# Is my life worth anything anymore? (Venting of emotions from Election Day) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 6, 2024, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764 "2024-11-06T06:43:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![WalterBishop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@WalterBishop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WalterBishop)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/82 "2024-11-08T21:48:41Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > And they’ll believe Trump when he tells them he’s only suspending elections “until we can figure out what’s going on.” No, they won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/83 "2024-11-08T21:52:01Z")
Why not? It’s worked literally every single other time he’s done it. Why would this suddenly make Trump supporters question him? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/84 "2024-11-08T21:54:12Z")
So after an entire election of discussing how hardcore Trump supporters weren’t the only thing that mattered, they’re the only thing that matters in this discussion now? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/85 "2024-11-08T21:55:43Z")
Now that the Republicans are going to control the government? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/86 "2024-11-08T22:05:57Z")
Why? Is it because at that/this point, you figure that 100% opposition, or close to it, is required to stop literally anything from happening? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/87 "2024-11-08T22:07:25Z")
As an aside, I should’ve figured that there’d be posters here seriously trying to persuade me that the answer to my topic question is no, but it makes sense that there’d be a non zero chance. Ah, what the hell, this is an open thread. Welcome to y’all. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/88 "2024-11-08T22:07:31Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Why? Is it because at that/this point, you figure that 100% opposition, or close to it, is required to stop literally anything from happening? The opposition has no power and can therefore simply be ignored. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2024, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/89 "2024-11-09T19:38:07Z")
We need to bring in the thought that Trump is a poster child for the early stages of dementia. He cannot speak a single coherent sentence. He fellated a microphone on national TV. He also rambled through a half-hour or so with the praise of Arnold Palmer’s genitalia. Also on national TV. It’s only going to get worse. JD Vance truly isn’t all that bright. If (when?) Trump is removed from office, Vance would step up. His presidency would be rather insipid. We can only pray (Please, God!) that the American people would respond in the next election with a modicum of intelligence. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2024, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/90 "2024-11-10T02:09:11Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > JD Vance truly isn’t all that bright. If (when?) Trump is removed from office, Vance would step up. His presidency would be rather insipid. No, he’s possibly _more_ evil than Trump. He’s where he is because a billionaire Peter Thiel decided to back him, got him elected to the Senate, and then got DonJr to recommend him to trump. Vance is beholden to Thiel, and theyre backing Project 2025. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2024, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/91 "2024-11-10T17:25:21Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > Then I saw [this.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYpuslqlu6o) Thank you for sharing this. I agree, we each have to work locally. And sometimes that just means taking care of yourself. This weekend I realized why so many people “keep busy”. Because when I’m busy, I don’t think about the election, I’m just focused on what I’m doing. So this weekend was gardening, cooking, baking, shopping, etc. Doing constructive things. I have been tempted to share some negative stuff on Facebook. But I will not give in to hate. I will stay positive. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2024, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/92 "2024-11-10T22:43:24Z")
@needscoffee My observation that Vance is not very bright comes from the fictional blather that (illegal) immigrants in Ohio were eating dogs and cats. People were in an uproar over the very idea that the missing Fido or Fluffy was an ingredient in somebody’s stew. The “breaking story” from the Republican party was almost immediately shot down, and there was enough evidence from the fact checkers to prove the story false. Almost all people who had perpetuated the story began to backpedal. Trump’s minions used doublespeak to distance him from the fiction. Vance continued to spout the story. He was challenged by reporters and shown evidence that it was simply not true. He finally, reluctantly admitted it was false, but then started making up fairy tales as to why he felt it was necessary to keep perpetuating the lie. I concluded the man is simply not very bright. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2024, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/93 "2024-11-10T22:44:40Z")
I think the word you want is “craven.” ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/94 "2024-11-11T00:52:14Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > Vance continued to spout the story. He was challenged by reporters and shown evidence that it was simply not true. He finally, reluctantly admitted it was false, but then started making up fairy tales as to why he felt it was necessary to keep perpetuating the lie. > > I concluded the man is simply not very bright. He didn’t do it because he believed it, he did it because trump’s followers were buying it. He lies through his teeth pretty much every time he opens his mouth. Outrageous lies. He’s not “not very bright”, he’s a conniving weasel. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/95 "2024-11-11T02:13:32Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > He didn’t do it because he believed it, he did it because trump’s followers were buying it. He lies through his teeth pretty much every time he opens his mouth. Outrageous lies. He’s not “not very bright”, he’s a conniving weasel. And also completely uninterested in the collateral damage caused in the town he spread the lies about - _the state that he was elected to represent in the Senate._ ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/96 "2024-11-11T02:42:23Z")
