#and protests are effective because of COMMUNITY ORGANIZING

[lightningfilledsaber]

I'm sorry but what the fuck do people expect to accomplish by """"planning"""" protests literally less than a handful of days or even fucking HOURS before they're ""planned"" to take place? This is why so many (particularly INTERNET) protests have fucking crashed and burned. Even if your posts go viral, you are NOT reaching an effective amount of people in such a short time span AND you are not giving the people who DO see it an effective opportunity to participate ESPECIALLY if you are asking for things like "don't spend money at xyz" or even worse "don't GO anywhere" especially when it's "don't go to WORK" People need time to prepare for these things. Some people protesting is better than none of course, but you are literally asking for failure trying to "set up" these protests by informing people at the last possible fucking second. Especially because I know more than half of y'all aren't doing the local/community work ahead of time by gathering your own friends/family/community to participate either. You are asking to fail. Learn how to organize properly if you expect this shit to work for the love of god

[runawaymun]

the whole tiktok ban situation is super crunchy and I'm conflicted. Because on the one hand...it does feel startlingly close to a kind of censorship and I think the whole 'chinese government links' thing is pure scaremongering. But on the other hand I genuinely think that tiktok has accelerated the rate of enshittification of so, so many things. Like it has been a net harm in basically everything. Even the publishing industry is suffering now. As someone who wants to get novels published, the entire state of the publishing industry catering to tiktok and the quality of even bookbinding rapidly deteriorating in the past couple of years, I've been reconsidering and thinking about simply setting up a website/archive to self publish my work.

So...I don't know. It's not as if other social media sites (X, Facebook, etc.) haven't done harm, and it's not like huge media giants like Google haven't caused possibly irreparable damage to how things work now, but...I just distinctly remember a pre-tiktok, pre-covid world and things legitimately weren't as bad online then as they are now. Tiktok actually feels uniquely bad. The change happened so rapidly, too. At what point do we decide that a product causes enough visible harm that it needs to be removed? Because that's what tiktok is, at the end of the day. It's a product. We don't have the same clear measurement as we do with, say, lead paint on children's toys, but idk idk idk...

[luckystarchild]

I've been keeping it off my face as much as I can on video, but I'm livid about the TikTok ban.

I have about 100,000 followers on that app. I joined during the pandemic. I was lucky to find a community full of incredible people, many of whom I now consider lifelong friends. Because of the community I found on that app, I found space to experiment with my gender presentation. I was able to come out as nonbinary (to feel SAFE ENOUGH to come out as nonbinary) because of that app.

I've seen a few Tumblr posts in which people gloat they never got into TikTok. Good for you. You won't suffer emotionally, and that makes you feel superior. But if you have no concept of what that app has meant for more than 170,000,000 Americans (that's half of all Americans!), many of whom do not have access to community in physical spaces, kindly sit down.

The ban constitutes the largest mass layoff in American history. We will lose billions of dollars in our domestic economy. Over 7 million small businesses are impacted because of the ban. You will feel the effect of that whether or not you were on the app. If you can't grasp the significance of that, again: kindly sit down.

The language of the TikTok ban has set a dangerous precedent for the American government to shutter any tech platforms they deem "dangerous" for arbitrary, undisclosed, nebulous reasons. This will affect Americans' ability to organize, spread information, and protest. They have effectively banned our right to assembly in digital spaces. This is the greatest infringement of free speech that has ever occurred in the United States. If you can't grasp the significance of that, either: kindly sit down.

This is bigger than "never falling for the TikTok craze." This is an enormous governmental overreach sanctioned by our own Supreme Court. It's bigger than teens doing silly dances you can sneer at from your smug high horse.

And if you can't grasp that: Kindly. Sit. Down.

