I Will Not Be Complicit

I have resisted writing about Trump and Musk and the American coup. I did not want to give the bastards and their toxicity any oxygen. Still, it has been hard to imagine anything else to write about, and so the blog has remained dark.

     I expected it to be bad; and so it has been, only it is much worse. There is no need to list or detail all of that here; we all know what has been happening. He has already declared “LONG LIVE THE KING” (written in all CAPS, of course, as a pathological narcissist would do in referring to himself). (1)  Suffice it to say that the psychopathic team is tearing down the good American government administration, trashing over eighty years of morally excellent humanitarian development, along with unleashing indecent cruelty upon the powerless.

     In this initial period I have been doing the things I can do: signing petitions and sending letters to the powers-that-be. I have been giving small amounts of money to organizations here that are taking the Trump administration to court – apparently our last line of defence, as it seems that Congress is missing in action – such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the Natural Resources Defense Council, 350 Org, and VoteVets. But it feels like not enough. I feel helpless at times.

      Although I am not a Facebook user, a Canadian friend (Richard) sent me a link that I took a look at. It was an Australian, who, in solidarity with Canadians (and Mexicans) is boycotting anything American that he is able to. (His original post was on TikToc.) Good on him, I thought: after all, it is not just Trump alone. As recently as a week ago, the psychopath’s approval rating among Americans was at 53%. (2)  Most often people laud him for “doing what he said he would do” – as though this is a positive, when what the bully is doing is hateful and destructive.

     Unbelievable, incomprehensible: I have lived here half my life and I cannot express my dismay. In any case, the Australian gave me a gift: encouragement, resolve, and a realization. Most inspiring was his declaration, in so many words, that the futility of his effort did not at all negate it. He said, knowing full well that his personal boycott is ineffectual, “I will not be complicit in the tyranny of the U.S.A.” (3)

     I will not be complicit in the tyranny of the U.S.A.

     I have taken this on as a mantra. I refuse to go along. I will not be silent. I will keep sending my bits of money to good organizations. I will keep on signing the petitions, and sending my letters. If I buy anything, if there is a non-American option, I will get that. While cheering on the Canadian hockey players who whipped the U.S. last night, I put a Canadian flag decal on my car. I have my Team Canada hockey sweater ready to wear when I go into town. I will go to the small anti-Trump protest/vigil in the little village of Salem tomorrow and stand in the cold with the rest of the good, decent people. My poster will read: Stop the Coup!

      I do not know what else I will do, but I am determined to think of things. I will keep myself mentally healthy, and as physically healthy as I can be. I will be ready. I will take refuge – as Buddhist adherents take refuge in the Sangha – in the sanctity of my like-minded American friends.

     Eighty years ago, our parents and grandparents defeated the Nazis. We must do the same.

     They will not win without a fight. My answer to them is: no.

     I will not be complicit in the tyranny of the U.S.A.

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1. Yang, Angela. “‘Long live the king: Trump adds monarch rhetoric to actions.” NBC News, 19 Feb. 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/king-trump-rcna192912. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.

2. Wolf, Zachary B. “Americans voted for Trump. Did they vote for this?” CNN Politics: What Matters, 13 Feb 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/13/politics/americans-support-for-trump- what-matters/index.html. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.

3. See: Johnny Cole Public, https://www.facebook.com/reel/2995900423918554. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.