I want to share some of the direct messages I received today in response to this piece. It’s clear that it struck a nerve. Many of you reached out privately, sharing thoughts and fears you weren’t comfortable expressing publicly. I understand that.
I want to address some of those concerns here, in a way that protects your anonymity, because I think the answers might help others.
1) Do I believe there’s any hope?
In Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl wrote that without hope, the future is lost. So yes, there is always hope. But I also believe what I wrote is accurate. These things will happen unless someone can #changemymind.
More importantly, I don’t think this is a “someday” problem. The fuse on this is 20-30 months. That’s the window we’re working with before the guardrails start to give way. Unless something fundamentally changes, the trajectory is set.
That’s why I’m telling people to have a plan. What you do with that advice is up to you.
I know that for some of you, leaving the U.S. feels impossible. Your identity is tied to this country. I get that. You’re talking to someone who was so profoundly shaped by 9/11 that I changed my career and worked two years without pay in defense of the nation. I understand what it means to serve, to sacrifice. If your choice is to stay and fight for what you believe in, I respect that.
In Breakaway Brief, I’m exploring options. I have no plans to renounce my citizenship or abandon my heritage. But I also refuse to spend the next 30 years of my life under tyranny. As I wrote in Breakaway Brief, the future belongs to the free. Do with that information what you will.
2) What else can I do?
Start by taking stock of how your life intersects with the government and assessing your risk exposure.
For example, I finished setting up foreign bank accounts today. I’m moving assets. Am I complying with the law? Absolutely. But if Musk and Trump decide to fire JPow and tank the U.S. banking system overnight, I have cash, gold, silver, tradable securities, and foreign assets.
Do I expect that to happen tomorrow? No. But I think within 20-30 months, the economic landscape could look very different.
If you live in a vulnerable state, consider moving. If you work for a company that relies on federal contracts, ask yourself what happens if those contracts disappear. The South African billionaire is already canceling deals and payments on a whim. What happens when your employer is suddenly out $250 million?
Sure, you can go to court. But good luck paying your rent with a TRO. Just ask the Head Start programs that imploded after funding was yanked.
Beyond finances, think about resilience. RFK’s policies are already putting the food supply, medication access, and vaccine availability at risk. Get vaccinated if you aren’t. Consider how you might supplement your own food supply.
None of this is meant to sound bonkers, but you need to understand: The infrastructure we once relied on? The very systems that kept things running? Musk and Trump want to burn them down. And 20-30 months from now, we may not recognize what’s left.
There’s a great economic essay called I, Pencil that breaks down all the people and processes involved in making something as simple as a pencil. The same applies to food, medicine, supply chains. And much of it is only possible because of government infrastructure. The same infrastructure Trump and Musk want to dismantle.
So start thinking—now—about how you’ll adapt.
3) Am I going to end up in a concentration camp?
This question shakes me. Because I can feel the fear in how people ask it.
Many who reached out are LGBTQ+. Some are Latino (and legal, I might add). Some immigrated legally. Some have mental health conditions. Some are worried about family members who do.
They are future-pacing The Man in the High Castle—imagining eugenics laws, detention camps, worse.
And that infuriates me.
Because that fear is exactly the point. It’s what Trump, Musk, and Vought want. It’s how authoritarians consolidate power—by making people too terrified to resist.
I remember what real fear feels like. After 9/11, I saw the devastation firsthand. My friends were literally thrown through walls in the Pentagon. Some woke up smoking from flash burns on their clothes. I wanted the enemy to pay for that fear. And pay they did.
That’s why I feel that same rage now—toward an American president and his enablers. Because instilling this level of fear in your own people is unconscionable.
But here’s what I can tell you: Even in Nazi Germany, the worst didn’t happen overnight. The Nazis had to take multiple shots at getting Germans to accept mass extermination. Antisemitic laws failed several times before the Holocaust became possible.
Right now, there is no legal precedent for a president locking people up under some vague national security order. Not even the infamous Korematsu decision provides a basis for mass detention.
That said, 20-30 months from now, if legal norms continue to erode, the risks could look very different. A lot would have to go catastrophically wrong before we see concentration camps or state-sponsored extermination. I do not believe that is imminent.
But I won’t lie to you and say it’s impossible. After 2024, I swore I would never say that will never happen again. I think it’s highly unlikely—but not unthinkable.
That’s why I keep saying: Have a plan. Keep your options open.
The international community will be critical in the years ahead. A new Cold War is forming—and this time, we’re the Soviets. That should tell you how broken things already are.
I know this wasn’t exactly an Up with People! pep talk. I wish I had better news.
But the fact that none of you are challenging the core premise of my piece—that’s telling. That suggests I stuck the landing on this one.
I hope I’m wrong. I want to be wrong.
But hope isn’t a strategy.
Stay aware. Stay adaptable. Keep your wits about you.
20-30 months goes by fast. Maybe we have more time, maybe less.
Nothing like starting the day with a pleasant perusal of entertaining news. And believe me, reading this was nothing like that. I'm going to go watch a video about kittens now.
The answer to the question posed in the headline is yes. Substack represents a convenient way to track people critical of the alleged administration. Think the tech bro billionaire wannabes that own this platform won’t turn over any and all data to DOGE if asked? Think again.
I want to share some of the direct messages I received today in response to this piece. It’s clear that it struck a nerve. Many of you reached out privately, sharing thoughts and fears you weren’t comfortable expressing publicly. I understand that.
