Terry Zink has spent 57 years building a life in Montana’s backcountry. The 57-year-old third-generation houndsman from Marion—a remote town nestled deep within the Flathead National Forest—runs a small archery target business serving outdoor recreation workers and guides who, until recently, had steady employment managing America’s public lands. Contents
Those workers are disappearing. Their jobs are gone. And Zink, who voted for Trump in 2024, is watching his customer base—and his livelihood—vanish before his eyes.
“You won’t meet anyone more conservative than me, and I didn’t vote for this,” Zink told Politico reporters as he surveyed the damage. “You cannot fire our firefighters. You cannot fire our trail crews. You have to have selective logging, water restoration, and healthy forests” (1).
do you wanna stop fascism? want to see trump and elon musk lose power?
working class solidarity is the first step
our entire lives, we’ve been tricked and manipulated into fighting among ourselves, because they know if we worked together, we would be able to take them down.
why do you think, every time that something bad happens, there’s all the media spin about who we should blame?
they love to do this for age, think about all the boomers vs. gen X vs. gen Z articles and social media posts you’ve seen
but they do the same shit all the time with different things. their aim is to split the working class into as many splinter groups as possible.
we need to stop letting the assholes in power divide us like this.
unfortunately, that means extending solidarity to people who haven’t earned it, including people who chose to vote for Trump.
most of these people were tricked and manipulated. many of them have been fed a steady diet of misinformation. many of them are proud, insufferable bigots.
but being smugly superior, insulting, rude or intolerant isn’t how we change people’s minds. the best way to do that is by having a two-way conversation.
we are all so busy yelling at eachother. it doesn’t work. we need solidarity.
That is true, but it is also fair to point out that you are proposing solidarity with someone who voted for fully supporting these negative things happening to other people, even if there was only a vague sense of what that might mean, and is specifically upset now that it unexpectedly turned around on him and his circle. We have to stand with and support someone we might have to fully expect to continue doing the exact same thing as the opportunity arise.
It’s true his interests overlap our own, and raising everyone up is in our best interests, but just realize that we want to give liferafts to people who would prefer to poke holes in the liferafts of others. We want to save people who are acting like spoiled, entitled children and who we have no reason to believe will act any different after they’ve been saved. Just understand that afterwards we need a system that will survive this type of behavior.
The mistake you’re making here like in the other thread is that fascists do not see themselves as the working class, but the ruling class. They believe they are better, and should be rewarded for being better. They are the manipulating class, the dividers, the media spinners, the oppression.
How do you do solidarity with the folks that want to oppress us?
They tricked themselves a SECOND TIME, after we WARNED THEM. How do you warn someone a third time? Do you see them extending their hands and help us?
Solidarity they never give.
Solidarity they destroy once it’s convenient.
Trump should have been rotting in prison, not lauded and praised.
My bet is that Trump will throw the biggest fascist - Steven Miller - under the bus at the point another suburban soccer mom gets killed, or some ICE agent with a hardon to be John Wayne loses it like the Minneapolis jackass did and shoots into a car with small children in the back seat and kills one or two.
Trump cares only about Trump (fuck America, the US is filled with rubes and marks perfect for his con-man ass to scam) and whoever he can use to make himself even bigger, he will.
The dude is massively insecure but knows how to sell and market his “brand”. And he did and the weak minds in the conservitve, poorly educated corners of the country bought the slick sales pitch.
The rest of us are fucked, but at least seeing the pricks in Washington DC for what they honestly are.
Oh, the shit the country’s got to endure because a child fucker is willing to burn the nation to the ground so as to stay out of jail.
This is wishful thinking tbh, I think the more likely outcome is that things escalate to the point that protests become widespread and radical enough (maybe becoming riots) that Trump suspends elections citing the riots as his reasoning, meanwhile ICE is used to round up and silence the opposition, until the protests/riots escalate and the national guard are brought in to “restore order”. If I was a betting man, I’d put money on it. It’s probably the goal.
Suspending elections? Yep. That is EXACTLY the agenda, which is why cooler heads on the street need to be the rule and really, REALLY folks instead need lean into a Democratic wave at every level of government come the mid-terms.
The biggest rebuke will be undermining his authority by removing those who are appeasing his increasingly erratic EO’s. Businesses are pulling back from investing in US factories because EO’s aren’t LAW so much as any given President’s whims, and they can be swept away by the next adminsitration. This is something business understands with crystalline clarity. And they’re not wrong about it. Shit’s slowing down in the economy and all the gaslighting coming from the government won’t stop it.