[thatswhywelovegermany]

November 9, the fateful day of the Germans in history

Nov 9, 1313: Battle of Gammelsdorf - Louis IV defeats his cousin Frederick the Fair marking the beginning of a series of disputes over supremacy between the House of Wittelsbach and the House of Habsburg in the Holy Roman Empire

Nov 9, 1848: Execution of Robert Blum (a german politician) - this event is said to mark the beginning of the end of the March Revolution in 1848/49, the first attempt of establishing a democracy in Germany

Nov 9, 1914: Sinking of the SMS Emden, the most successful German ship in world war I in the indo-pacific, its name is still used as a word in Tamil and Sinhala for a cheeky troublemaker

Nov 9, 1918: German Revolution of 1918/19 in Berlin. Chancellor Max von Baden unilaterally announces the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II and entrusts Friedrich Ebert with the official duties. At around 2 p.m., the Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann proclaims the "German Republic" from the Reichstag building. Two hours later, the Spartacist Karl Liebknecht proclaims the "German Soviet Republic" from the Berlin City Palace.

Nov. 9, 1923: The Hitler-Ludendorff Putsch (Munich Beer Hall Putsch) is bloodily suppressed by the Bavarian State Police in front of the Feldherrnhalle in Munich after the Bavarian Prime Minister Gustav Ritter von Kahr announces on the radio that he has withdrawn his support for the putsch and that the NSDAP is being dissolved.

Nov 9, 1925: Hitler imposes the formation of the Schutzstaffel (SS).

Nov 9, 1936: National Socialists remove the memorial of composer Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in front of the Gewandhaus concert hall in Leipzig.

Nov 9, 1938: November Pogrom / Pogrom Night ("Night of Broken Glass") organized by the Nazi state against the Jewish population of Germany.

Nov 9, 1939: The abduction of two british officiers from the Secret Intelligence Service by the SS in Venlo, Netherlands, renders the British spy network in continental Europe useless and provides Hitler with the pretext to invade the Netherlands in 1940.

Nov 9, 1948: Berlin Blockade Speech - West Berlin mayor Ernst Reuter delivers a speech with the famous words "Peoples of the world, look at this city and recognize that you cannot, that you must not abandon this city".

Nov 9, 1955: Federal Constitutional Court decision: all Austrians who have acquired german citizenship through annexation in 1938, automatically lost it after Austria became sovereign again.

Nov 9, 1967: Students protest against former Nazi professors still teaching at German universities, showing the banner ”Unter den Talaren – Muff von 1000 Jahren” ("Under the gowns – mustiness of 1000 years", referring to the self-designation of Nazi Germany as the 'Empire of 1000 Years') and it becomes one of the main symbols of the Movement of 1968 (the German Student  Movement).

Nov 9, 1969: Anti-Semitic bomb attack - the radical left-winged pro-palestinian organization “Tupamaros West-Berlin” hides a bomb in the jewish community house in Berlin. It never exploded though.

Nov 9, 1974: death of Holger Meins - the member of the left-radical terrorist group Red Army Faction (RAF) financed in part by the GDR that eventually killed 30 people, dies after 58 days of hunger strike, triggering a second wave of terrorism.

Nov 9, 1989: Fall of the Berlin Wall - After months of unrest, demonstrations and tens of thousands escaping to West Germany, poorly briefed spokesman of the newly formed GDR government Günter Schabowski announces that private trips to non-socialist foreign countries are allowed from now on. Tens of thousands of East Berliners flock to the border crossings and overwhelm the border guards who had not received any instructions yet because the hastily implemented new travel regulations were supposed to be effective only the following day and involved the application for exit visas at a police office. Subsequently, crossing the border between both German states became possible vitrually everywhere.

[tanadrin]

So like, given that the judiciary is useless and the legislature is useless, what do you recommend Americans do? What mechanism do you think protest will be able to activate, other than starting a violent rebellion?

