From across the Atlantic, I’ve been watching what’s happening in the United States with growing disbelief. Each new headline feels like a page torn from a dystopian novel: National Guard units deployed in cities that dared to vote blue; reports of children detained, humiliated, and brutalized; silence from mainstream outlets as if acknowledging it would make it too real.
What shocks me most isn’t just the violence; it’s the normalization. Steven Miller declaring on national television that Trump holds plenary powers sounds almost clinical, but the meaning is devastating: it implies total control. One man now claims dominion over all three branches of government, using military force not to defend the nation, but to suppress it. The coup didn’t come with fanfare… it came wrapped in law.
Meanwhile, America’s great melting pot; the promise of pluralism that once defined places like Chicago is turning into a nightmare out of history. Toddlers zip-tied in the streets. Immigrants and citizens of color rounded up by ICE like prey. The echoes of 1950s Alabama resound through modern skyscrapers. It’s hard not to think of Kristallnacht, that “long night” when Germany turned its rage inward.
And yet, where is the outrage? Where is the moral clarity that used to define the American conscience?
I keep returning to the poem by Martin Niemöller:
“First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me…”
That poem isn’t a relic; it’s a warning flaring to life again.
Even beyond the U.S., the same moral decay seeps through our global veins. In the waters off Gaza, 500 people were detained for trying to deliver aid; humanitarian workers punished for feeding the starving. Gaza itself remains one of the most acute humanitarian crises in modern memory, a man-made famine on par with Ireland’s darkest hour.
The truth is that none of these horrors exist in isolation. They grow from the same root: the widening chasm between power and humanity. The wealth gap now mirrors 18th-century France, when aristocrats toasted while peasants starved. History has seen this pattern before, and it never ends well.
The antidote isn’t despair. It’s solidarity. We can’t afford “us versus them” anymore. The lines drawn between political tribes or national borders are distractions from the real struggle… those who hoard power versus those who still believe in the dignity of all people.
It ends with us.
It always has.
Sources:
(For Swedish sources use google translate in browser to read easier if reading from abroad).
Svenska Dagbladet. Trump’s soldiers arrive in Chicago. “The only chaos in Chicago is coming from ICE and Border Patrol firing pepper spray at civilians, journalists and even Chicago police officers,” Kwame Raoul, Illinois Attorney General. October 7, 2025.
https://www.svd.se/a/dRxJaw/nationalgardet-har-anlant-i-chicago
Amnesty International USA. “Pre-Dawn ICE Raid in Chicago Is Attack on Human Rights, Spreads Fear and Intimidation.” Describes zip-tying, entry without warrants, mistreatment of children. October 7, 2025
Reuters. “Gaza aid flotilla says Israeli forces intercepted its boats” On vessels being intercepted by Israeli forces, about 500 activists detained. October 8, 2025
Svenska Dagbladet. “Greta Thunberg: We were subjected to torture” “We went 48 hours without food and 36 hours without water,” said Ipshita Rajesh, another of the activists. October 7, 2025
https://www.svd.se/a/OoGgwb/thunberg-har-landat-pa-arlanda
Authors Note:
I’m not being paid to write this, nor am I affiliated with any political organization, media outlet, or advocacy group. These words come from me alone… from what I’ve seen, what’s been shared with me by friends directly affected in the U.S., and what I’ve learned through nontraditional or independent sources.
I understand that speaking out has drawn attention, but silence helps no one. I stand with anti-fascism, with democracy, and with the belief that every human life deserves dignity and truth.
Swedish Wanderlust 
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