#our government absolutely sucks shit but it's not a full-blown dictatorship

[depressed-changeling]

America has contributed to fascistic groups taking over democratic nations globally in order to seize resources (specifically sugar cane and oil in the past century), or forced nations to becomes either becoming states (Hawaii) or territories (Puerto Rico). However, the actual US itself has not YET become a dictatorship to itself. Hypocritical about freedom and perpetrated war crimes in the entirety of it's history, absolutely, but not full blown fascism.

It has been steadily marching to that point since Nixon. Nixon introduced the very concept that a president is above the law with Watergate. Reagan allowed the Heritage Foundation to take root in the government, introduced the experimental trickle-down economics, and twisted healrhcare and college to only be accessible to the rich (Reagan did SO MUCH horrible shit so I'm just ending the list here to save space).

But it doesn't end there. We can observe since Nixon that every Republican president dragged the country into an unimaginable state, then the Democratic president that follows fixes it until the country is in a neutral state, only for the next Republican president to tear it all down again and install insidious footholds for authoritarianism to take root. Stacking judges, introducing Citizens United, defunding education, etc. All of it to bring the country closer and closer to full-blown dictatorship.

All of it leading to this point. We as voters are fucking exhausted with our political choices constantly being between two shades of evil and of combating gerrymandering that makes it feel like our choices mean nothing. We as a society swore never again, and yet the US is funding and sending our weapons and soldiers to Israel to commit genocide against the Palestinians. We're fucking pissed, we're exhausted, we're scared, and that's so incredibly dangerous.

The US has had decades long ties to Israel that goes beyond party, so we're forced to choose between politicians that are either gleefully willing to expedite the Palestinian genocide or pretending to be ignorant of the war crimes being committed. Unfortunately, the politicians that are most vocal about Israel's war crimes won't be able to become president, at least not this election, noy with how close it is.

But our choices do matter. Thanks to protests, calls, emails, and pressure from Pelosi, Biden finally stepped down from the election. Harris, while certainly not a perfecr politician and with many valid complaints, is a better candidate for the simple fact she can be persuaded. Her call for a ceasefire and a two-state solution, while a rather tame call, is genuinely far more than I was expecting for any candidate to make, especially this close to election day. Her choice of Walz over Shapiro is also quite interesting as the usual D playbook for presidents it to choose a more independant/centrist. Instead she went with Walz who, while imperfect with plenty of valid complaints, has made many steps to actually serve the citizens of Minnesota. May be too soon so say, but I'm actually hopeful that after the election in the case they win, that we can make the Harris/Walz house actually listen to us.

Trump, on the other hand? He wants to expedite the Palestinian genocide, aid Putin in his war against Ukraine, and likely supply nuclear weapons to these facists. He wants to make Project 2025 and Agenda 47 law of the land, cementing the Heritage Foundations's hold on the government, all without consequences thanks to the Supreme Court ruling making thr president essentially a king. He even promised his followers that there would be no more elections if he wins.

We already saw the mayhem he created in his first term, we DON'T want to see what a second will make. I know I don't, I already spent 4 years worrying about my grandpa or four of my aunts being arrested and deported. I spent four years worrying that my cousins and other grandparents and parents would be left with no medical care because they're disabled or chronically ill. I know I won't be so lucky as to only worry if Trump wins this election.

Shitty as it is, there is a clear difference between the two parties. Shitty as our government is right now, it can and will get worse under Trump with the powers of a king. We don't want to vote for anyone that facilitates or wants to make the Palestinian genocide worse, but we have no choice.

This election is not about a perfect fix. Change unfortunately takes time and strategy. It's about buying time so we can continue to protest and fight for real change, so we can hold our government and politicians accountable. It's about buying time to end the Palestinian genocide, and to force the US and Israel to comply with the ICJ. We can't do any of that if Trump wins.

It's finally dawning on me that a lot of hard leftists actually do think the US presidency is already a dictatorship.

Like they think that the reason the Biden administration didn't cancel college debt on the grand scale they pictured, is that he just didn't want to. They have no comprehension just how much Republicans were working against him to stop literally anything he could do to make things in this country less dogshit. (BTW, this is why we need to vote blue all the way down the ticket.)

And then they think they can elect some third party rando with no actual allies in the senate or congress or anywhere, and people will just have to do what they say, and won't try to sabotage them even harder because they're even further left. (The aforementioned efforts to sabotage Biden? It would be even worse for an actual leftist president.)

Like no, sorry, the US presidency is not actually a dictatorship.

[sparkles-and-trash]

You asked for modern atla headcanons. I am usually not that into modern AUs for ATLA, unless they’re set within the world of ATLA - unlike in other fandoms, I find it really weird when I can see a person’s highly regional lived experience stamped all over these characters. But I die for modern AUs where, for instance, Ba Sing Se has outgrown its original walls into a full-on megacity, or the Sato-style mecha - now piloted remotely - are being used by both the benders and non-benders of Republic City (non-benders trying to level the playing field, benders using all tools at their disposal to keep that from happening).

