Living inside a crumbling empire feels very unreal. Especially if you live miles away from the very balls of power. During the Bronze Age collapse, there were clay tablets still in the kiln, trying to make calculations, trying to keep track of numbers. Often, when a civilization crumbles, the average Joe and Jane are mostly just keeping their head down, trying to get their work done so they can go home to their family. Not so much for this empire. Mostly because we all have a window into the surreal death spiral in our back or front pocket. The burning air and the boiling sea becomes impossible to ignore, even if you're not the one personally burning or boiling.
When the fascist empire brings their imperialism home, that's when you know things are rough. ICE continues to round people up, but quieter now. 50,000 of our neighbors were arrested in July, most with no criminal records, guilty of nothing more than having a funny name and brown skin. Constitution? What's that?
Meanwhile, the military continues to flail in Iraq. Our neighbors hate us. Our enemies laugh at us. The Long Summer continues to be the hottest one on record (so far.) So keeping our head down and focusing on our work isn't really an option anymore. Maybe it never was. So keep your head up and on a swivel. Talk to your neighbors. Speak up. Speak out. Don't brood. Organize.