United for Democracy

Welcome to my homepage! On November 14. 2024, I ended up on Bluesky, an alternative to social media platform Twitter. Trump had claimed victory in the US elections and was already busy preparing to dismantle the American democracy and isolate the country from other democratic countries. The (free) Western world watched in astonishment and as if in a frozen state. On Bluesky I found many people who had fled from digital warzone X, the former Twitter poisoned by Musk and other fascists. I had not seen some of them for years because the atmosphere on the platform had become so toxic that I no longer went there.

Through this other platform with different values, we have reconnected. We are prepared to fight for what we consider important. In the meantime, I got to know tens of thousands of Americans who want to fight for their democracy. With the help of starter packs, my number of followers grew explosively. In order to have my account, Strandvogel, verified, I needed a website. That is why I decided to set up this website. As a base from where I can work towards my goal of bringing together as many people as possible from all over the world so that together we can effectively resist.

Initially, the free world was confused by the openly narcissistic behavior and fascist ideas of various world leaders. With Trump as president and clearly the future autocratic leader of the US, the balance has completely tipped. Europe began to realize that fascism had received a major boost and that the US would no longer be a stable ally. In my country, the Netherlands, a right-wing extremist political party also won the elections two years ago, in 2023. Our democratic system is still standing but is creaking under the rhetoric of Geert Wilders. I started writing blogs, about Trump’s narcissistic behavior and about what an autocracy entails. With my knowledge and life experience I try to wake people up.

Conspiracy theories and intolerance

My name is Margriet Pakvis- van As and I was born in 1966, a time when most people around me had consciously experienced the Second World War. My grandparents were involved in protecting Jewish people during the Second World War, delivering food at hiding places. Until 1989 I grew up in the Cold War, the time when Europe was divided, with an iron curtain between West and East. Personally, For almost twelve years I have been in a relationship with someone with a narcissistic personality disorder and escaped from it. I myself received multiple diagnoses, including ADHD and ASD (autism spectrum). Finally I have five years of experience with a client council in mental health care and eight years as a recovery worker and reintegration counselor for people with ASD and ADHD.

Between 2013 and 2016 I got stuck in the world of conspiracy theories. With the help of my husband and a friend who kept asking me critical questions I got out. I noticed that other conspiracy theorists started to hate entire groups of people but I did not recognize myself in the intolerance for people with different opinions and people from a different culture. Eventually I found information about the conspiracy theories that were spread in the years before the Second World War broke out and that laid the foundation for the persecution of the Jews. That was an eye-opener for me.

The real elite

The evil elite that contemporary conspiracy theorists have been warning about for decades now has reared its head in the current reality. And not so surprisingly, they are very different people than conspiracy theorists (MAGA; Wappies) thought. Millions of them still believe that Putin and Trump are liberators, even now that people are being driven en masse into a prison of poverty, indifferent leadership and hopelessness.

But the real elite, the richest among us, have controlled politics for decades. And now that it is so visible that the majority must become aware, they have bought the elections of extremist leaders who will mercilessly play us off against each other. They try to end us up in fear and poverty and exclude us from care, safety and education: the opportunity for children and young people to develop in such a way that they would have a perspective for the future.

We can still escape from this situation. We can change the possible future. It is not complicated but it requires a lot of courage and trust. The instruments are: connection, cooperation, speaking out against tyranny, sticking to your moral compass, disobeying orders that go against it and unconditional love and respect for others, even if they are different or think differently.

Be kind to the human race

If a large majority does not listen to the rhetoric and orders of a dictator, he will be losing his power. By not buying anything we do not really need and sharing what we have with each other outside the system of money, the richest will lose their power. By not judging each other for other beliefs and uniting in full trust, the strictly religious groups lose their power.

Politics has not been our solid friend for a while. The same applies to religion. Also to maintaining an image by having certain possessions. This is the moment to find and hold on to each other, to choose respect, love, inclusion. Protect the vulnerable people, be kind to the human race (all together) and let nothing drive us apart. As soon as the majority is united, we can start looking again at a system to organize and regulate everything collectively, with new leaders. From there, the possibility arises of a more democratic system that works for everyone.

Hold on to eachother for change

Much will change, for better or for worse. History has taught us that we get there by remaining silent and just going with the flow or by being swept along by hate. That will be war, misery, loss, grief, trauma before we realize only the billionaires are happy. However, now we can choose the other way: by resisting the old system that no longer works for us. By doing exactly the opposite. Embrace the stranger, ignore the autocratic leader, resist all that is inhuman.

Hold on to each other, no matter what. Because when we unite, accepting every individual for who he/she/them really truly is/are, we win and will be free. And when we are united and free, we willen be ready to create a healthy new democratic system.

@Strandvogel