"constitutional government is in the process of breaking down" does not mean "there is nothing the legislature and judiciary can do."

look, all rule of law is kayfabe to some extent, right? the reason it works is that the systems that operate according to its rules have legitimacy, some degree of abstract popular support that means that people broadly obey the decisions of institutions, and where there's strong disagreement about those decisions, the body of people empowered de jure or de facto to settle those disagreements (which includes, but is not limited to, the people with actual social sanction to use violence) care about upholding the system.

but politics did not begin in 1788 with the invention of modern constitutional government, it is not confined to republican systems of power, and it does not occur solely within the realms of electoral politics, judicial process, and legislative sessions. all these things proceed from politics, and did not create it. coalition-building, popular discontent, divisions among factions of elites, and all these other fuzzy things which are hard to pin down in hard data like approval poll numbers matter--they matter to the extent that they have overthrown kings and dictators throughout history, and are in fact responsible for the republican government under which you live.

the actions of the legislature and the judiciary still matter a lot, because they still have different degrees of legitimacy to different groups within the country. it sucks that decades of the convergence of various factors have hollowed out mass political organizing in the united states, so it's hard to mobilize people for substantive action (protests of the sort where you can actually demand things, instead of just vibe on the National Mall), but even though this shit is harder to do effectively, i think even protests still matter! calling your congresscritters to yell at them still matters--especially if they are a Republican member of the House.

and now i'm gonna get a little bit mean, and i apologize for this in advance, but here's the thing: i have been getting a lot of asks lately about "what should people do." and i am just some asshole on tumblr. this is not even an advice blog. at a certain point in life you have to acquire an orientation to the world which is "i may not know the answer to this question, but i i know i can find it out, or i know i can try to find it out, and if that doesn't work i can keep trying." lotta people online right now seem to have this attitude of helplessness. they are waiting for someone with authority to give them a definitive answer about what to do and how to fix things. these answers do not exist. all there is in this life is varying degrees of individuals deciding that they will try something, and hopefully in the process link up with other individuals who are also trying something and maybe have some advice to share.

this isn't just about politics, by the way; this is an attitude that i think it is necessary for all adults to acquire at some point, if they want to avoid feeling helpless and eventually resentful. the world is not a thing happening to you; it is a thing you are inside and can affect. i have my own opinions on what i'd like to see people doing right now, sure--and some of those things are things only, say, members of the house of representatives can do--but i'm not VI fuckin' Lenin here posting from Switzerland in anticipation of leading the revolution when i return. i don't know where you live or what your situation is or who you know. you must, at a certain point, feel a sense of responsibility and duty toward your own community and to your society, and act commensurately.

[justalittlesolarpunk]

hi! i love your blog :D do you have any advice to implement low waste and solarpunk aspects into everyday life with a tight budget? keep doing what you do!

Hi!

Thanks for asking - I’ve had this question before and it’s definitely a real problem. Organic, plastic free food is expensive. So is handmade durable clothing, and train fares these days. It can feel like only the rich can be solarpunks, which is pretty counterintuitive given its anticapitalist ideology. But! I’m here to tell you there’s lots you can do to bring solarpunk into your life in a cost-effective way.

To start with, lots of solarpunk spaces are free or cheap. Get a library card and you can borrow as many books and DVDs and other resources as you like. Look up to see if there’s a library of things in your neighbourhood, and join a buy nothing or stuff for free group online. Download TooGoodToGo, which lets you access food from local cafes and restaurants which would otherwise go to waste. See if there’s a repair cafe that operates near you - I managed to get a pair of trousers mended at one of these for free, and I had been thinking I would need to pay a tailor (which is fine if you can afford it! Skilled labour deserves fair wages!). In some places plant-based food is cheaper, so when it is, choose it. But in others it will cost more than animal products so you have to decide on a case by case basis whether saving money or a particular diet is more important to you.

There’s lots else you can do for minimal spending or that actually saves you money. Walking to work or school avoids the expenditure in the petrol for a drive or a bus fare. If you’re within walking distance and able to do so, I’d recommend it. Joining your local chapter of Extinction Rebellion, Friends of The Earth, Greenpeace, The A22 network or any other active climate group in your area is almost always free and just involves a small weekly time commitment. This will introduce you to activists and inform you about protests and public meetings you can attend.

