Actually Infuriating

This is what bothers me the most about random folks, usually from an EU country, telling Americans we should just oust our shithead president through national strikes or violence and complain that we aren’t doing anything. The US is huge, what works in smaller European countries is vastly more difficult and expensive to organize and execute in the US. Those tactics do work here, but mostly at the local and state level which is akin to how they work in most EU countries when you adjust for population and size. At this level there is just not much an individual or small group can do. Even if my entire city and the surrounding area rose up together (which it wouldn’t since it’s politically mixed) it would have little to no impact. A million or two people just isn’t that much in a nation as large and diverse as the US. The entirety of California or Texas couldn’t appreciably move the needle in all reality and they are massive, wealthy states.

The same reason EU citizens haven’t been able to band together to fully and consistently leverage the combined power of their continent on the world stage is why Americans haven't been able to effectively organize and execute effective federal power changes.

I think it would be a fantastic idea for Europeans, and the rest of the world, to start actually considering what a violent, imperialist US means to their normal day-to-day and how they can best prepare to defend against it. I, and all those I choose to surround myself with, hate what our government is doing. We voted against it, give money and time to causes against it and to try to reduce harm where we can and help those impacted by it. Many of us would leave if we had the means to, but the reality is that leaving has its own risks, is surprisingly difficult and expensive, doesn’t guarantee where we end up will ultimately be better, and removes our ability to do anything here. Like most of life, reality is complex and messy, I just wish everyone could keep that in mind when condemning all Americans for the actions our government is taking.

In short, I am not my country, and while I fully accept that the world hates the US right now (and they should), personally hating every individual American and blaming us as specifically responsible is ignorant and inflammatory. It doesn’t help and just serves to depress and discourage action by those of us who do not support the actions of our government.