I was really disappointed by the weird political messaging of LoK and in many ways I feel like my desire to see the Gaang translated to that era or an era more similar to our own is a wish for a fixit where Toph’s not a cop and Sokka is around to push back at the assumption of bender supremacy in their society. If I wrote fic I’d write one set in a world similar to our own, with a similar anti-colonial plot as the first ATLA but with some of the conflicts of LoK season 2 added to the mix. I like the idea that the Gaang would at first be fighting an imperialist fire nation, but that Sokka (and Suki) would suck them into a more complex conflict with the world’s current power structure. They’re all in their early 20s instead of their teens - like maybe Sokka’s an engineer who ends up being scouted and initiated by a group of non-bender freedom fighters, and he has to manage his conflicting relationships with them and the Gaang. And maybe Aang and Katara don’t actually get it at first - like Aang’s like, how can you talk about supremacy when I’m literally the last of my people, and Katara’s like, all the Southern Water Tribe benders are dead or (more hopefully) imprisoned stfu, and Sokka’s like - what does it say about our world that benders are so powerful that the fire nation didn’t even consider us when they attacked the SWT - nonbenders still had to pick up the pieces though, and your life is still considered more valuable and important than mine. And Toph’s basically an shameless bender-supremacist that has to have this shit explained to her repeatedly despite the fact that she has experience being condescended to as a result of her disability. Like I want the Gaang to have a serious conflict around this but then actually come around to the idea that defeating the fire nation isn’t the only thing they need to accomplish.

Zuko would actually get it way more quickly, because he knows first hand the intimate damage bending can do, and I love to imagine Ty Lee surprising everyone by leaving Azula for this non-bender army, rather than for Mai or (tangentially) Zuko. She’d be like, yes, I will teach everyone chi blocking, and then they’ll never be as afraid of their “loved ones” as I have been. But Zuko would still be a shitty imperialist at first - just with differently shitty hair. He’d be doing more more intelligence-style stuff (basically Ozai would be like, you’re not even worthy of being called a bender, or being in charge of benders. Go sit in submarines and offices and geotag possible locations for the avatar and spy on the earth kingdom, and maybe if you find the avatar you can come home).

And at 22 Zuko would be mostly going through the motions, totally emotionally stunted, having spent all his time alone or with people he’s been taught to think were really beneath him, but he’d be slowly getting the idea that Ozai’s absolutely full of shit. “Spying” (he’s not very good at it) and spending all this time with non-benders has a)allowed him time to move in circles Azula never would (nobody but the royal family and a fire nation few nobles know about Zuko’s scar, so he’s not clocked as anything but a victim of the fire nation) and b) allowed him time to appreciate his non-bending skills (he’s still really into swords because Zuko’s always going to be a nerd) and the non-bending skills of his underlings. He starts wondering why these people are even working toward the fire nation’s goals, and then slowly realizing some of them actually aren’t - there’s a whiff of low-grade sabotage around a lot of fire nation missions, and Zuko begins to realize specific non-benders are responsible. He doesn’t immediately expose them - instead he (inexpertly) tails them to a meeting, and is promptly kidnapped by chi-blocking non-benders. Ty Lee obviously knows who he is, and while most of the leaders of the non-benders want to use him as some kind of bargaining chip with the fire nation, she nixes that idea on account of Ozai not giving a shit, and instead says, “shit, we’ll just have to imprison him.” Meanwhile Zuko’s like… this sucks but also I think you guys are onto something. Sokka (in glasses, because I love Sokka in glasses) keeps visiting him to gather intel (which he could just get from the more advantageously placed Ty Lee) and stare at him. And bring him food and films, and complain to him about the fire nation’s drone technology. And accidentally little bits of the non-bender’s plans. Eventually Zuko’s like you shouldn’t be telling me any of this, but since you are I’m going to help you with this stupid thing I think you might be planning that I know won’t work for reasons and tell you what to do instead. And Zuko saves a bunch of non-bender lives that day, so they begin to trust him more and more.

Of course this turns into yet another conflict with Katara once she and Aang are brought in on the fact that Sokka and his movement are working with the literal heir of the Fire Nation’s dictatorship. Aang is totally fine with it, and Toph (still a bender-supremacist, though humoring her friends in this new cause of theirs) is like, no, this is great, we need as many benders as we can get (Toph would be a sardonic goth if she could see colors well enough to avoid them - instead she’s just a very loyal asshole with dirty feet and a lot of brutal/abstract blackwork tattoos. She’s likes how much they scare people).

Anyway eventually they do all work together to no only unseat Ozai from his imperialist dictatorship but also begin an equalist uprising out in the open. Aang toys with taking everyone’s (and I mean everyone in the whole world’s) bending away but realizes the whole problem is benders having the power to make decisions for other people, so instead he throws himself behind the equalist cause (literally behind the leaders of the equalist cause) and says he’ll support their mechanization and their right to protect themselves (and agitate for laws wherever they live that support justice and protection for non-benders) with all the powers at his disposal. In the end they build republic city, which is envisioned as a multi-national city with non-bender representation build into its governing structure. Toph doesn’t become a cop. She goes around building literal bridges and tearing pavement out of places that shouldn’t be paved, and has three kids by different unnamed fathers and one of them is a non-bender that gets really into metallurgy but also talks a lot of loving shit to her mom.

Blah blah bah. I have overstayed my welcome in your ask box, but you got me thinking. If only I actually knew how to write!

my dude, you straight up sat down and wrote a whole ass one shot and sent it to me on anon???? you have to be an actual godsend???

nobody ever overstays their welcome in my ask box (if they're nice!), but this is above and beyond, I am blown away by how cool this is????????

I don't even know what to say tbh, and if you ever write this, or want to talk more about it, please feel free to hit me up, in any way, and I'd be stoked to hear more about it!!!

share your fav modern au head canons with me ~