before waking up and finding out that every single thing they ever believed about their countries, governments, and societies were nothing but lies.

I did that, and I don’t know which steps to take first. I’ve gotten to making friends and then telling them about my ideology later, but I am very scared of the police and military. I hear all this new stuff they get–they have tools to hack into people’s smartphones, they are well equipped, and they can just fucking shoot me if they want.

The problem seems to be protests, at least a little bit. My city in particular is a haven for dilettantes across Imperial countries who arrive, then move. This is not like immigrants coming from Mexico, this is like someone in New York deciding he wants to visit the petit-bourgeoise restaurants around town, show up for business meetings, deliver money and fill out paperwork, then leave for Dallas. It’s a tide of people rich enough to love the United States and despise the homeless, yet poor enough to feel alienated and overworked. Like how pond life cannot develop in a river.