In February 2020, as an American, covid was this ominous fire burning worldwide that was slowly encroaching on us. It was very easy to see that everybody's lives were about to change very much. "Normal" had about two weeks left, this time last year.

Now, it feels much the same way. Trump's administration is causing serious issues throughout the United States and across the world. But I have the privilege that my day-to-day life still feels normal -- for now.

It feels just like February 2020: The world is dire, things are getting worse, the "normal" is about to run out. And all of our lives are about to change very much.

But the analogies stop there. This is much more volatile. There's no "covid case rate" tracker to refresh daily. Instead, it's any hour of any day that we might hear "US bombs Ontario" or "US to take over Gaza and turn it into luxury condos" or "AOC shoots herself in the head twice after being outed as a pedophile by OAN" or "Trump takes credit for AOC 'suicide' as a military action in 'world war woke'."

I'm not alone here, right? I need some validation that this dooming reflects the very real world doom that's coming.

Comments

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emma wrote on February 19, 2025 at 6:51 PM

#24,074

feels a lot worse than february 2020, to be honest. and i'm not even on your side of the pond.

twovests OP wrote on February 19, 2025 at 8:24 PM

#24,076

Replying to emma (#24,074)

Yeah, that matches it.

I'm very scared lol

hollyhoppet wrote on February 19, 2025 at 8:28 PM

#24,077

to me, feels about how it felt in february 2020, yeah. and september of 2001 tbh.

honestly i feel like i'd have been more scared during the cold war given they had "duck and cover" PSAs on tv lol. sure don't feel great though.

we'll still be here at the end of it to pick up the pieces and carry on. solidarity.

missingno wrote on February 19, 2025 at 10:46 PM

#24,078

It's truly terrifying how much more damage he's doing so much faster this time. Felt like we made it through his first term because he ultimately didn't actually do all that much, but this time around he's got Elon Musk in his ear giving him instructions on how to any% speedrun the destruction of everything.

cowloom wrote on February 20, 2025 at 9:01 PM

#24,100

You're not alone at all. I feel the same way. At least with the pandemic, we knew those tend to fizzle out after a few years, but there's no standard expiration date for fascism. 2023 had plenty of problems, but from inside the US, it seemed to be the first relatively "normal" year since 2015 - and it will likely be the last normal one for quite a while. But while hardships are sure to come, falling into defeatism is doing trump's work for him (not that that's what you're doing; it's just a common sentiment I've seen online). The "it's all over, we're so cooked" mentality is just as harmful as the maga one. Because it's never "over" as long as people are willing to fight back.