"It Doesn't Affect Me"
What, Me Worry?

ELIZABETH GEORGE
Mar 31, 2026

Saturday’s protest against the Trump regime was something of a surprise for me. I live in Seattle, and there was an excellent turn-out. Estimates had the crowd numbered between 70,000 and 100,000 people who marched the length of Pine Street from Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill down to the center of the city and onward to the Space Needle. My husband and I were part of the march. It’s a liberal city, so there were no MAGAs harassing or mocking the protesters. Instead there were drums beating, music playing, people on the sidewalks and on rooftops waving, shouting, and holding their own signs. When we crossed the freeway, cars honked their horns. When we passed restaurants, occasionally someone would run out with water or drinks. There were people in the march pulling wagons with free snacks for anyone who needed a pick-me-up. There were dogs walking with their protesting humans, dogs in strollers, dogs in backpacks, dogs being carried. There was a sense of community and a wonderful bonhomie, which belied the Seattle freeze for which the city is famous (or perhaps infamous is the better word). However, there was something crucial missing from the march. Or maybe I should say there was someone missing from the march. Or better still there were thousands of someones missing, and I couldn’t help noticing their absence.
Seven colleges and universities exist within Seattle proper. Eighteen public high schools exist in the city as well, as do private schools and religious schools. Yet in that crowd of between 70,000 and 100,000 people there was a paucity of individuals who appeared to be under forty. That does not, of course, mean that they were not there. It could well mean that I simply didn’t see them. But if they weren’t there in large numbers, I do wonder why. And I have the most terrible inclination to believe that the reason for their absence is that they think the Trump regime does not affect them, nor will it ever do so.

Perhaps that wasn’t the mindset of those under forty who made the decision to be elsewhere during the protest march. But for a moment, I’d like to consider what it suggests about those who do hold that mindset: indifference.

Indifference speaks softly, saying “As long as what’s happening is not happening to me, why should I care about it?”, and the truth of the matter is that some people are not and will never be affected by what Donald Trump has done to and has in mind for the United States. Let’s be honest: if you are a white male—preferably of Anglo-Saxon descent—you don’t have a great deal to worry about. If you are a white male and Christian, enrolled in an evangelical church whose members are speaking in tongues and waiting for the rapture, you have nothing at all to worry about. You’re waiting for the bus that’s hurtling toward the End of Days, and if Donald Trump is the driver of the bus, all the better because that means the End of Days is closer than anyone thinks and the rapture is nigh which means you will be swept up to heaven where 70 virgins await you and…Oh. Sorry. That’s a different religion entirely. You white Christian evangelical males speaking in tongues while raptured up to heaven won’t get any virgins upon your arrival. I’m not certain what you’ll get, but if Donald Trump is the person who has hastened your journey, what you probably will get is a halo painted gold and fashioned from Styrofoam.

But I digress.

I express only my opinion in these essays. Please know that. And I find have a strengthening opinion about societal and personal indifference. My opinion is that indifference to the suffering of others is not only unattractive. It is also dangerous. It is unattractive because it paints both a society and a person as unpleasantly self-absorbed. In an individual, it is dangerous because it often indicates a basic ignorance of what is actually going on.

While I do understand that people want and need to go about their daily lives, I believe that times emerge when the visible presence of an individual not only means something but is also crucial. Right now is one of those times.

In the name of America—which means in my name, in your name, in everyone’s name—war crimes are being committed: civilians are being targeted and shot and killed; hospitals and schools are being bombed; property is being destroyed without military necessity; humanitarian aid is being blocked. In the name of America, soldiers are being deployed into a warzone despite there being no stated objective on the part of the individuals doing the deploying. In the name of America, longtime allies are being alienated, abused, and cast aside. In the name of America, young men and women are being flown home from the Middle East in coffins.

I think one of the great tragedies of the United States lies in its inability to learn from the past. I think another is its national hubris. In this country, the past does not inform the present. Indeed, the past seems to be an irritating roadblock—a fallen tree—that gets in the way of what those in power want to do. Were this not the case, the country might have learned something from our participation in or instigation of “regime changes” of the past: Guatemala (1954) with the result being a civil war from 1960-1996 and widespread human rights abuses; Congo (1960-1961) with the result being decades of kleptocratic authoritarian rule; Chile (1973) with the result being 17 years of authoritarian rule to include torture, disappearing people, and repressing political dissent; Cuba (1961) with the result being the strengthening of Castro’s position and his alignment with the Soviet Union; Iran (1953) with the result being an autocratic monarchy backed by secret police; Iraq (2003) with the result being sectarian violence, insurgency, and the rise of ISIS; Libya (2011) with the result being instability, militias, and civil conflict; Nicaragua (1980s) with the result being prolonged civil conflict and instability as well as long-term political polarization that still exists today. And so here we are: Iraq (2026-?) demanding regime change and assuming—at least in the beginning—that the demand would be met with the cry of “Yes, sir! As soon as possible, sir!” while this country’s fatal flaw—its astounding hubris—suggested that a mere week or two or three or who-knows-how-many would effect exactly what the US is demanding.

So we’ve reached the point at which the unthinkable could finally happen, the point at which our entire government—every aspect of it—is being both dominated and run by an individual who himself openly possess the two major flaws of the United States. Donald Trump has no memory of the past because he has never studied or, dare I say, even looked at the past, and Donald Trump’s hubris assures him that his decisions—both in war and in peace—will bring about exactly what he wants. Not what you want, friend. Not what I want either. But what he wants. Because just like the people whose indifference to the suffering of others prompts them to shrug their shoulders and say, “It doesn’t affect me”, the day is fast approaching when Donald Trump’s indifference will look upon your suffering and assure himself that it doesn’t affect him.

Then will come the unthinkable. Perhaps we should stop it while we still can.

© 2026 Elizabeth George
548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104