What can we do now? An essay by Arden Buck
We’re facing a dark and ominous time. Americans have handed unfettered power to a vengeful, deranged individual and his cronies. It seems that everything we treasure is under assault: they intend to hasten environmental collapse, to attack the most vulnerable among us, and to dismantle our democracy.
It’s tempting to just hunker down and await the onslaught, as many German citizens did in the '30s. But authoritarian regimes count on their subjects giving up and becoming hopeless, helpless victims. So rather than becoming passive spectators of our own demise, we need to get out of our comfort zone, resist the onslaught, and save what we can of the things we love and value.
Specifically, what can we do? Here are some thoughts:
Allow yourself to grieve. Accept the pain, frustration, and anger you feel about what is happening. It is a necessary step for healing and moving on. But don't get stuck there.
Support and join some of the many hard-working local and national organizations working on issues of concern. Join others in taking direct action, nonviolently disrupting their harmful plans through noncooperation and civil disobedience. Strong push-back and defiance are necessary — being polite and obedient won’t work. Put sand in their gears!
Work to elect better people to office, or run for office ourselves, even if we have never been politically active. We have more influence at the local and state level than we do in Washington and we can block much of Trump’s agenda city by city and state by state.
Help counter the poison in the air by spreading the opposite: be kind to others and to yourself. We are experiencing a rising tide of meanness, hate, and violence in our leaders and often in each other. We can counter that by relating to others with courtesy, generosity, kindness, and compassion. That’s healing for ourselves and others, and it provides a model for others to emulate.
Find your own way to help block the new administration’s wrecking crew. Perhaps through conversations with others or writing to your newspaper or social media.
Act, don’t just react - seize the initiative. Find creative new actions. Act when or where your opponent doesn’t expect it. Our thinking needs to be dramatic, outside the box.
Limit your exposure to bad news and to social media. Too much exposure to awfulness leads to burnout.
Detach yourself from the results of your efforts. Make the commitment, do the work, follow through as needed, and then let go. Let the universe make of it what it will: success, failure, or a step along the way. Do it simply because it’s the right thing to do.
This is a lighter, freer, and more effective way. Even if your effort fails, it’s still very much worth doing, because (1) you may be planting seeds that will bear fruit later, (2) you’ll be touching other lives – inspiring, providing a role model – which can lead to action by others, (3) you’re learning and honing your skills, and (4) above all, it’s the right thing to do.
Be tenacious. Be stubborn. Be patient. You may be accomplishing more than you think. Keep coming back, perhaps with a new approach or with a different slant on an old approach.
Even when it seems hopeless, persistence often pays off — sometimes when least expected, and sometimes in surprising ways. Gandhi said this about tenacity: “First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.”
Arden Buck is a member of Boulder (Colo.) Meeting. A retired developer of scientific instrumentation, he currently serves on the editorial board of Elders Climate Action. Arden lives in the mountains near Boulder. Contact: abuck@igc.org.