I really have lost my former tolerance for "we're doomed/fucked/it's all over/they've won" takes at this point, in that they're the most dangerous attitudes one could possibly have when confronted with a truly existential political threat (which we still DO have levers to address).
Yes! My posts this morning have a doomer-y vibe because I am very distressed by all this, but the implication should always be that we should take drastic action now. The abyss is right there but we have time to avoid it.
All in on this. But how? Voting for Biden isnt enough. Same SCTOUS is there. Voting down ballot is great. Winning seats is great. SCOTUS is still there.
People have recommended reading books on how people resisted previous fascist regimes and most importantly to build community networks. But I definitely need guidance at this point
The short ones are Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny & the last few pages of the OSS Simple Sabotage Manual. The first 20 pages are fine, but they’re focused on a technological world that doesn’t exist now, so only partly applicable, but the last part is social hacking still in use. About 150 pages total
You’re welcome!
If, after those, you want a longer piece, try Bob Altemeyer’s The Authoritarians. It’s now more than a decade old, but it’s also well written and it’s based in strong social psych methods, and it’s accessible without being jargony.
Resist in any possible way you can. If that means finding happiness in a sea of cynicism. Do it. If it’s making art or music. Do it. If it’s being an activist DO IT. At the end of the day we have only ourselves to take a stand against these ghouls.
Contribute $ and/or ⏰ to voter registration and Get Out the Vote efforts, especially among minority voters in swing states. Contact your local Democratic party to see how you can help with phone calls, driving people to polls, etc. Encourage people you know to make a voting plan and tell 3 people.
Contribute $ and/or ⏰ to voter registration and Get Out the Vote efforts, especially among minority voters in swing states. Contact your local Democratic party to see how you can help with phone calls, driving people to polls, etc. Choose one centrist relative to talk to about the stakes.
Support the effort of community groups (minority churches, community organizers) to GOTV and get people registered and to the polls. Encourage people to sign up for mail-in ballots if your state allows for it. Do text organizing one afternoon a week. Donate $5 a week to a candidate if you can.
Schedule "make a call/send a letter to my state and federal reps" on any topic once a week and then commit to lobbying them to protect voting rights, reform SCOTUS, ceasefire now, whatever issue. Yes even in red states. Call your League of Women Voters and ask how you can help.
When people at your work complain "they're both equally bad" or "my vote doesn't matter" or "Biden is old," practice one or two succinct talking points that focus on "look at the alternative" and how important it is to preserve democracy. Write some scripts for others if you're good at that.
Don't mistake "arguing online with shitlibs" for "doing something." Use that energy to make that call to a representative, write an email to your Senator, send 200 texts with a text banking operation.
