Discussion: how do you choose where to put your energy?

[tanaqui]

I'm sure many of us are feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of different issues being raised by the Minority President's administration: attacks on the media, Russian interference, threats to the ACA and abortion rights, immigration, First Amendment rights and Net Neutrality, dismantling public protections for our environment and our finances....

We've already had a post about how to approach your activism once you've decided which issues you want to work on. But, as sathari said in a comment to the last check-in post:

[T]here are so many things WRONG, which are the MOST wrong that I need to speak up about RIGHT NOW?

So this post is a place for people to suggest ways we can each figure out where we're going to put our energies when so much is wrong but we can't tackle all of it.

Comments

[vlion]

I rate my activities by my estimation of likely impact to things. Signing a petition on change.org? Probably useless. Sending money monthly to the ACLU? Useful. Showing up at a rally for a specific cause at a specific place? Targeted use (My city does rallies like some cities do sports games: it is just part of the civic noise usually).

Sometimes my tweets seem to get picked up. Having read Shirer's Rise and Fall before I was 10 and having kept up on news & history, I have a better-than-average bear grasp of authoritarianism.

Ultimately my take is that the keystone of our society is the law; that no one is above the law, that due processes are followed, that accountability is maintained. Liberty for all is made possible by removing the freedom to become a warlord or a king.

Thus I judge the efforts to subvert democracy to be the key business at hand; somewhere near that in priority is the fact that a foolish egomaniac has nukes.

So I consider the election health, gerrymandering, redistricting, and vote-limiting actions to be the biggest deal in the current business. If you can't exercise power, you're in trouble.

In the specifically Trump case, he will be attempting to subvert the judiciary for his nationalist dreams. The ACLU will probably be the key external entity in defending the judiciary.

Similarly, the House needs to appoint a bi-partisan committee to investigate the question of Presidential compromise by a foreign power; and, further, needs to prepare the Cabinet for a case of impeachment if required. That will be accomplished by careful propaganda - sorry, is that not the current term? - in Red House districts. The House is refusing to investigate because they believe they will accomplish more with Trump than without Trump - and voters will support that. Until voters stop giving them a pass, they will use the pass they have.


I want to be super clear that I distinguish Trumpism and its coup of the GOP from a typical Republicanism conservative. The first I believe represents existential threat to the Republic and to keeping nukes not used; the second represents deep harm to our minorities and underserved communities. The second is bad; it doesn't involve the risk of nuclear fire on the rubbles of our society.

My opinion is that Trump must be impeached and removed from office; he deserves an investigation in relation to high treason. That done, it will be time to pivot towards ensuring elections are open to all citizens, free and fair. Likely that will involve things like drives to get people correctly and legally registered with their mandatory VoterRealID etc. I see many busing groups in our future.


From a philosophical and media standpoint, it's clear the lessons of WW2 have worn down to the point that Hitler has become a myth; and that nationalism/fascism is now an acceptable ideology, maybe under a shiny new name. What must be defended is the Reformation & Enlightenment-based liberal order. This has not been adequately done (evidence: POTUS 45). My personal reckoning is that the education system in the US has failed us; years of focusing on "how to get a job" over "sissy liberal arts" has ensured we are not in a society where we are libre. And, shows which glorify lawbreaking in the service of the nation need to be axed from the air. It's not appropriate, and conditions us all to poor thinking.

Hear, hear

[marahmarie]

+1, to every single word.