If you have the time in your week and the physical ability, which I acknowledge many people don’t, you can also join some sort of volunteer group looking after a nature reserve or tending a community garden (which might also give you access to free or discounted food). Learning to forage is also a good skill as that really is free food!

Depending on where you are, a green electricity tariff *can* also be less expensive. If this is the case and you have control over your provider, it’s worth switching to it. Buying books and clothes secondhand will also be better for the environment and your bank balance. Teaching yourself about the climate and the natural world with podcasts, YouTube, online free articles and other resources is also free and the knowledge will help you keep solarpunk at the front of your mind. Read good news stories online whenever you can, to remind you that good things are happening already.

If you’re employed, you can also try to influence green policy at your workplace or in your trade union. If you’re at school or university, joining (or setting up!) the environmental society and/or lobbying for change at the SU are both good ideas and shouldn’t necessarily cost you anything. If you can - and I know this is inaccessible for a big swathe of the population - put a very small amount of money aside whenever possible, because the more you save the more you can afford to buy better products, donate to causes, help out the needy in your community, travel in a greener way, and other more expensive choices. It’s all about that dual power.

Hope this helps get you started!

[beardedmrbean]

BOSTON (TNND) — Tufts University has temporarily suspended its chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) after it shared an image of a protest flyer calling for students to "Join the Student Intifada."

SJP shared a screenshot last week of a message from the school’s Office of Community Standards informing the group of the decision. The communication accused the group of circulating posters with assault rifles on it which instructed students to both “join the student intifada” and to “escalate” a planned Oct. 7 event.

The message informed SJP its conduct on campus was unacceptable.

“Because of this conduct, we have no choice but to impose Interim Suspension on Students of Justice in Palestine,” it reads. “Interim Suspension is effective immediately until the conclusion of the conduct process related to the incident outlined above.”

SJP members reviled the suspension in an Instagram post.

“We are not victims and we are doing the bare minimum in the struggle for a liberated Palestine,” the post read. “The repression we face is minimal compared to the importance of fighting for divestment. We will not back down, we will not apologize.”

The post also included a QR code which links to a petition demanding the school reinstate SJP.

A university spokesperson told The National News Desk Monday SJP's suspension will "remain in effect until the case is fully resolved."

“During this time, SJP must halt all activities, events, and meetings. Any attempt to continue operating during this suspension will result in serious disciplinary consequences for both the organization and its leaders," the spokesperson said.

At the start of this academic year, Tufts University emphasized its expectations for student protests and advocacy,” the spokesperson added. “We provided clear guidelines to ensure a learning environment free from disruption, while supporting students' interests in speech and demonstration.”

Cheering the suspension was the New England chapter of the Anti-Defamation League.

“Thank you, @TuftsUniversity, for swiftly suspending the university's SJP chapter after they used images of assault rifles/weapons to promote an event they planned for the one-year anniversary of 10/7,” it wrote via X. “The call to join the ‘student intifada’ and ‘escalate’ is a call condoning violence.”

SJP on Monday shared images of masked students “reclaiming” Tufts's school of engineering building. The proceedings were part of its “week of rage” to commemorate the anniversary of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel.

[tallerthantale]

Effective Boycotting is a Matter of Leverage

I'm not writing this to be critical of or police anyone's personal position on continuing involvement in Good Omens fandom or whatever their state is with Amazon. Some people may never want to engage in the fandom again, and that's ok. Some people want to keep working on their art, that's ok.

For people who are actively interested in strategizing around their relationship to the fandom and the work, I want to give you my thoughts on how that can be done.

Amazon appears to be considering reducing Neil Gaiman's roles from Season 3. As far as I have seen we don't know what any of the details are that are currently being considered. That means right now is the most impactful moment to consider the role of fandom.

When we look at this strategically, the first step is, what's the objective? For me, the long term goal is to have an incentive structure for Amazon and other such organizations to drop people from projects. I'll explain a bit what I mean by that.