I mean already the govermnet is looking at temporarily reinstating the ACA subsidies (likely for a year or two - just long enough to keep the GOP in power through the mid-terms) because not having them… well it’s in the process of fucking over meemaw and pawpaw and the kids as we speak…
FFS, even that gorgon, Marjorie Taylor Greene saw the writing on the wall once her kids lost their affordable coverage. Maybe she can give them money from the millions she already has? It’s not like she can’t swing their insurance costs.
But she doesn’t want to, I’ll bet.
Fun times ahead.
It’s that last part that fascists do not comprehend why we despise them so much: “I am willing to rape and groom children to make it to the top. Fuck compassion and solidarity, all children are mine to exploit.”
Indeed.
That’s a typical conservative, religious viewpoint that sees women and children as property to be used by men.
It’s a man’s prerogatvie, after all to put his dick wherever he wants. Whenever he wants. It’s a potent heady power trip for men that are single and lonely and feel powerless.
Vile nonetheless, lest you think I make excuses for it.
Yeah he won’t throw Miller under the bus. Miller is running the execution pogrom.
Ultimately, Trump wants to be popular.
If people start to say he’s a child fucker and a crook and will go down as the worst President ever ad he hired a murderous prick to do his hatchet work… and he hears it often enough… he is just capricious enough to give Miller the heave-ho.
Nup. Millers in there harder than people think. He’d have to cross Trump significantly and personally.
Welp… Will be interesting to see how this one plays out. https://www.rawstory.com/trump-immigration-2675036080/ The clock is ticking, because Miller is pushing Border Patrol and ICE to move faster than they are capable, hence the ill trained, aggressive 20-something goons being hired to meet quota.
Addendum for Tuesday afternoon 1/27/26:
Hmmm. Things are starting to look rather bus-like for Mr. Miller.
https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxFlrGNDfnDEEVhiUZBqgcF-UKFDtWtp3p
One hopes it arrives on schedule and is not late.
I’m not making any mistakes. I know they want to be the oppressor, they feel justified in oppressing us, I see and recognize all of that, and it changes nothing about my position or my reasoning.
The reality is that the average fascist is a loser with literally nothing going for them. That’s what appeals to them about fascism, they get to feel big, strong and powerful, vicariously, through state violence.
I understand how you feel, and I sympathize with you that they don’t deserve to be treated with respect and compassion. I don’t care at all about their feelings, honestly, or their suffering.
But the reality is that their suffering doesn’t stay isolated to them. They lash out, they harm others, they drag everyone and everything down with them, all the way to hell.
All I am saying is “be compassionate”. That’s all. I’m not saying you should tolerate them, or their opinions, or even be nice to them. I am asking you to recognize their humanity, realize that you could be in their position, and think positively, in terms for how we can improve the world, long term.
Lashing out at these people, calling them names, dunking on them, being cruel to them, I understand that they deserve that, but it doesn’t actually HELP anyone. It doesn’t improve material conditions. It only makes things worse.
That’s literally my entire point, and I really don’t think you’ve even really addressed it. You just wrote a lot about how nazis suck and they can’t be redeemed – but that is all beside the point. We should show compassion towards everyone, no matter who, simply as a matter of harm reduction if noting else.
also, lowkey laughing that a self-described anarchist thinks we should send trump to prison. what do we do when we abolish prisons, comrade?!
It should. Otherwise you’re making the exact mistake they repeatedly make. Voting to oppress, divide, and deceive is precisely why we’re here. Unless you don’t learn how they learn, and fall into propaganda, you will never be able to solidify against the elite.
No you don’t.
You are miscomprehending me completely. In order to break fascist propaganda, you need to break them down to their roots. Respect for them means “authority,” not “dignity.” “Compassion” “another try!” They are not aware compassion means “lending a hand.” We need to teach them by violence what that means: because that is the only language they know. They do not talk like you and I. They talk through fists, guns, and boots. Once you get a true white flag, THEN you can teach them what it means to lend a hand.
YEAH, THAT IS THE EXACT PROBLEM. They do not know compassion, and we have to teach to them the hardway. Tantrums are the language of the undisciplined. We have to rediscipline them from the bottom.
They don’t have that. How do you teach a monster to not be a monster?
Someone needs to go to deconstruction school. I suggest you get your psychiatric studies up in order. Humiliating and punishing wrong doings is part of teaching how to be human. We are not lashing out, we are reeducating them.
NOPE. Get this fascist narrative out of here. I said they need to be retaught HOW TO BE COMPASSIONATE, HOW TO INTERSECT, HOW TO SOLIDIFY. Lashing out is what they do. We humble them, punish them, and teach them how to be human again.
