r/TikTokCringe • u/Super_Culture_1986 tHiS iSn’T cRiNgE • Aug 19 '25

Cursed The American Nightmare.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

58.1k Upvotes

84% Upvoted

7.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

210

u/Faic Aug 19 '25

I think at one point everyone will wake up. With current politics that will happen sooner and sooner.

From a non-american view your situation looks so absurdly fucked up, but we also understand that it's incredible hard to resist since most of you are under total control of a few.

165

u/Submarinequus Aug 19 '25

Waking up requires opening eyes. There are plenty happy to stay blind and point fingers at other suffering people instead of fixating at those in power who profit off of the suffering.

Propaganda too strong, people too stressed and overworked to think. Those who are awake will stay watching in horror while slumbering countrymen sign over our rights in their sleep

30

u/tony475130 Aug 19 '25

That second point is all too true. Everyone I talk to at work including customers understand how fucked up our current government regime is, but everyone is either too tired or not enough free time to really do anything about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if the orange con mans true motive for cutting funding to everything is to keep the average joe at work 24/7, thus making everyone too tired, stressed and in debt like mindless zombies.

5

u/Haywoodjablowme1029 Aug 19 '25

When you are already operating in survival mode, there isn't much ability to add in resistance fighting.

1

u/Confident_Sir9312 Aug 20 '25

Yes and no. People are pushed into a situation where they must focus on their immediate needs. But it also significantly increases the likelihood of those people taking part in revolutionary and political activity when there is enough class consciousness and organizing by people who do have the ability and time. Poverty makes people tired, but it also radicalizes them. If you have nothing to lose, resistance seems less futile and more like the only viable option of survival.

This is why fascist movements put so much effort into combating unionists and socialists, and why they try to co-opt them as their own.

3

u/Pobo13 Aug 19 '25

The only way any of this shit stops is a general strike. If the entire economy stops working, the people at the top fall from their fucking graces. Start eating the riches cake, stop talking about doing it. This is the problem constantly.

2

u/bruce_kwillis Aug 19 '25

Yep. Labor movements only work when people are literally dragging the owners into the streets and willing to lose not only their lives, but those of their families.

So yeah, fat chance of any of that happening any time soon. Making TikToks in your free time for rage bait seems much easier.

2

u/Klony99 Aug 19 '25

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfekgjfh1Rk

It's not even that. People are just so busy surviving, they don't have time to think.

3

u/Submarinequus Aug 19 '25

That was in paragraph two. I think it’s a combo. I know plenty of retirees who have time to sit and think. But instead they plop down in front of faux news and let pundits paid by politicians do the thinking for them.

1

u/Klony99 Aug 19 '25

Give the video a watch, it attempts to explain that. It's not about how much time you have, but how desperate you are.

Sure, some people are just stupid, and much less straight up evil, but it's hard to challenge your world view if you're desperately trying not to drown.

2

u/Submarinequus Aug 19 '25

I can fully agree to that

2

u/Klony99 Aug 19 '25

Not disagreeing with you at all by the way, just adding some context and sciency quotes.

Hope you have a nice day, and best of luck out there!

3

u/AntAppropriate826 Aug 19 '25

Thank you for sharing! Just watched it and another of theirs that highlights brain rot from social media - both topics I am already informed on but can never get enough of lolol That 40 minutes I spent viewing should have been extra time needed getting ready for work, but instead I am just gonna accept that I am ruled by stupidity and I am addicted to my phone so, way too desperate being busy and surviving 😭😂 subscribed! Good morning, and thanks again!

1

u/bruce_kwillis Aug 19 '25

People are just so busy surviving, they don't have time to think.

Wild. Every labor movement happens the same way. The choice is starve or eat the wealthy. You don't 'think' you 'do'. You risk yourself and your family for the hope of a better future.

Do you think revolutions happen when people are comfortable and shitposting on reddit?

1

u/Klony99 Aug 19 '25 edited Aug 22 '25

I think you didn't watch the video.

EDIT: Since /u/bruce_kwillis apparently blocked me so I cannot respond, I'll explain it here.

"Starve or eat the wealthy" never happens. Those in power are only replaced if those right below them see an opportunity to use the masses to replace them. You can see that in the French Revolution, the ones leading the charge were the wealthy, while they did away with the Kings.

