Tag: We Are So Fucked

Living In Oblivion, 2025

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m an absolute nobody in the middle of nowhere and so whenever I get a bit of buzz — even a tiny bit — I wonder what I’ve done. I seem to be getting a little bit of buzz of late. There are two options as to a reason for this at the moment: 1) people are talking about all my novel talk or 2) people are interested in my ranting against Trump and MAGA.

I do both so equally these days that I can’t figure out which one is the one that is generating the teeny-tiny little bit of buzz I seem to be generating. If I knew which one, I would lean into that element of things.

But, alas, I just write about what’s going on in my life — not much other than writing a novel and being aghast at the wabbling of the USA — and as such, lulz, I just will keep doing what I’m doing.

I have a core group of about five people who check this site a little bit more than I’d like — I’m not that interesting, guys. But I guess there is no downside to having “fans” if you live in oblivion and they are far away.

Sigh. I wish something “fun-interesting” would happen to me, like catching the attention of a Hollywood star (in a good way.) That would at least give me something different to think about.

The Second American Republic Is Dying

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

There have been two American Republics to date — one founded by George Washington and another founded by Abraham Lincoln. The last one, the current one, is dying and the question is What Come’s Next?

It could go either way at the moment.

We could either simply slip into full-blown autocracy and that will be that or we depose Trump, have a civil war, the Good Guys (Blues) win and we establish a Third Republic.

I really, really don’t want a civil war, I’m just saying given how fucking tribal everything is, it seems like a civil war is the only way to eliminate MAGA as a political force. MAGA is a cancer that is eating our political system alive and we need some serious chemotherapy to get rid of it.

It’s not going to be fun and it’s not going to be pretty.

Again, I’m not advocating anything untoward, just saying what would have to be done to get rid of MAGA as a political force. As such, I think we’re stuck with MAGA and soon enough ICE or the FBI will murder me in cold blood because I won’t shut the fuck up about how much of a cocksucker I think Trump is.

Sigh.

I’m Officially Beginning To Worry About The Social Security Administration

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The chatter around the Social Security Administration is growing pretty dark at an alarming rate, with the current leader of the organization suggesting he might shut the whole thing down.

Now, this has obviously not happened yet. So, it could be just a bunch of MAGA rhetoric and bluster, but…I’m getting nervous. Doing something like that would dramatically upend the lives of millions of people — most of the the most vulnerable in society.

It would also be a huge shock to the economy, if suddenly a lot of people just did not have any money to spend.

And, yet, Trump has consolidated power already to the point that, lulz, it’s possible even this would not be enough to cause people to risk their “lives and scared honors” in the real fucking world.

A lot would depend, of course, ono how long the shutdown — or interruption of benefits — lasted. If it was days, that’s one thing, but weeks or months is a different issue altogether.

And, of course, it’s possible that Trump could use any mass protests because of this dumb event to establish martial law and that would be that. He would create his own Reichstag Fire event that we would lurch into true fascism.

Only time will tell, I suppose.

‘Let Them Eat Cake’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It definitely seems as though April’s Social Security checks are now in danger, the way people in the Trump regime are talking. If that happened, if nothing else, it will make a lot of people who are rather blasé about politics sit up and take notice.

A lot would depend on how long the delay was. If it was just a few days, that is one thing, but if it dragged on for weeks or months, that is a different matter altogether. People might actually get mad enough to risk their “lives and scared honor” IN THE REAL WORLD.

But…I have my doubts. Trump is an dictator and people are lulzing it. So it definitely seems as though this frog, as they say, is cooked. The country is just too big, to beholden to plutocrats — especially the media — for anything of note to happen.

And Trump has all the cards, all the power.

I just never see us having another free and fair election on the Federal level and Trump is probably going to run for an illegal third term and STILL people will lulz it all.

‘clears throat’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

This was bound to happen. Trump is determined to ruin everything — including the Social Security Administration — so I guess it was inevitable that shit like this would be proposed.

So, there you go. Millions of people may be in the lurch because Trump is a very stupid tyrant. If those checks are processed on time for April — and it definitely seems like that’s a possibility — all hell may break loose.

They’re Going To Deport Me To South Korea, The Way Things Are Going (FUCK TRUMP)

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As I constantly say, you go bankrupt gradually, then all at once and I’m growing a bit unnerved that ICE or the FBI is going to come after me at some point in the not-too-distant future.

I’m totally harmless and there’s no reason for anyone to want to lock me up other than I hate MAGA and can get into a diatribe about that fact here on this blog every once in a while.

