by Tasha Monroe | The Commons Dispatch

Why some Americans would rather watch others suffer than keep themselves safe—and how it brought us here

Some folks would rather burn down the house with themselves in it than let you sit comfortably in the front yard.

That’s not a metaphor. That’s America.

It explains why people keep voting for the same politicians who lie to their faces, gut their healthcare, kill their food assistance, defund their schools, and bankrupt their towns so long as the "others" suffer worse. That’s the real agenda. Pain politics. They’re not voting for a future. They’re voting for a vengeance that doesn’t save them either.

This week, the U.S. Senate passed the Big Beautiful Bill, a Frankenstein monster of budget-slashing, power-hoarding cruelty that reads more like a regime blueprint than a financial plan. And it’s likely to pass the House. This bill locks in tax cuts for billionaires, slashes Medicaid, and gives federal muscle to the same fear-mongering policies that criminalize poverty and migration.

You know what else it does? Nothing to protect your vote. Nothing to secure your freedoms. Nothing to make your life more livable.

In fact, the people who celebrated it the loudest are already moving to deport American citizens. Yes, you read that right. Trump made the statement publicly, citizens, not just immigrants.

Let that sink in.

And if that wasn't enough, the Supreme Court just ruled that presidents have “absolute immunity” for official acts. That includes, but is not limited to, things like sending in troops, targeting political enemies, or manipulating elections under the guise of executive function. It's not hard to draw a line from that to a constitutional corpse.

Meanwhile, they’ve quietly reopened an immigrant detention center off the coast—nicknamed Alligator Alcatraz, where human beings can be caged indefinitely without trial. We’re not using metaphors anymore. This is ethnic cleansing by bureaucracy. This is regime behavior with polite branding.

But here’s what nobody wants to say out loud: A lot of people voted for this.

Not by accident. Not out of ignorance. They voted for it because they could not stand the thought of someone they hate or who is not like them or the right skin color, having anything they didn’t.
Dignity. Safety. Opportunity. Life.

That’s the real American sickness. It's not just racism or classism or xenophobia. It’s envy weaponized as identity. It’s a culture that confuses punishment with power.
So what now?

Honestly, I’m not here to sell hope. Not this time.

If you’re reading this, you probably already know. You feel the air getting heavier. You see the smirks on the faces of men who plan to rule, not lead. You hear the silence of people who once shouted “never again,” now whispering excuses.

This isn’t a drill. This is the regime, fully operational. And if you are Black, Brown, poor, queer, immigrant, disabled, trans, or just loud and inconvenient—they’ve made it clear you are not meant to survive this cleanly.

So what do we do? Prepare.

Spiritually. Practically. Emotionally. Build your people network. Get your meds. Know your rights. Stop debating fascists and start protecting yourself.

And if you’re one of those folks who keeps thinking “it won’t get that bad,” I just have one thing to say: It already is.

You just haven’t been targeted yet.