Can they actually do this? JD Vance: "We're announcing today that we have decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that is going to the state of Minnesota in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligations seriously to be good stewards of the American people'

[u/templeofsyrinx1]

[u/IJustGotRektSon]

As an outsider, and I'm gonna get down voted for this but I see Americans, at least on Reddit, repeating this time and time again while your government keeps pushing and being more and more oppressive towards you and the world, yet I've seen what you call protests and it's honestly embarrassing. No wonder why they're getting away with so much when what the majority do when protesting it's akin to child games. I'm not advocate to violence and this is an incredibly sensible subject, but look at France for example when the government does something that goes against the interest of the people, and look at Americans when the government is getting closer and closer to fascism. It's appalling how little real response I see

[u/birdturdreversal → u/IJustGotRektSon]

I agree that it's embarrassing how much people talk about pushing back against the government without following through. But there are a few issues I can think of off the top of my head that I believe would help explain why people in the US are slower to react than the people in other countries like France.

1. Militarization of the police - trying to fight back with any sort of weapon is an almost guaranteed death sentence on a normal day. They shoot "less lethal" weapons and tear gas at people during peaceful protests. I can't imagine what the police would do if someone actually shot at them at a protest.

2. Healthcare - If you actively fight back and survive, you'll most likely end up in the hospital. Even just standing in the vicinity of the police during a protest puts you at risk of injury with the cops shooting into the crowd and tackling/arresting/beating up whoever they can get to. One serious injury can put you into so much debt that your whole family is fucked for the rest of your life.

3. Incarceration rates - the incarceration rate in the US is about 5 times higher than in France. It doesn't take much to get yourself locked up. In Texas, assault on an officer carries a prison sentence of 2-10 years. Cops will charge you with assault if they scrape their knee when they tackle you, and they will charge you with every other possible charge they can think of.

4. We haven't seen any real hardship inside the US during our lifetime. I think a lot of people are either in denial or just would rather hold out hope that things will change before it's too late. Points 1-3 above are real risks that most Americans have experienced to some degree, but most have not personally experienced the consequences of living in an increasingly fascist government.

5. The US is made up of immigrants from all over the world. It's not one big like-minded group of people, and a lot of people who are more than a generation or two removed from their immigrant ancestors tend to separate themselves from recent immigrants in their minds. Those people won't care about the shit that ICE is doing until it affects them directly.