Imagine a labor union that's contracted with a store owned by an evil corporation. It's too much of a monopoly to realistically take down the corporation, a lot of people are stuck buying from the store because they don't have decent transportation.

There is a labor dispute, the evil corporation is doing something extra evil and the union calls for a boycott until they stop. So the people who reasonably can stop shopping at the store honor the boycott, and buy from somewhere else. If it's a well run boycott they also help other people out with rides to shop elsewhere through community organizing.

Eventually the store gives in on the labor dispute and does what the union wants. At that point, the union drops the call for a boycott, as the parties have come to an agreement. The evil corporation is still evil. Here is the really important part: When the union drops the call for a boycott, you go back to shopping at the store. Yes, even if the store is still largely evil.

You do that, because that is what preserves the union's power. If no one who participated in the boycott went back to the store after the agreement, the store learns to not bother to reach agreements with the union to end their calls to boycott. Corporations are not acting off of moral principles, they are acting off of bottom line. If reaching an agreement with the union does not improve their bottom line, why bother to negotiate?

So my point is, for fandom to become a base of organized power that can have and maintain effective boycott leverage, there has to be a thing that we are taking away, and a thing we want Amazon to do, at which point those strategically inclined will put back the thing we took away.

The most obvious option is to go back to supporting the show if Neil Gaiman is removed from it to a reasonable degree. Doing that contributes to an incentive structure for Amazon and other corporations to remove people under similar circumstances in the future.

If Amazon can avoid the financial hit of the protest by giving the protestors what they want, they will do so. That helps break down the cultures of looking the other way in the entertainment industry. If shows that remove people get full on protested even after the person was removed, they have no incentive to remove people because it's all sunk cost.

Given how often shows are cancelled these days, I think it is a stronger message to have a show fire its showrunner and carry on successfully than to have a show nebulously not return. I like that outcome better even if it leaves Gaiman with some residuals, because for me the priority goal is incentivizing platforms to publicly dump people in these situations. Gaiman's bank balance is further down the list.

Other people will have other things they want their end goal to be and that's ok. Just remember you aren't appealing to Amazon's better nature, you are appealing to their spreadsheet. What is their incentive to care what you think?

Plan like you are in a negotiation with Amazon. What do you want them to do? What are you willing to stop doing that you will start doing again if they do what you want? And if you find what your position is on that, tell them. People who can drop prime and then offer to reinstate it probably have the most power, but pausing fan content is a meaningful thing to mention too.

[sturionic]

hey, you said your inbox is open and I was curious if you have any ideas for someone who can't get involved irl in things like protests and local antifa groups (physically disabled and incapacitatingly severe anxiety), and who can't get involved in online activism beyond reblogging stuff (personal reasons, difficult to explain)?

I've been considering trying to put together care packages for local unhoused people, but I'm poor and I'd have to convince someone to help me put everything together so idk how well that will go.

I don't want to sit around doing nothing.

Hey anon! I am very glad you reached out, and this is a question I get asked a lot by people IRL, so you are very much not alone here.

I think the first order of business is expanding your definition of activism. We have been done a great disservice by having activism framed for us as protests, charity, & singular heroes making speeches and changing hearts through celebrity. In reality, the smaller actions in your community have a much greater impact; and most of all, the things you personally have to offer make the greatest impact.

This diagram is specifically geared towards climate action, but really applies to all activism:

For you to be an effective activist/volunteer/community member, it's crucial to find the centre of that diagram, or else you're on a one-way ticket to burnout. Don't get caught up in trying to judge which is the most "important" activism, because that answer will be different for everyone. The most important thing you can do for the world is the thing you can do.

