially influenced by russia-friendly partys, keep us from acting to change that. It seems hopeless and when you see your most powerful ally turn their back on you it makes you angry and frustrated.
From the UK it’s a really weird feeling to not look up to America anymore, and I will miss what it was. As you say, that chapter is firmly closed now and we don’t know what comes next. It’s a unique emotion that sits somewhere between embarrassment and stark terror.
I’m pulling for you, Jeff and Devindra and your families. Your perspectives on all of this help us international fans process it alongside you.
Seconded. I work in a hospital with people from all over, mostly the Caribbean, South America, Africa and the Philippines. Almost none would support Trump but all were baffled anyone would be extremely sad or angry about his win. They were absolutely emotionally unfazed.
"What did you expect?"
"This is how it works."
They grew up with this flavor of government. They actually find it pretty funny the middle aged white guy has to "come to terms" he lives in what is just another fucking country.
Well said
IMO, most of our problems aren't with economic policies or due to them (which have seemingly been pretty damn good under Biden) it's corporate greed, corporate inflation, and everything to do with the rich taking an unequitable portion of profits from other peoples work.
We barely tax them - we barely hold them accountable - they are able to buy off politicians and have their way with policy. IT'S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE NOW WITH TRUMP IN OFFICE.
I'm so depressed right now - I really don't know what to do.
I feel you, friend. What's helped me is reminding myself to take the high road - always. It takes work to not succumb to despair. It's hard, and it's okay if you fail sometimes.
Ask yourself, "What kind of a person do you want to be?" the kind that gives up and gives in, or that takes stock, dusts yourself off, and finds a way to move forward. Somehow.
I’m right there with you, the despair is overwhelming. It really feels like all hope for change is lost.
Dave, as an outsider to all of this, your last sentence really resonated. “we will never be able to ever say again that this is not who we are as a country.” I think much of the rest of the world will now see the US in this light.
We can only hope that the damage to your country and the world will be minimal during the next four years.
Honestly, I haven't seen the US in this light since 2016. I grew up in the 90s in Brazil, kind of idolizing the US for its culture, for its arts. I learned English by myself. I dreamt of one day living there. Today, I don't know what anyone could offer me that would make me want to go be a part of that society.
I couldn’t agree more. Generations to come will have to live with the consequences of what has been wrought with this election. The nearsightedness of those choosing Trump will haunt me for some time.