January 25th, 2026
I barely sleep, I’m stressed out all the time and I’m not sure how any of us can be expected to function in any capacity; never mind that the constant need to feel functional is just a side effect of the late stage capitalism.
First of all: hi to all the new people. If I randomly came across your feed this week (sorry about that) and you have no idea who I am, my name is Dennis. I’m a Minnesotan, I’m a writer and artist and musician, I’m sober, and I’m super annoying on social media because I talk about my feelings and stuff like empathy and kindness. It’s all very cringe and millennial-coded. Welcome!
My last post went locally viral and, to be honest, it was kind of a nightmare, until I figured out my comment settings. I dealt with a stack of hate from mostly bots and fake accounts; I knew which were fake because I’d click on one and it would have like 37 friends and their profile picture was Shrek and we all know Shrek doesn’t have 37 friends.
But: I also got messages from people who were grateful and relieved that there are so many speaking up and standing up and trying to do the right thing among the fog of fear and hatred and uncertainty.
I went to public school. I was born in Minneapolis and moved to Faribault in the third grade. In middle school, we had an amazing teacher named Mrs. Bisping and I remember her being obsessed with the Holocaust; not just teaching us history, but really having us empathize with the people who went through such inhumane cruelty.
This is how I learned about fascism, from a passionate teacher; it wasn’t the only way.
I also loved comic books, and Star Wars, and Harry Potter, and it didn’t take long to make the real world connection to my many pop culture obsessions: fascism is the opposite of humanity and freedom and love, and we should do everything we can to fight against it.
I’ve been seeing the phrase “both sides of the coin” a lot lately and I have something to say about that, namely that a coin reflects two equal sides. I think people use “both sides of the coin” because they want to appear to be fair and balanced and they’re afraid of offending someone; thankfully, I have no such problem. There are situations where there are not two equal, reasonable, compassionate sides and you fucking know it.
Do people watch World War II documentaries and, after they’re over, say something like, “Man, don’t get me wrong, I totally do think those Nazis did some bad stuff, but I also kind of get it, you know?” True crime is hot: are there a lot of Ted Bundy sympathizers out there? Not people who find him interesting; people who are sympathetic to who he was and what he did. Or how about 9/11? Would any of you like to “both sides of the coin” the terrorists who hijacked our planes that day?
Anybody?
Everyone is biased; not everyone is equally biased, and to pretend that they are is to flatten important differences.
I’ve seen and heard some truly inhumane takes lately, from people I know, from people I really cared about, and they hurt but maybe not for the reason you think.
When I see someone say something like “Well, if they weren’t stupid, if they weren’t out there in the streets, then they wouldn’t have gotten killed.” That isn’t objectively false; you can’t get in a car accident if you don’t drive a car. But it also sadly suggests that there is nobody in their life that they care enough about to get out of their house to fight for.
They don’t understand how someone could risk their own life for another; how they could sacrifice their own safety to help somebody else they care deeply about, like a spouse or a partner or a friend or a neighbor.
What a miserable and tragic way to spend this one and only existence.
Fascism is alive and thriving in America, and especially in my home state. I see a lot of people typing things like “if you support this, then unfollow me” and, with all due respect, I won’t be saying that. Because I’m already doing it for you. I’m ending my online relationships without saying a word because this is my line; humanity is where I draw it.
I remind people of this all the time but, generally, the artists and writers and musicians throughout history are right. This isn’t my way of dismissing arguments or making myself right by default; it’s to tell you that if you’re not an artist, you’re probably in the weeds. You’re thinking about rules and laws and beliefs you did not choose and all the shit that human beings make up to distract ourselves from the fact that we’re all gonna die.
Meanwhile, we spend all of our time thinking about our humanity; about what makes us human, about our most complex emotions and our simplest and most powerful, about what makes us happy and sad and angry, about what’s in our hearts.
We think more than anybody else about our souls.
Anyway, I’m a mess but Costco got a small shipment of my favorite frozen pizza of all time, and it’s the only thing that is preventing me from having a full physical and mental breakdown. I bought 15 of them. Lord help us when they’re gone.
Be safe out there. Love you all. I hope I see you soon, and I hope ICE is gone sooner.
The Den 