Rehabilitation is required to reintroduce members into society that have wrong us. If they can’t be reeducated, what should we do?
Can you provide any evidence that supports your claim that humiliation and punishment is a more effective way of educating people than compassion?
Sure. It’s so effective, the 🇺🇲 has employed if for a century now.
Compassion much like learning to share, is a discipline that needs exercise.
…and now you’re linking me to AI slop blogspam. Okay, I’m done. You’re wrong about many, many things. I’d strongly encourage reading through an anarchist FAQ as a starting point.
You should click profiles of people. I show the anarchist Faq all the time.
Denying operant conditioning doesn’t work is like denying eating doesn’t work. But you do you.
Maybe read it more instead of showing it. I’m not saying that the fucking concept of operant conditioning doesn’t exist, I’m just saying that it’s not really a great way of teaching people compassion. Anyways, as amusing as this has been, I’ve spent too long chatting with you, take care & solidarity.
Dehumanizing people and calling them monsters is unironically nazi shit.
So you do recognize how fascist see us brown people.
Now, how do rehumanize that illogical thinking?🤪
By recognizing that they are flawed people who grew up in an environment who taught them it was normal and good, and rewarded them for behaving that way. They are just humans, like us. We would have been the same as them if we were in their place. Only by recognizing that, and seeing them as humans, can you stand any chance of actually defeating fascism. If we just follow in their footsteps, answer violence with violence, dehumanize them in the same way they dehumanize us, we just lay the seeds for them to rise again.
This is not the case, because I was able to estrange my conservative upbringing by educating myself and being kind to others. I was able to recognize the harms I made, and went through deconstruction to be able to help others too.
Fascists do NOT want to recognize they are flawed. They do not want to recognize they are wrong. They want to be wrong, and make others fall in their misery.
They are humans that fail to recognize their humanity. And need to be retaught, from the bottom what that entails.
Reread carefully, again. Maybe three times.
They refollowed those steps. They reanswered in violence. They re-dehumanize us, again. They reseeded fascism, and want a third reseed.
Compassion-focused therapy only works on those that are capable communicating in other languages than violence; that fascists rechoose to recommunicate with.
Well, keep going through it, because you’re not quite there yet.
Man I hate to tell you this, but here’s how that’s going to go.
“You want my help dismantling the Trump regime and the oligarchy? Ok, I’ll help, but only if you agree to criminalize being gay, trans, black, or brown.”
“Good, so first step- wait, what’s that? A LIMITED EDITION TRUMP 2028 HAT??? Sign me the fuck up!”
“Then get fucked shitlib, I’m calling ICE and telling them to fuck you up.”
“See, you get it! The globalist Jews…” He carries on and you pretend not to listen. “But when I become a billionaire, I’m gonna do it right!”
Yeah, that’s how the first few conversations tend to go. Then some time later, can be weeks or months later, they notice something that resonates with something you said to them, and it’s the first crack in their absolute belief in their world view.
people rarely, if ever, change their views from a single interaction, but they can change, and all it takes is for us to hold back our impulses to rub their noses in the mud and the time/patience it takes for us to show them an alternative in a way that they don’t immediately reject.
with trump, the epstein stuff, and affordability crisis, right wing ideology has never been more exposed and vulnerable in my entire life.
Can you tell them to “hold back [their] impulses” from going door to door and shooting us in the face, pretty please?
You’re too nice for this time, ay. I have a heap of admiration for your viewpoint.
Unfortunately, here, it’s naive. Very few change, it’s never by ‘reaching out’ and it’s only ever driven from within themselves.
The truth is, it’s not worth seeking the few out, because the movement is vast and abhorrent and like what’s been pointed out, it only understands ne language.
I’m actually not interested in beating it out of them, I prefer to disregard, defend against them if necessary then apply accountability as per damage done, once they no longer hold power. I guess that’s why I admire your kindness because quite frankly I’d be a bit more ruthless in sentencing than a persuasive hiding.
Nah there’s another way without having to come together with them.
There’s enough good people to effect an extended shutdown to force the Houses to act. You don’t need to extend an olive branch, again, to people who will just stomp on it anyway.
It means a lot of hardship until it’s seen through but it’s the best option now.
You’re right, I think. All the smug schadenfreude has always felt hollow to me. Where does it get us, anyway? Just another distraction from the goal of worker solidarity, fostering an attitude that’s actively harmful to that goal.
The ruling class are not the workers.
The “smug” class has distracted us for far too long.
This is the class we are dealing with.
I choose not to make the same mistake I did in 2021. Compassion is for those that earnestly seek it.
Terry Zink hasn’t.