We are Not Helpless or Hopeless

We Are Not Helpless or Hopeless

I have found myself cycling through a lot of emotions every day over the past week. From disbelief to rage to astonishment, and back around again. Sometimes this takes an hour; sometimes it takes a day. We should all feel whatever we need to feel right now to process the unexpected rout we just experienced.

This time around will feel both familiar and new—that’s what happens in life. There will be echoes of the previous administration, along with new twists and unexpected turns. We are going to experience significant pain and losses; it will be scary and heartbreaking. However, the one thing we can’t do is give up hope. They win when we give up or fear the consequences of standing up.

Over seventy million people voted for someone we find immoral, unsuitable, vulgar, and incompetent. It is incomprehensible to us. However, painting a large segment of the population with the broad brush of fascism is not going to help us get out of this mess. Yes, many voted against their own self-interest. Yes, many people are more racist and sexist than they admit. Yes, many are deafened by the right-wing media ecosystem. But there are also many other reasons, as unique to them as they are as individuals. We don’t know. We may never know. Our time is precious, and we cannot spend it consumed by rage over what just happened because that kind of rage is exhausting and paralyzing. We have to focus on building a Democratic party that shows up for people year round in every community. We have to focus on holding dear to our values and our love of one another. We have to avoid the temptation to slide into apathy and acquiescence.

We need to act. Now.

Here are things you can do today:

1. Turn off all tracking on your phone! You may already be receiving messages from Google advising you on ways to turn off tracking.

   That’s because they know what may be coming—the federal government surveilling private citizens, particularly pregnant women, to try to control and police our actions.

   Here is a good overview of ways to turn off all tracking on your phone: https://www.avg.com/en/signal/prevent-your-phone-being-tracked

   Remember, every app you download wants to track what you do and where you go, both online and offline. Make sure to keep turning off tracking on those apps!

   Use Signal for important communications. It was developed by the non-profit Signal Foundation and its subsidiary, Signal Messenger LLC. Signal's software is free and open-source. Most importantly, it isn’t owned by one of the tech megacorps that have shown they will fold to government pressure (e.g., WhatsApp is owned by Meta).

2. Call your U.S. Representatives and tell them to oppose H.R. 9495, which would give the federal government unlimited powers to dismantle nonprofit organizations it deems to have provided “material support” to terrorist groups. This is a key weapon the new administration could use to shut down civil dissent in the future.

3. Clarification on ordering abortion medication pills. Anyone can order these pills to use or share. Here are sites that will sell the pills to anyone: https://www.plancpills.org/websites-that-sell-pills. The pills expire two years from the manufacture date, but we need to get them into circulation now so that they can keep moving even after they take over the FDA.