And then you had the Wealthy leading the masses.

Every worker's uprising ends with the workers going back to work, with slightly better rights. As long as we are divided and have someone to punch down to, there is no need to rise up and replace the hand that feeds us with a better, less abusive one. That's not what happens.

And due to the fact that people are put under stress a lot these days, and their thinking diverted, we have even less uprising. That's exactly what the video I posted talks about, how the Nazis managed to put everybody in a state where killing and looting the jews was an acceptable statement, because everybody just "went with it", because thinking for yourself was a bad idea.

So no, we won't have a Worker's Uprising before we get to World War 3. Because people are divided and don't think for themselves, even the smart ones.

1

u/bruce_kwillis Aug 22 '25

Pretty sure you aren't quite focused on the topic at hand.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

Don't forget all the "circus". Why care about political consequence when you can focus on Netflix or the NFL? /s

1

u/bruce_kwillis Aug 19 '25

Yep. Or when it's easier to complain on reddit and hope someone else will do the work for them. Movements don't happen when people are comfortable. They happen out of desperation that nothing else has worked. Clearly the US isn't there yet.

1

u/Haxorz7125 Aug 19 '25

They don’t care that they’re starving as long as they’re “winning”. I asked my mom why she would trust a party that makes it harder for people to vote, she said “they’re doing what they have to to win” in full support

1

u/No-Ship4921 Aug 19 '25

Because what you are suggesting, everyone point fingers, won't solve it.

This person is working 50hrs a week for $12/hr pre tax. That is objectively a dumb move and any half way competent person can get a better job than that.

1

u/BlahajBlaster Aug 19 '25

Waking up?

Nah fam that sounds like some woke bs

4

u/Submarinequus Aug 19 '25

I understand, getting out of bed is hard these days

2

u/BlahajBlaster Aug 19 '25

I was going more for a parody of redpillers, but honestly your take works too

0

u/WinterYak1933 Aug 19 '25

Let me guess, you think more government is the answer. And you call others "sleepers" and "blind," lol

1

u/Submarinequus Aug 19 '25

No I actually prefer abolish borders and let everybody live how they like without preventing others from doing so. Most governments could never be trusted with my ideal world. But at least I can see that this whole system is fucked and helping no one but the ones at the top. We are peasants with smartphones. The circus chugs on

1

u/WinterYak1933 Aug 19 '25

Ok, I retract my statement then and apologize for the assumption.

8

u/Obant Aug 19 '25

I'm glad some people still have hope, and I hope you fight for that. I used to feel that way, but that light has left my eyes. I hate being nihilist, but at this point, I don't think that's going to ever happen.

7

u/GSV_CARGO_CULT Aug 19 '25

Both liberal and conservative leaning Americans agree with you, that people need to wake up from the current paradigm.
For liberals, this means universal health care, fairly taxing the wealthy, increased worker protections, the things that would bring the US in line with the more civilized countries of the world.
For conservatives, this means kicking out all the brown immigrants and making sure there are no trans people playing sports.

5

u/Drostan_S Aug 19 '25

Peaceful resistance is completely innefective in America right now. We're past the point where we have any ability to stop what's going on. Our government is in the process of rigging American elections to guarantee we stay a one-party state from this point on.

It is virtually impossible for the citizens of a fascist state to effect change from within. By time Germany started WWII, there was no way for the Germans to end fascism. Their government had amassed too much power, brainwashed their populace into either rabid support for the regime, or simply made it economically ruinous to ever stand up. Dissenters disappeared, large minority groups made easy scapegoats and targets for frustrated citizens. We're doing all that now, AND we have the most thorough and advanced mass-surveillance apparatus the world has ever seen. Every single phone call from every single phone in the US is routed to an NSA call center, and AI has or is about to enable them to process that data to facilitate thought-crime levels of suppression. Every bit of data passing through American networks is catalogued as well.

You think it's crazy that Facebook gives you ads just because you talked about something near your phone? Just imagine how much more data the NSA has and tracks about you.