And, yet, Trump is slowly circling the US like an anaconda and soon enough he will consolidate power to the point that he can strangle what little is left of our democracy altogether.

Really, the only issue is how far he will ultimately go. It is clear to me that he is probably finally going to do something really bad to the point that either he is deposed (don’t know how that will happen) or we lurch into being a legalistic autocracy like Russia.

It seems as though the thing Trump and Musk will do that will finally cause a lot of otherwise blasé people to sit up and take notice is something to do with the Social Security Administration. If it really does collapse and checks are delayed for a significant amount of time, that would probably be enough for massive demonstrations or maybe, just maybe some sort of General Strike.

But I have severe doubts about that. Americans just don’t think in those terms and ultimately Trump will consolidate power, run for an illegal third term, shuffle off this mortal coil and then whomever succeeds him will be our dictator for the rest of my life.

We Live In A Political Liminal Space (For The Moment?)

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Trump is pushing and pushing our political system to the breaking point…or is he? Maybe the our political system is just going to bend so far as to be unrecognizable.

It could be that we’ll have what I’ve heard as a “competitive autocracy.” And yet I wonder if we are heading towards some sort of final spasm of consolidation that turns us into a full-blow autocracy.

Maybe this is just a mid-way point. Maybe we’re in a transitional phase that isn’t over yet and this liminal space is just a temporary moment in time. I just don’t know it could go either way.

But I think what’s really happening, which is kind of dark, is Trump is going to be a Julius Cesar like transitional figure who destroys what’s left our democracy and we turn into a full-blown autocracy in the style of Russia.

Whenever Trump shuffles off this mortal coil, there will be a huge power struggle until we get the official successor who will be president for 30 to 40 years. That seems like one potential fate.

Of course, there’s a chance that Trump could finally do something so stupid that he gets deposed then there’s a civil war when Red States get mad and leave the Union. So, there is a wide range of possibilities.

Who knows what is going to happen. Probably whatever is the worst possible outcome.

Chappell Roan Made Us Cocky

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m a huge fan of Chappell Roan, and, yet, uh, she can be quite explicit in her lyrics in a way that can potentially turn off the normies. As such, I think she’s a symbol of why fascists won the 2024 election — Blues got cocky.

While we were jamming out to Roan singing about lesbian sex, we totally ignored that a lot of centrists might be turned off by such things. It is growing abundantly clear to me that the fixation on advocating the most extreme position possible on Trans rights isn’t exactly helping Blues woo the critical centrist vote.

The great irony is, of course, that Trump is now using anything to do with Trans people as a catch-all applause line — he knows that him being anti-Trans played well with middle America and so he goes nuts in hating on them. (Ugh.)

I’ve even had a close, conservative relative tell me, essentially, that he believes Blues hate the traditional nuclear family. Ugh. And so here we are. The fascists are consolidating power and there’s just not much we can do. It’s only going to get worse, I fear.

I Fear The VOA Is About To Become An OANN Clone

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have a real fondness for the Voice of America and it breaks my heart that malignant ding-dong Trump has, for the moment, ended its existence. And, yet, I think we all know what happens next: it turns into an OANN clone.

The REAL reason why it’s been shuttered is so Trump and his Project 2025 cronies can find a few hundred far, far, far Right MAGA nutjobs to staff it and then turn it into state media.

VOA isn’t supposed to be broadcast in the States but, lulz, I don’t see that lasting. So, within 18 months, I suspect we’re all going to be talking about how VOA is now state media both at home and abroad and how insane it is in its support for Trump and MAGA.

It’s shit like this that makes me fear that you just can’t unring the Trump bell in the US government. It definitely seems as though This Is It. The end, folks, we’re an autocracy now — Trumplandia — and eventually ICE or the FBI will start pushing people like me out of windows.

Sigh.

We’re One Severe Recession Away From Programming No Longer Being a Viable Career

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Now, I’m not one of those who thinks 80% of all programming will be done by AI in a few months. But I do think that very soon — it can be counted in months — a huge chunk of bread and butter programming will be done by AI.

The reason why it won’t be a “few” months is institutional apathy. There are still major companies being run off of COBAL. So, lulz, it’s just going to take a little bit longer than some people think for all those programming jobs to vanish.

But they will vanish.

Once we have a (severe) recession, then AI coding will just have to be *good enough* at coding for major companies to a cost benefit analysis and realized that they just don’t need a lot of junior coders. The mid tier coders will be effected as well. It is software designers and architects who are probably safe for the time being.

But, in general, I do think that by 2030 there will be far, far fewer human coders in the marketplace. Most — but not all — code will be written by the blackbox of AI.