Skiluros

Exactly. It's like the (apocryphal?) quote.

There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.

Agreed. My comment was a general statement of solidarity. :)

Historically that's not necessarily the case. Authoritarians who come to power via somewhat democratic means in their first terms to be much more mild relative to subsequent terms where they solidify their hold on institutions.

One notable example would be Putin's first term (which is largely seen to be a fair win) or even when Medvedev was ordered to warm the seat. It always only gets worse, at least from historical examples.

The bigger question is whether the US opposition has any willingness to fight, which I don't believe to be the case.

Curious to see how this goes. Wish all the best to the democratic, liberal-minded folks in Hungary.

The impression I get is Orban's rule has become ironclad over the last few decades (which makes sense as you get time to institutionalize "permanent" rule and condition society to such a state of affairs). I do hope I am wrong and my knowledge of Hungarian politics is subpar beyond foreign policy elements.

Trump winning the popular vote would be hilarious.

Btw, I am not being petty. I am Ukrainian so we got a lot at stake. But that being said most Ukrainians (and the government) thought Trump would win.

If you're serious about this. You don't need a degree. You would need some sort of financial buffer for the transition.

You can teach english or maybe even find a mid-level job (by local standards) leveraging your english skills in globalized areas like outsourcing (experience with sales or some sort of client facing would help).

I would not go through with this unless you're actually committed (perhaps even beyond Trump; looking for something novel in life). You'll need to learn the local language if you are serious about this.

Ukrainian here, most the of the country and the government thought Trump would win. Some of this could be attributed to just more brand recognition (no one knows much about Harris), but I think people generally felt that Trump was more in line with US society.

FWIW, we've been fighting russian domination for centuries, so in a sense this is just another chapter. No other option than to do what we can.

Bread and circuses. Or Big Macs and iPhones if you want the modern equivalent.

It is real though.

You can't expect a society dominated by oligarchs (not just on an economic and political level, but more importantly the broader social conscious) to put up any effective challenge to an oligarch candidate.

The lack of "on the ground" protest activities when that US abortion protection law was repealed is a perfect example.

Doesn't help that the US opposition is largely corrupt as well.

If you don't mind me asking, why did you ask me that question. I am genuinely curious.

I feel like I am not getting something.

Cops in general? Absolutely not. You won't change my mind on this. I have real life examples from my country that for me make it impossible to say "all cops are bad" - very couregeous acts of bravery in defense of the country and in a sense me and my family too.

With respect to the US, I did have issues with the police acting out and roleplaying as cowboys and generally being a bit unprofessional (I am aware that it can be far worse for many other Americans). I also had good personal interactions with someone who worked in a US police department. It would be difficult for me to call him a bad person.

I am sure there are a lot of bad cops in the US (and my country too), but I got the impression that systematic/institutional issues should not be underestimated.

These are just my direct experiences and some general knowledge. I am not really in a position to make calls about the US.

Do you have something specific in mind?

I generally oppose notions such as "all cops are bad" and I do think they should even command some respect in society (it should go both ways of course). You want the police to be on side of society in a broad sense and for them to be civic minded.

I wouldn't say American police are bad (even though I do have stories of their cowboy antics) per se, but I did get the impression that the US police is somewhat subrevient to the oligarchy.

Having a civic minded police is the best option, but even a self-interested police force can show flexibility and have a indirectly positive influence.

One hypothetical example would be the police not willing to easily, directly side a group in a given case. Their thinking could be something along the lines "why don't we sit this out, no point in taking all the risks for some breadcrumbs, when the vast majority of the benefits go to someone else. Let them put their asses on the line and we'll see how things play out."