This Doesn't Feel Like Freedom. It Feels Like Serfdom.
Seven Months Into Trump's Return: The Institutionalization of Vengeance and the Collapse of American Systems
Opinion by: Aisha K. Staggers, Editor-At-Large
We are only seven months into Donald Trump's return to power, and already it feels like we've been living under siege for years.
The fear is back—but it's heavier now. More targeted. More efficient. The legal system isn't failing us; it's actively being used against us. The media isn't informing the public; it's normalizing the collapse. And the White House isn't governing the people; it's ruling over them.
This doesn't feel like democracy. It doesn't feel like liberty.
This feels like serfdom.
And if you're part of any marginalized group—Black, queer, trans, immigrant, disabled, poor—you're not just feeling it. You're suffocating under it.
Because the weight of authoritarianism doesn't fall equally. It crushes those already living at the margins, those who were barely holding on during the softer version of Trumpism we endured the first time around. Back then, we were gaslit into thinking it was an aberration. A four-year fever dream. Now, we know better: it was a test run.
And now we are in the real thing.
This moment we're living in is not just post-freedom—it is anti-freedom. It is the institutionalization of vengeance, the weaponization of the state, and the erasure of rights wrapped in a flag and sold as patriotism. It is what happens when fascism stops flirting and demands a ring.
For those of us on the frontlines—for those of us forced onto the frontlines just by existing—this is more than political exhaustion. This is soul-deep depletion. It is being told every day, in ways both loud and quiet, that our lives are expendable. That our rights are negotiable. That our personhood is conditional.
And we still have three and a half more years of this.
Do you know what it means to look down the barrel of that reality? To know that no matter how exhausted you are, no matter how much you've already lost, you are expected to just keep pushing? Keep resisting? Keep smiling like hope is still sustainable?
Because if we're being honest, hope is starting to feel like a luxury product—marketed for mass consumption but priced out of reach for those who need it most.
It's not just the policies. It's the posture. The cruelty isn't just the point—it's the performance. From the demonization of immigrants and trans people, to journalists being surveilled and activists being harassed, we are being conditioned to believe this is normal. That this is legal. That this is deserved.
And for the most vulnerable among us, there is no off-ramp. There is no "safe state," no sanctuary. Because when fascism is federalized, safety becomes a myth. Resistance becomes a risk. And rest becomes a casualty.
We are not burned out because we are weak. We are burned out because we are awake. And we see what's coming. This is the definition of "woke" that the right misunderstands. The people who call liberals "sheep" don't seem to realize that we are fully awake, seeing right through their sanctimonious bullshit.
And we are tired of it.
We know this is not just about Trump. It's about the machine behind him—the billionaires, the judges, the media executives, the evangelical extremists, the corporate cowards, and the everyday Americans willing to trade away other people's freedoms for their own comfort. That machine is humming along just fine. And unless we dismantle it, ballot by ballot, policy by policy, callout by callout, it will keep running even after Trump is gone.
But right now? In this moment? We are tired. Not defeated, but raw. Grieving. Raging. Holding each other up because the state won't.
Refusing to call this freedom when we know what freedom is supposed to feel like, even if we've never fully been free.
And this ain't it!
Sources:
On DOJ Weaponization:
Timeline: Politicization and Weaponization of Justice Department in Second Trump Administration
Trump is weaponizing the DOJ just like he accused Democrats of doing
White House Executive Order: Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government
On Press Freedom Under Attack:
Foreign journalists in the U.S. are self-censoring to protect themselves
Under Project 2025, Journalists and Sources Would Face Spying and Prosecution
On Targeting Marginalized Groups:
Trump's anti-trans effort is an agenda cornerstone with echoes in history
One month of fear for groups targeted by Trump's executive orders
ACLU: Trump's Executive Orders Promoting Sex Discrimination, Explained
On Surveillance and Civil Liberties:
 |
|