Collective Action and Damage Control

 About a week ago, I was assuaging my angst about Trump, DOGE, and the current political crisis with wine -- a lot of wine.

It didn't take long for me to realize that this wasn't a sustainable strategy. I had to find a way to have a positive impact on the situation, so I sent an email to my most trusted family members (my wife, four daughters, and son-in-law) asking for advice.

I've already posted about what my eldest daughter and my son-in-law (husband of #2 daughter) said. Wise advice from both.

And I was blown away by what #2 daughter sent me next. (It should have surprised me; she's the most politically active of all of them.) Her advice:

1. Clarify my goal. (In my own words, "What does success look like in this situation?")
2. Don't try to act alone. Connect with a group that shares my vision for success. Pool resources.
3. Having an impact doesn't have to be hard. Just because I find that something comes easily doesn't mean I'm not being effective.
4. I don't have to fly to Washington, DC, and march with picket signs in front of the White House. There are (many) other roles that I could fill. (In my own words, "Leverage my strengths.")
5. Take courage from people who've written about how to fight this battle.

Clarify My Goal

After I sobered up from self-medicating with wine to soothe my angst, I realized that I simply want to do something that improves the situation. 

I don't have to convince a congressman to file Articles of Impeachment or a cabinet secretary to invoke the 25th Amendment. I can be effective by helping those around me who are part of my team or by serving to mitigate the damage inflicted by the Trump-Musk Wrecking Company.

Connect

No one fights a war alone. Find a group to join and learn what they need to fight the battle.

(Hmm. I'm using warfare as a metaphor. That's what this is starting to feel like. Not that I've been in a war, but I can imagine it.)

I live just north of Seattle. My daughter pointed me to a Facebook group that organizes political protests in my area. (I've joined, but I still need to reach out and learn what I can do to help them.)

Don't (Necessarily) Work Hard

Just because something feels drop-dead easy to do doesn't mean that I'm not doing good work. My metric for success shouldn't be "How hard did I work?" It should "Who did I help?"

Leverage My Strengths

Front line fighters need a host of support services: such as transportation, logistics, communications, and even medical first aid. (There's that warfare metaphor again.)

My daughter pointed me to an article at Demand Democracy: 42 Roles for Effective Political Resistance. In particular (for me), I could:

• Write articles or post on social media.
• Help with the IT needs of the organization (e.g., running Signal or Mastedon servers so the organization doesn't depend on Facebook, Twitter (X), or WhatsApp).
• Moderate social media discussions to stay on topic.
• Lead workshops to teach about issues, strategy, tactics, or key skills.
• Setup radio communications (e.g., Wi-Fi, local radio repeaters, and Meshtastic grids)
• Develop technical tools to support organization activities, such as maps and online databases.
• Facilitate meetings (i.e., hold space for the group to reach the goals of the meeting.

Warfare results in collateral damage. This is a disaster in the making. I might put on my hard hat an start doing disaster response. 

Not on the list of 42 Roles, I could mitigate the harm and collateral damage by:

• Career coaching for federal workers who lost their job
• Business coaching for those workers who decide to pivot and start a small business
• Training in skills that got me through several career disruptions
• Research alternatives for federal services lost and facilitate connecting people with those alternatives

The bottom line: I don't need to put myself in harm's way, don a gas mask, and prepare for tear gas. I can let the youngsters do that. But those youngsters will need support. As will the people injured by Trump and his wrecking ball.

Learn from the Masters

Lastly, my daughter pointed me to a book by Naomi Klein that she found useful: No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump's Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need. (NOT a paid link)

Trump has been at this since 2016, but now he's better organized. Klein put together this book in about three months, published in 2017, to help people resist his efforts. I've just started reading it. (I expect I'll post about what I learn from it.)

Take Courage

I'm a little ashamed of how I tried to tranquilize my anxiety with wine, but now I'm quite encouraged with the resulting advice from my kids. I have a plan of action now formulating in my mind. I imagine that I'll be posting about those plans (and their results) in more detail as they unfold.

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