@nazgul In 1989, at the border crossing to East Germany, I was 18, and the border guard launched into a five-minute tirade about how terrible everything in America was (I was from West Germany, so there was no reason to bring up the US, but hey). Anyway, the man described a dystopian world full of crime, rip-offs, and abuse—and voilà: just 35 years later, I find exactly that world in the news. Crazy. And of course, our provincial fascists in the european governments are following along. yay 🥴