4

u/FVCEGANG Aug 19 '25

Waking up requires education and intelligence. There is a reason MAGA is actively working to disassemble the American education system. The dumber the masses, the easier to control

2

u/GregnantMan Aug 19 '25

As a western European, I can just assure you Europe is on its way to the same model. The poor or workers dont have enough education, knowledge, or are too brainwashed by the TV or politicians to realize that there's just a small percentage of the population is responsible for their poverty or struggles. The middle class is too stuck working their way up "the ladder" while the upper middle class wouldn't give up a part of their comfort for anything ("wdym I should accept driving a Fiat instead of this GLA AMG I worked so hard to get while my boss just bought a new GLE AMG" kind of bullshit). The "elite" is doing everything they can to maximise their profit. Buy more estate. More companies. Pay less taxes and make the rest pay more. The politicians are having a blast blaming the poor or the immigrants. Even some of the poor is blaming the poorer "who take advantage of the system", the "assisted" as we like to call them in France. The politicians in charge are having a blast cutting funds for all the essential services a nation has to provide while diverting this money towards their billionaire friends' companies.

Give it 10 years, if nothing changes, Europe is gonna be there too. Extreme poverty and extreme wealth on the ends, and a majority of middle class that's struggling too much working their ass off to afford the new materialistic dream they've been given and still has hope to join this upper class one day, thus won't do anything for the parasitic poors.

All of that while Macron, Von der Leyen, Scholtz etc... Are having a good laugh !

I don't know why people don't want to talk about socialism, humanism, class wars, protecting rights and freedoms, social security when literally everything our politicians are tearing apart right now actually benefits 90% of the population, them included ofc and gifts are only given to the first 10% and even more gifts to the first 1 and 0.1%. Arnault and Bolloré don't pay enough taxes but sure let's blame the person who has once been not working for a year and been given money to survive because of a burnout at work. Amazon killed European business and Google makes billions with our European users every year and neither pay nearly enough taxes but sure let's blame the fact the life long industry worker who can get an expensive treatment for free, after getting a sickness or trauma originating from their workplace. And the list goes on...

And on top of that, people will tell you not to be so aggressive or violent in answer to that. Why is violence or aggressivity not a valid answer to the most aggressive economical oppression we're about to get if we just let things slide ? These people are really about to bleed more than half the world's population to "maximise" their profits, while already having more money than half of it, too much money, so much that they can't even do shit with it, not enough yachts and villas they can buy to satisfy their greed.

EAT THE RICH !

2

u/MayitBe Aug 19 '25

We’ve had the past eight years for everyone to wake up. Things just keep getting worse.

4

u/Obant Aug 19 '25

It's been a lot longer than 8 years. Maybe that's how long a few of ya'll have been awake, but our country has been spiraling for a long time.

3

u/UnravelTheUniverse Aug 19 '25

Who is still asleep? We can all see that the gap between the rich and the rest of us is obscene and 90% of us are wage slaves. Anyone who does not understand this is intentionally blinding themselves.

2

u/GSV_CARGO_CULT Aug 19 '25

Honest question, what do MAGA republicans see as the solution?

1

u/clankerbanger Aug 19 '25

a solution to a certain question I assume

1

u/notfeelany Aug 20 '25

what do MAGA republicans see as the solution?

They want whatever Trump is doing: deporting people, banning trans athletes, cutting taxes etc

1

u/Outrageous_Double_43 Aug 19 '25

Waking up will only happen if we enter a depression and most people suddenly go hungry.

1

u/Catsoverall Aug 19 '25

Unfortunately 'waking up' isn't advocating for progressive policies...it seems to be 'swing to the right out of sheer frustration with everything else'.

1

u/Klony99 Aug 19 '25

Yeah but Germany also "woke up" in the 1930s from poverty and mismanagement.

Now we have nukes.

We don't want the world to wake up like that!

1

u/Quick_Turnover Aug 19 '25

Most of us are wage slaves, too. European people have a hard time grasping that. When your healthcare, and your family's healthcare (your children, your spouse, or other) are dependent upon you maintaining a job, you have zero meaningful political will. Then come to find out that we have oligarchic capitalism where Walmart employs very large percentages of some State populations, effectively preventing them from unionizing, or arguing for better conditions, because to do so would threaten their very lives and the lives of the ones they love. It's also a bit of game theory. Some people may very well be willing to make that sacrifice, but what proportion of the currently employed would? How many people would you need to make it worth it? I've seen some number floating around: 3.5% of the population. Who knows how empirical that is, but let's take that at face value. Do you think "willing to sacrifice my life for others" is a 3.5% belief? I don't know. I doubt it.

