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I used to be a dyed-in-the-wool optimist. Now, I'm an avowed cynic, and most people don't realize it because I'm generally a cheerful person and that serves to mask it somewhat.
My entire adult life has corresponded to the regressive post-9/11 loss of economic and civil liberty that has drastically impacted the poor and working class in America.
Thing is, I truly believed in Obama. I went to a rally where Michelle spoke in September 2008. In late October, Obama dropped by for a rally, and there were so many of us that the organizers had to cut the line off and we had to sit on a nearby hill and just listen. I was 100%, absolutely certain that real, lasting change was coming.
But nope. Our two wars became seven. (That we know of.) Occupy was brutally crushed by the NYPD with Obama's tacit approval. Police became militarized, even after Ferguson. Torture continued and the War on Terror continued unabated, despite Obama having a mandate to end it. No one from Wall Street that crashed our economy for profit went to prison, even though a foreclosure crisis followed. Life began to become unaffordable and the minimum wage stayed at $7 an hour. Despite having the votes to universalize health care, Obama made it more expensive instead. The cherry on top was that Obama gave us Tom Homan.
All of these problems have continued and worsened in the decade since 2016, despite both parties having total power for years at a time.
Now, no matter who we elect at the federal (and mostly state) level, I know things are never getting better.
My only power is local. Thankfully, my city is doing good things, so there's that, but if I had the money to do so I'd leave this country completely and reside abroad instead.