sonia: Quilted wall-hanging (Default)
[personal profile] sonia
Via [personal profile] siderea.

"The road to fascism is lined with people telling you that you’re overreacting."

- u/Gleeful-Nihilist on r/Collapse, July 2, 2022 (here)

Yes.

I peeked at the r/Collapse reddit and started thinking that maybe I shouldn't be too quick to buy a place here in the Bay Area. If I'm going to have to emigrate suddenly, it's much better to have $ in a bank account than a piece of property. Either one can easily be seized by the government, but the $ are more portable.

Every time I think this through, I come to the conclusion that I'd rather go down with the American ship than start over in Germany or another EU country. I wonder if already having done half the work of relocating changes that calculation. Thing is, I just came home. Not eager to leave again.

I wonder if no house/condo I've looked at feels quite right because I'm looking for something that feels settled and safe, and that's simply not available. Although I do feel surprisingly safe in this apartment. Not the "calculate what kind of neighborhood it is" kind of safe, but the body-level sense that all is well, contributed to by the usual amounts of clunking around from the neighbors.

As I take steps to rearrange my life the way I want it, I wonder if I'm under-reacting to the threat of fascism. In part, I moved to Portland 17 years ago to try to get away from climate change and the looming risk of a catastrophic earthquake. Then I learned about the Cascadia Subduction Zone, and we had three extreme climate events in a single year. If I can't get away from it, the choice is where do I want to go through it, and the answer is here.

Similarly, I think part of the reason I keep deciding to stay in the US is that other countries are equally at risk of right-wing takeovers. Being an immigrant is an even rawer deal when that happens.

Healing from trauma has been a long process of learning how to settle my system out of panic rather than being terrified in every moment. Even if panic and terror are appropriate responses to what's happening, I don't want to live like that. I want to find calm and peace and joy where I can, in seeing old friends and beloved neighborhoods and the spectacular San Francisco Bay.

Tomorrow I'm biking across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge because that's allowed now, to see a friend I've known for 30 years who lives over there. I already have more options for people to get together with on a holiday weekend here than I ever did in Portland.

(No local annoying small fireworks so far, but someone is setting off a bunch of professional-sounding big ones with deep booms somewhere in the vicinity, tonight on July 3. Still not nearly as loud as it was in Portland. I went out to look and don't see them, so they must be further away than they sound like.)

ETA: A hopeful comic about working toward change by [archiveofourown.org profile] potofsoup via [personal profile] minoanmiss.

Date: 2022-07-04 10:21 am (UTC)
minoanmiss: Minoan maiden, singing (Singing Minoan Maiden)
From: [personal profile] minoanmiss
*reads and contemplates and hugs you*

Date: 2022-07-04 03:33 pm (UTC)
thistleingrey: (Default)
From: [personal profile] thistleingrey
other countries are equally at risk of right-wing takeovers. Being an immigrant is an even rawer deal when that happens.

Yep, this. And though my face is never at home, here I know some systemic issues; if I moved, I'd have to learn those all over again, too (including if moving away from US W Coast).

Having calm, peace, and joy can lend the strength to take reasonable actions and thus increase chance of survival, I think, including community survival. Otherwise, it's only ever "resilience," and I find that that works better as the backup plan, not the first couple rounds....
Edited (removed accidentally c&p'd cut-tag hinting) Date: 2022-07-04 03:34 pm (UTC)

Date: 2022-07-05 03:13 am (UTC)
thistleingrey: (Default)
From: [personal profile] thistleingrey
Me personally, I tend to react too strongly if resilience takes the first action, or even response. :) Good as a slow burn, though.

Date: 2022-07-05 02:07 pm (UTC)
asakiyume: created by the ninja girl (Default)
From: [personal profile] asakiyume
The comic is great--I somehow missed seeing [personal profile] minoanmiss's post about it.

Out of curiosity, is the apartment a place you could choose to stay if you wanted? (Or is it not a place where you'd want to stay long-term?)

Date: 2022-07-12 01:38 am (UTC)
tshuma: (Default)
From: [personal profile] tshuma
Welcome back to the SF Bay Area! I think I missed the transition largely because I disappeared from the internet as much as possible for a while when things got hairy down my way.

Date: 2022-07-17 05:19 pm (UTC)
amethyst73: (Default)
From: [personal profile] amethyst73
Hugs. Just... hugs, cuz I'm not able to offer a lot else concrete right now. (We vote! Really we do!)
(And we're glad to have you back in the area!)
Page generated Jul. 11th, 2025 07:19 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios