One person can make a difference, and everyone should try.
~ President John F. Kennedy
Periodically, someone reads my writing inspiring action ... encouraging us to reclaim our authority as sovereign citizens, stand up for democracy and against the pirates who want to do it harm ... and they reply, “OK, yeah, but what can we do?”
My short answer is ... reclaiming our power IS the first action. To step out of our powerlessness and passivity, and stand in our power. There is no app for this, no button to push and it all gets done. There is much that we can do, and plenty of small actions if you need to start there. But it starts with standing up. Something changes when we do that.
Something changes in us.
And there are many allies and groups we can align with. We are not alone.
And to really do what’s needed, we have to collectively invent another level of solutions, a bolder stand of action. We’ve gone beyond normal here, beyond what the system knows how to handle.
So we’re being called to step up to a higher level. For too long, people have not been participating in our democracy, assuming they’ll keep having their freedoms, taking for granted the small bands of under-funded activists making huge sacrifices on our shared behalf. These activists have helped (I’ve been among them), but could only do so much.
Now we see how much has been corrupted ... and we have to stand up for our democracy before it is lost.
Act like your house is at risk of being on fire. Because it is.
Suggested Actions
OK, so what does that mean we should do exactly? Here are my suggestions:
(1) Feel the urgency. Don't wait for someone else to tell you what to do. It's so easy to check out, to avoid. What would you do if your house were at risk of fire? You'd figure out what to do fast!
(2) Set aside time regularly for taking action on the urgent political issues of our day. Once you have the time allocated, there is plenty of useful action you can do and support.
(3) Overcome your own objections to taking action. Don't have time? Watch a half hour less TV. Do it with your friends for support, or your kids to teach them citizenship. Etc.
(4) Figure out an approach that works for you, so that you'll do it and keep at it. What issues are most important to you? Find groups or actions you can support on that issue. Need specific instructions and steps? Find a group that offers that. Or do you prefer to invent and create something new? Then do that.
(5) Understand that this is an enormous threat to our entire democracy, culture, and planet. So it’s not just going to go away by itself. And you're not going to find someone who has figured it all out and you can spend just 5 minutes a day. Things will only keep getting worse, horrifyingly worse, unless and until we figure out to turn this thing around.
And if we let that future happen ... harming what we love most ... what will we wish we had done now, when it was so much easier
These things are much easier saved, breathed again with life ... building on the work of others ... than trying to create them again from scratch when people are in pain and desperation.
For too long, many people in this country have coasted on the hard work of those who came before us. They took our rights for granted. They were cynical about threats to those rights instead of defending those rights. They thought they could mock and ignore and retreat into their own lives ... and still have peaceful little lives.
But now all of that is at risk, and we actually have to participate. To use our creativity, power, mind, insight. No one person can figure this out. There is no one map. There is no app for it. No one can do it for us. We must learn how to do it for ourselves.
(6) Give your unique gifts. Offer what you can, joyfully. If you're a lawyer, offer that. A songwriter, offer that. A social person, offer that. A tech person, offer that. Wherever you are, whatever you are, you can offer that.
For 25 years, an African-American woman in Alabama has been driving voters to the polls, all day long. In our most recent election, we see why that mattered. But it always did. She did what she could do.
There are many fronts, and lots to do. But many hands make light work. Find the joy in that.
(7) There are incredible potential personal benefits for engaging in this challenge. Through this, we might be reminded of our own talents, and have them appreciated. We might feel what it’s like to work together on something important, have ups and downs, support each other, learn, be bigger than our small selves ... and win! We might come to understand better what democracy is ... the creation of community together ... instead of just handing those duties off to others. It can be quite exhilarating when we actually jump in!
(8) I think it helps if we can see that all life on earth is at stake ... all that we love ... all that we hope for. If we retreat into our own lives, we hand the pirates our power; we capitulate the places of our joy. We let them steer us into increasing pain and suffering.
There is no hiding. But there is action.
That is the antidote for despair.
I hope that more and more of us make that choice ... quickly, urgently. collectively ... and find ourselves amazed at what we heal in our wake.
If you want an easy starting point ... Connect with Indivisible, a group which is boiling down simple actions; subscribe to their email list. They also have local groups, where you can connect with other people who care face to face.
I welcome your thoughts on this piece, including what constructive actions and groups you’d recommend for people wanting to help kick the pirates out.
Patricia Dines
Note: I posted my original version of this on Facebook on 12/16/17.
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I hope you enjoyed this piece and I welcome your thoughts. Tell me what you like about it, or any other constructive thoughts you want to share. Thanks!
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