I've done lots of volunteering and volunteer management in multiple fields, and there really is lots of choice out there for things that suit you; anything from sorting files quietly in a back room to using computer knowledge (often VERY absent in community groups lol) to help with maintaining websites & promoting community events. One of my personal favourite volunteer shifts was acting as a helper to the organizers of a queer electronic music festival, running a "build your own synthesizer" workshop. Literally I was just ticking off names on a registration sheet and doing setup and fetching things, but it was one of the coolest things I've had the joy to be involved in.

The other plus here is that activists in a given city all usually have some social overlap. If you email, say, your local community centre, explain your interests & circumstances & skills, and ask what you could do - they might not have anything right that moment, but likely someone there will know a different group that needs something similar, or they'll have ideas for who you could try next. Even if you're not finding a lot online right away, have faith in the (slightly haphazard) offline community org social scene. Same deal if you get involved with something and realize it's not your thing after all - just be honest, and ask for help in finding something more suited to you. It's so, so common, and no one's going to get angry with you for wanting to help in ways you're better suited for.

Don't mistake me when I nudge you towards volunteering - there's a certain way that well-meaning (usually) liberals treat volunteering, like they're 'donating' their time as charity, and I am not advocating for that. I'm just saying that you really don't have to reinvent the wheel. There are structures in place run by people who know well how to do it. Part of the importance is the work itself; the file-sorting, the computer help, whatever. But another part is building connections with the people around you, and also letting those people benefit from the privilege of knowing you. And that will happen naturally over time. The muscle will grow as you use it more, even if you need to start with something that feels to you like it might not be enormously significant in the grand scheme of things. Maybe you move on to 'bigger' things, or maybe you gain new perspective and realize just how significant your contributions are after all.

[dostoyevsky-official]

I'm aware of how swing states work. People across the entire WORLD are aware of how American swing states work, even though we shouldn't have to be, because your country has truly outsized power and we have to watch your elections like hawks.

It's not just about your individual vote, and relying on condescending "mY vOtE dIdn'T MATTER" bullshit is just a misdirection and you know it. It's about spouting & spreading shitty dangerous rhetoric and participating in the disenfranchisement of your own rights. Apathy and disengagement is what your right-wing populists WANT from your country's voters. You helped them spread that, and that's on you.

You really think you're going to do any better at direct action and community organizing if you're willing to hide behind the 'I'm just one person and my actions don't matter' line? That's all of activism, sorry. Being just one person who still gets up and takes action even if the odds are stacked.

My family is from a country that has had voting as an option taken away from them. You can be as condescending as you like, and it doesn't change the fact that the rest of the world is looking at Americans who threw away their votes with disgust.

you don't understand how american elections work and you don't understand what happened last night. you need to familiarize yourself with swing states. you need to learn what they teach in fifth grade here about the electoral college. if this is how you closely follow american elections, you were badly misled by someone.

i can show you any number of electoral maps, the vote distributions, the swings, the irrelevant stein voters in wisconsin, but none of this is getting through to people making this argument. it's a shame. there were 47,741 write-in votes in nyc, 1.85% of the vote. think about that number. these were not "disenfranchised voters" but rather people expressing their dissatisfaction through the ballot box.

i'm deeply flattered that you think my posts and follower count, which couldn't pack an opera house, had any effect, but they didn't (otherwise i'd take credit for NYC props2-5 failing, which passed). i don't think any posters on a moribund, embarrassing website had any effect. streamers like aiden ross did; joe rogan—why did kamala refuse to sit with him?—did. you and others are frustrated about the results, you're looking for an answer, you're angry, i get it. but this explanation, if taken seriously (protest voters in safe states cost the election), is one of the worst conclusions you can arrive at, somewhere in the ballpark of "Peanut's martyrdom swung the vote;" you're not even considering what the candidate said (or didn't) that caused people to protest vote. we are absolutely doomed if people run with this, and, mercifully, it's so stupid that it won't be taken up by the democratic party. they will more readily blame protest voters in michigan than those who voted like i did.

you need to realize it's apocalyptic if this is your key takeaway, and that your political insight into america is worthless if you stick by it. please channel your frustration into something more productive.

feel free to send me more votescolding asks, but i won't be answering any of them. this is my last word

[sweaterkittensahoy]

y'all, if you want me to participate in a boycott, you have to tell me why. I should not have to google the name of the thing and the date to get an answer.

