Liberals, stop waiting for schadenfreude
Ever since the US election, I've been hearing the same thing from liberals: "Well, I hope voters are happy. They're going to get exactly what they voted for. And once they start crying, we're going to tell them, 'I told you so!'"
After years of fighting the political insanity that has proliferated the country since 2016, a lot of people on the Left are tired. They don't want to protest. They don't want to mobilize people online. They just want to sit back, cross their arms, and dole out their "I told you so"s.
This has culminated in subreddits like r/LeopardsAteMyFace, a place that takes screenshots of Trump voters who are now questioning their vote. People in the comments rejoice: "We told you so!"
But if you take a peek on more conservative parts of the Internet (like Twitter or Facebook), most Republicans are happy with their vote. They're glad immigrants are being deported, they blindly trust Elon Musk meddling in the US government, and they naively think Trump's trade war shows what a badass he is. As for liberals, they wait on the sidelines with bated breath: "Any day now they're going to regret it!"
Liberals need to stop waiting for this Great Schadenfreude to befall Republicans because, frankly, I don't think it'll happen any time soon.
I admit, I felt the same way after the election. This defeatist energy took over and, briefly, I almost wanted the country to suffer. I felt that if people suffered, then maybe they'll wake up and stop believing charlatans who sell them crypto and lies.
But now that a few months have gone by, and I'm starting to see the effects of Project 2025 coming into action, I realize that sitting back and waiting to dole out "I told so"s is immature. These new changes will affect everyone, and prioritizing being right over doing what's right, is arrogant.
So honestly, liberals — get over this revenge fantasy. It's not happening. Now is the time to mobilize at the local level and do what we know is right. The people who support Trump can come to their own conclusions (if ever), but that shouldn't be our focus.
It sort of reminds me of something Dave Chappelle said during Trump's first presidency. "Some people won't ever get their comeuppance." When he said that it kind of pissed me off because that's what a lot of people were waiting for. And yet here we are, nearly eight years later, and his words are truer than ever.
If you wait for "revenge" or to be proven right, you'll be waiting forever. It's a better use of energy to focus on the things you can do and the things you can control than the things you can't. Besides, if "schadenfreude" does happen, it'll happen long after we've all stopped waiting.