I want to address some of those concerns here, in a way that protects your anonymity, because I think the answers might help others.
1) Do I believe there’s any hope?
In Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl wrote that without hope, the future is lost. So yes, there is always hope. But I also believe what I wrote is accurate. These things will happen unless someone can #changemymind.
More importantly, I don’t think this is a “someday” problem. The fuse on this is 20-30 months. That’s the window we’re working with before the guardrails start to give way. Unless something fundamentally changes, the trajectory is set.
That’s why I’m telling people to have a plan. What you do with that advice is up to you.
I know that for some of you, leaving the U.S. feels impossible. Your identity is tied to this country. I get that. You’re talking to someone who was so profoundly shaped by 9/11 that I changed my career and worked two years without pay in defense of the nation. I understand what it means to serve, to sacrifice. If your choice is to stay and fight for what you believe in, I respect that.
In Breakaway Brief, I’m exploring options. I have no plans to renounce my citizenship or abandon my heritage. But I also refuse to spend the next 30 years of my life under tyranny. As I wrote in Breakaway Brief, the future belongs to the free. Do with that information what you will.
2) What else can I do?
Start by taking stock of how your life intersects with the government and assessing your risk exposure.
For example, I finished setting up foreign bank accounts today. I’m moving assets. Am I complying with the law? Absolutely. But if Musk and Trump decide to fire JPow and tank the U.S. banking system overnight, I have cash, gold, silver, tradable securities, and foreign assets.
Do I expect that to happen tomorrow? No. But I think within 20-30 months, the economic landscape could look very different.
If you live in a vulnerable state, consider moving. If you work for a company that relies on federal contracts, ask yourself what happens if those contracts disappear. The South African billionaire is already canceling deals and payments on a whim. What happens when your employer is suddenly out $250 million?
Sure, you can go to court. But good luck paying your rent with a TRO. Just ask the Head Start programs that imploded after funding was yanked.
Beyond finances, think about resilience. RFK’s policies are already putting the food supply, medication access, and vaccine availability at risk. Get vaccinated if you aren’t. Consider how you might supplement your own food supply.
None of this is meant to sound bonkers, but you need to understand: The infrastructure we once relied on? The very systems that kept things running? Musk and Trump want to burn them down. And 20-30 months from now, we may not recognize what’s left.
There’s a great economic essay called I, Pencil that breaks down all the people and processes involved in making something as simple as a pencil. The same applies to food, medicine, supply chains. And much of it is only possible because of government infrastructure. The same infrastructure Trump and Musk want to dismantle.
So start thinking—now—about how you’ll adapt.
3) Am I going to end up in a concentration camp?
This question shakes me. Because I can feel the fear in how people ask it.
Many who reached out are LGBTQ+. Some are Latino (and legal, I might add). Some immigrated legally. Some have mental health conditions. Some are worried about family members who do.
They are future-pacing The Man in the High Castle—imagining eugenics laws, detention camps, worse.
And that infuriates me.
Because that fear is exactly the point. It’s what Trump, Musk, and Vought want. It’s how authoritarians consolidate power—by making people too terrified to resist.
I remember what real fear feels like. After 9/11, I saw the devastation firsthand. My friends were literally thrown through walls in the Pentagon. Some woke up smoking from flash burns on their clothes. I wanted the enemy to pay for that fear. And pay they did.
That’s why I feel that same rage now—toward an American president and his enablers. Because instilling this level of fear in your own people is unconscionable.
But here’s what I can tell you: Even in Nazi Germany, the worst didn’t happen overnight. The Nazis had to take multiple shots at getting Germans to accept mass extermination. Antisemitic laws failed several times before the Holocaust became possible.
Right now, there is no legal precedent for a president locking people up under some vague national security order. Not even the infamous Korematsu decision provides a basis for mass detention.
That said, 20-30 months from now, if legal norms continue to erode, the risks could look very different. A lot would have to go catastrophically wrong before we see concentration camps or state-sponsored extermination. I do not believe that is imminent.
But I won’t lie to you and say it’s impossible. After 2024, I swore I would never say that will never happen again. I think it’s highly unlikely—but not unthinkable.
That’s why I keep saying: Have a plan. Keep your options open.
The international community will be critical in the years ahead. A new Cold War is forming—and this time, we’re the Soviets. That should tell you how broken things already are.
I know this wasn’t exactly an Up with People! pep talk. I wish I had better news.
But the fact that none of you are challenging the core premise of my piece—that’s telling. That suggests I stuck the landing on this one.
I hope I’m wrong. I want to be wrong.
But hope isn’t a strategy.
Stay aware. Stay adaptable. Keep your wits about you.
20-30 months goes by fast. Maybe we have more time, maybe less.
Nothing like starting the day with a pleasant perusal of entertaining news. And believe me, reading this was nothing like that. I'm going to go watch a video about kittens now.
I know the feeling. I was there about four days ago when I realized where this was all headed. But, you can’t stay at that spot for long.
The answer to the question posed in the headline is yes. Substack represents a convenient way to track people critical of the alleged administration. Think the tech bro billionaire wannabes that own this platform won’t turn over any and all data to DOGE if asked? Think again.
Thank you for articulating my vague nightmares. I guess…
Last night, looked up a pic of Osama Bin Laden in Heaven to use as a reaction pic.... Pretty sure I am already on that list.
"Don't cry for me, I'm already dead." - Barney Gumble
The title implied an explanation of how to remain anonymous on substack to avoid attracting the future gestapo.