Before I left the Netherlands to live in the USA, my father gave me one very specific piece of advice: “Never talk about politics in America.”
At the time, I nodded, like a good Dutch son, thinking, Sure, Dad. Sounds like a plan. I'll just talk about the weather and cheese.
Fast forward 13 years, and here I am, living in the U.S., realizing that avoiding politics here is like avoiding mayonnaise on Dutch fries—it’s just not happening.
I tried, though. Oh, how I tried. But life has become so complicated. Politicians don’t seem to be in the business of helping people anymore. Instead, they seem to be playing an elaborate game of Monopoly, where the goal is to make rich people even richer, buy up all the property, and throw the rest of us in jail for accidentally stepping on Boardwalk.
And then there’s social media. Sweet, innocent social media… oh wait, no. That was 2008. Now it’s a place where billionaires play puppet master. Let’s talk about X (formerly Twitter, formerly a decent platform, formerly a place where people used to fact-check stuff). Elon Musk—yes, the man who launched a car into space just to flex—has turned it into a disinformation theme park. He’s even carrying his 4-year-old son on his shoulders like a medieval king using a human shield. Not suspicious at all, right?
Meanwhile, I see a post trending on X saying that “woke” people should be deported. Thousands of likes. Thousands! I read this, blink a few times, and think: Wait, isn’t ‘woke’ just being aware of social injustices? How did we get to the point where caring about people is a deportable offense? Next, they’ll be kicking people out for holding doors open for strangers.
This isn’t just an American issue either. The Netherlands and the rest of Europe are also dealing with this fun little game called “Blame the Immigrants”, a classic move in the populist playbook. Because clearly, it’s the refugees’ fault that Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk each has more money than entire countries. Makes total sense.
Oh, and here’s a 'fun' fact: If you have $5 million lying around, you can buy U.S. citizenship. No questions asked! That’s right—doesn’t matter where you got the money. You could be a criminal, a scam artist, or a literal Bond villain, a human trafficker but if you’ve got the cash, welcome to America! Meanwhile, the average person is stuck in a bureaucratic nightmare just trying to get a visa extension.
At this point, I hear my dad’s voice in my head: “See? I told you. Don’t talk about politics.”
Well, Dad, I tried. Rest in Peace. But it’s hard to stay quiet when the world is turning into a weird mashup of 1984, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Idiocracy. Maybe we should all just start reading the Constitution again and remind ourselves what democracy is actually supposed to look like.
Until then, I’ll be over here, nervously eating stroopwafels (have to order them from the Dutch Store again) and wondering if I should start taking dad's advice more seriously.
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No, keep talking. Resist. Better now than in 6 months, or years. We have to stop this now as American people!
Thanks Jeff for your comment!
Get your stroopwafels from Wawa, seven eleven and more shops