yes, this post is about politics

well, folks, you know what this post is going to be about. politics! as much as i hate to discuss the american politics (because i hate ameri- and euro-centrism), it's hard not to discuss it. quoting Alasdair Beckett-King about reality (and by extension politics), "It's like the family's pet with an erection. Unpleasant, but difficult to ignore." so, what's next?

the world has been going to shite for quite a while now, but with Trump winning, a lot of people believe that it's the end of the world or, at the very least, the beginning of a "dark era". while i too feel the urge to give into the panic, i don't think that's very useful right now. is it bad that trump became the president of the us? yes. and not just for the us citizens; trump's presidency is a signal to other leaders and politicians to take off their masks and to reveal their far-right, fascistic ideologies. take my country, for example, where one of the parliament ministers expressed that "it's okay to discriminate and ban LGTBQIA movement, look at what Trump is doing!" basically: if the us is fascistic, why can't we be?

it's undeniable that the years to come are going to suck. for a lot of people. and they're going to be devastating for most of us. i would love to be able to wave it off, saying "the us doesn't affect me," but it does! it does, because the us sucks and its govt. makes their problems everyone else's problems! but it's important to remember: there are people who will be fighting this. there are people who are already fighting this. and while Trump has already signed a bunch of orders, it's going to take time for them to be implemented, if they are going to be implemented at all! it's very important not to fall into the pessimistic spiral, because that's exactly what the politicians want. losing hope means losing the battle. and if russian classical literature has taught me anything it's that there will be people who never lost their hope. any politics can be resisted and changed for as long as there are communities. if you were looking for the "right time" to start talking with your neighbour or join that activist group, now is the time. it's now.

my country has a storng politically apathetic population. the soviet regime has taught many people to fall in line and not try and resist, because they were taught that change is impossible and unnecessary. but things are changing, even in a country like mine. there are a lot of people, young and old activists, lawyers, students, doctors, and many others who are trying to fight it. who are changing things, bit by bit. recently, my country semi-passed the law based on a petition to ban "open and hidden lgtbqia propaganda." i'm sure you know that queer propaganda is not a thing, but the people behind the petition and the politicians don't really care about it. there was an article investigating as to how this petition gathered so many votes so quickly, and they found out that govt. officials and bosses made their employees (and students) sign the petition. this is obviously INCREDIBLY undemocratic. but, of course, there were people who resisted it! one worker at the clinic expressed her concern [ru] that the petition violates constitutional human rights of queer people. and it makes me very happy to see that there are people in my country who understand what's happening and who are speaking out against it. every country has people like these.

it is a scary time to be alive, especially for us, minorities. but there are people who won't be sitting and fooling around. and we don't have to either. our communities have survived through many tough times, this one isn't any different. befriend your neighbours, ask your friends if they are alright, and make sure that you yourself are alright too. as my friend, who is incredibly anxious about the current politics, has put it, "I'm glad the world didn't blow up after that horrible night."