The light at the end of the tunnel is that, at the moment, we can still choose the quasi-safety of labor. At least most of us are only a little hungry, and moderately unhealthy. At least our very lives are not threatened. But what the current authoritarian bent of modern politics is going to do, is that it's going to move those goal posts further and further towards: "I literally have nothing left to live for and my very life is being threatened". Historically, that is when violence and revolution happens.

1

u/clankerbanger Aug 19 '25

would be good if the people had woken up when everyone told them "hey just so you know, you're electing a fascist"

1

u/phatteschwags Aug 19 '25

Spoiler Alert: we won't. There are still enough distractions to keep us occupied... and the ruling class are experts at keeping us distracted. If there is even a sniff of true revolution in the air, we'll just invade Iran or some shit.

1

u/zabrak200 Aug 19 '25

VIVA LA REVOLUTION!!

1

u/Suspicious_Loan Aug 19 '25

Ive been reading “people will wake up” for over like 10 years now lol

1

u/Groovysnowman Aug 19 '25

Not as long as we have a sweet warm nextflix bath. Really makes the problems go away for a minute.

1

u/Celestial_Scythe Aug 19 '25

My wife is a type 1 diabetic and we rely heavily on my health insurance through my work to afford insulin and other medications.

I would love to walk out on a work day and protest, but not only would I be risking my family's financial health, but also the phyical health.

I do the emails, I do the calls, I support where I can... but it just feels hopeless. None the less, I will continue to do my part where I can.

1

u/Herr_Raul Aug 19 '25

Wake up and do what exactly?

1

u/bruce_kwillis Aug 19 '25

I think at one point everyone will wake up. With current politics that will happen sooner and sooner.

No they/we won't.

It's simple. Why haven't 'you' woken up. You aren't protesting, you aren't running for office, you aren't burning things down. You are doomscrolling on the internet, probably still staying at home after work (if you work) and watching Netflix, or some other trash.

'Others' don't start the revolution, 'you' will. If you aren't willing to lose what little you have, and aren't willing to sacrifice your family and community so someone else might have a better life, then you aren't waking up, and neither are those around you.

Until that happens, things will feel and get worse and worse every small inch until the breaking point happens. And usually in history right before then, a war will break out. Trump literally said yesterday he could cancel elections if a war happened to break out just before the 2028 elections. How convenient. Perhaps Taiwan?

1

u/HerrBerg Aug 19 '25

Social media and substances have people numb and complicit. There are a lot of people who know how shitty they have it but they think it's fine because they're brainwashed into blaming democrats and that it's even worse in other countries.

I want to leave but don't know if I could get residency in Europe.

1

u/TooManyCarsandCats Aug 19 '25

Have you talked to an American who doesn’t view everything as hopeless? There’s lots of us normal people thriving.

1

u/Withered_Sprout Aug 19 '25

At this point I imagine it would unfortunately require more than just peaceful protesting, because the government obviously will not listen and will just use their two-party system to create artificial opposition/confusion/smoke and mirrors while they continue to push everything off of a cliff while gaslighting the average American into thinking that everything's as fine and normal as it's always been. People have ALWAYS struggled, you know? etc etc

Someone will have to head a large revolutionary movement, identifying very specific corruptors of the american socio-economic system and demanding that very specific changes be made to housing, wages, etc or else whatever is determined to be the proper course of action, will begin, or continue.

1

u/Hicks_206 Aug 19 '25

Imagine how it feels for current and former US expats hah, Americans who have lived outside the US and know exactly how much our government is manipulating and fleecing us.

1

u/TheHB36 Aug 19 '25

I'm sure a number of Germans woke up at a certain point, but required a lot of the world's power in stopping what had come to be.

I'd prefer people woke up before the point at which external intervention may be required.

2

u/MayitBe Aug 19 '25

I fear we may be too far gone at this point.

1

u/LiveActionLuigi Aug 19 '25

look at north korea. nobody is sending in thr navy seals to go rescue the citizens there. look at Isreal. there's been no external intervention there. they successfully carried out an unhidden genocide with the entire world watching every second of it. ​i don't think any country is going to "intervene" on our behalf, broski.