> [@susan](#): > > I think the word you want is “craven.” > [@needscoffee](#): > > He didn’t do it because he believed it, he did it because trump’s followers were buying it. and “BINGO” was his name-o. Some of these people are stupid. Some are evil. Some are both. Vance, in _no way_ strikes me as stupid. Pure evil. Don’t underestimate him. Don’t turn your back on him. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2024, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/97 "2024-11-11T14:57:07Z")
“Sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from malice”, as many people said about Bush II. In practice it barely matters _why_ somebody is acting destructively, only that they _are._ ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2025, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/98 "2025-02-04T03:41:28Z")
I was writing a new post, but realized that it was really just an offshoot of this one, so I decided that despite the potential for less feedback, I’d spare everyone’s the extra thread and put it here. Before we start, I realize the irony and hypocrisy of venting frustration about other people doing the same. And I want to emphasize that it’s not just this board I’m thinking about. That being said, I’m trying to work through my emotions of the past few months/years and wanting to get a feel if I’m totally off base here. There seems to be a pervasive assumption that everything is on the table and no one is going to stop it, in a political sense. I can’t help but think that could use the same logic to say that it’s a certainty that he’ll nuke Los Angeles, and we should devote 100% of our personal time and resources to evacuate as many people by any means necessary starting now. Or hell, I’d encourage everyone here to start using heroin. It’ll help you forget what’s happening around you, and with fascism destroying literally everything around it, it is consequence-free. (And I’m sure pretty sure that someone will agree with one or both of the above in replies, too.) But my question is genuine: what are we doing here? Is there any point to doing or planning or being anything? The worst part of all of this is that instinctually, on some level deep inside, I _must_ feel like the answer to the question above is yes, that there _must_ be a point, because I still don’t _want_ to give up and I get upset that others are. Whether it’s justified or self delusion, I can’t say. But it’s frustrating to see online discussions (again, not necessarily herder) go around and around in a self feeding spiral of despair. And again, it’s especially frustrating because I can’t say it’s unjustified, while at the same time feeling that it’s “wrong,” and I can’t express any real good reason why. Maybe I feel like giving up on myself would be giving up on my loved ones, and I’m not willing to do that to them, so I resent anything that I think might be pushing me to do that. This probably repetitious of previous threads of mine, like [this](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-given-up-hope-for-the-future/1013246/111) or [this](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-doomsayers-inherently-encourage-suicide-or-other-extreme-action/1003613/30) or this very one, but if it makes it any better, I feel like I’m getting closer to the roots of what’s going through my mind about current events. Am I making any sense here? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2025, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/99 "2025-02-04T07:46:05Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > The worst part of all of this is that instinctually, on some level deep inside, I _must_ feel like the answer to the question above is yes, that there _must_ be a point, because I still don’t _want_ to give up and I get upset that others are. The point in life is, as it always has been, whatever you choose to be so. You are not responsible for others’ inability to find a point of their own. And social media probably isn’t the best place to look for one either. Out there IRL, you could (metaphorically speaking) either follow “Don’t mourn - organise” or cultivate your garden, Candide-style, or some combination of the two. And that could well be a route to some sort of mutually supportive community. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2025, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/100 "2025-02-04T08:03:56Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > The point in life is, as it always has been, whatever you choose to be so. You are not responsible for others’ inability to find a point of their own. That’s very true. I think in this case that my reaction to others is because I expect those who have given up to roll over for the Trump regime at best, so I can’t count on them to render aid or try to improve things, so in a sense, I feel more in danger because of it. But as you say, it’s not something I can probably help, so it might just be better to concentrate on what does matter. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2025, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764/101 "2025-02-04T12:44:43Z")
There is defeatism here. I spread some of it. But I will distinguish between “trump & his successors turn the USA into something resembling the Philippines under Marcos or Russia under Putin over the next 10 years” and “We’re all dead by Christmas 2025”. The former is plausible and I can’t stop it. The latter is implausible but I also can’t stop it. Worrying about the latter is choosing to pollute your mind with false ghosts bearing only doom. Worrying about the former is borrowing actual trouble from the future; it’ll be here soon enough, what’s your rush? Anticipatory fear is almost always worse than subsequent reality. There will be a Resistance although not by that name. But you won’t be reading about it on a message board that’s constantly read by the regime’s bots. The Chinese people are living with, and pushing back on, an authoritarian criminal klepto regime. And they’re also living, loving, procreating, earning, and everything else humans ever do. It’s a god-damned shame that the American citizens of the early 2000s were dumb enough to give away what had once been a good country. But that’s not the end of your life, my life, nor the vast majority of people’s lives, both current and future. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-life-worth-anything-anymore-venting-of-emotions-from-election-day/1009764.md?page=4)