In case anyone else has seen things about "economic blackout on February 28 ", it's about protesting DEI rollbacks from large companies.

But I had to look it up. You can't run an effective boycott if people don't know why, and you shouldn't want to run a boycott where people can't easily answer why.

Also, the info I saw about it said "Starting with one day, maybe going up to three."

You don't get to be wishy-washy on the length of your short boycott. That's not how this works. Are you doing a 24-hour boycott or are you doing a 3-day boycott? Because it feels like you're trying to have a ready excuse if the numbers aren't as devastating as you would like them to be in 24 hours.

Also, frankly, setting it for February 28th when Valentine's Day is FRIDAY and a day that large retailers usually get slammed makes me feel there's no real backbone in play here.

Look, if you wanna participate, participate. Here's a Newsweek article explaining it.

Also, here's Newsweek explaining who The People's Union is because i sure as fuck didn't know, and frankly from the what the founder of the union focuses on on his own Union website, I do not find them serious in the least. It's all buzz words and sob story background with nothing in the article actually indicating what this group does to actually effect change.

If Newsweek has to run an article explaining who the group is who is trying to run a boycott, and that article doesn't actually explain what the group hopes to achieve by having the boycott, it's not a serious group.

"But, Gayle! They want DEI offices back!"

Okay. But do you really think PBS cut its DEI department because it wanted to or because if they don't, the government funding they get will get yanked? Do you really think Target, that loudly made a point to talk about how less rainbow their capitalism was gonna be before Pride last year, is just chomping at the bit to put their DEI office back into place, or do you think maybe they showed up which side they were on and now they have an easy excuse to drop it?

Do you think Google, who was literally head-hunting me for nearly a year, and then suddenly stopped talking to me just as they got sued by female employees for sexist work practices geniunely care about what DEI can do?

Do you think Amazon, who has cut me out of interview cycles TWICE because when they ask "How do you innovate every day?" and I go, "I don't. I think it's an odd standard to judge all possible employees by especially in my department, where the focus should be on being able to communicate complicated information to anyone in any place at any time, which can lead to innovation but should not be a high-ranked goal" gives a shit about DEI? The Amazon that demanded workers come back to the office back in September while announcing everyone had until January? Thus making it possible for them to have a "voluntary headcount reduction" instead of a layoff to deal with whatever shortcomings the balance sheet showed?

"But, Gayle, I care!"

Aim it somewhere useful. Do a personal boycott. Email all those big companies The People's Union think they can hit on the bottom line within maybe 72 hours and tell them what you generally spend at their company and that you are taking that money away. Because, honestly, an email campaign that is "Hey, I did the math, and last year, I spent $500 at your business, and this year, I'm spending $0." Get your friends into it. Do some community organizing around it. Rather than this empty threat of 24-72 hours, commit to a long-term refusal to work with these private companies who do not have to answer to the government for their funding.

At the end of the day, for me, it comes down to this: A maybe 3-day boycott by an unproven group calling itself a "Union" whose main talking points are "government bad" and "I've been meditating since I was six" (that's not a joke, that's in the article about who the fuck People's Union is) isn't going to do jack fuck all for any DEI program. Literally every business they want you to target can easily handle three days of no shoppers. They can probably handle three years of slow sales, frankly.

The reasons boycotts work when ACTUAL unions call for them is because companies know their average sales. So, if a REAL union says, "Please show your support for the union on February 28 by refusing to buy from our place of business," and that place of business sees a HUGE drop in sales on February 28, they can only assume it's because the union asked customers to show they stand with the union. (By the way, if you ever participate in a boycott like that, please also send an email to customer service that says "I will not be buying from you on February 28 because I stand with the union," but also please only do it if you actually go to that business in general; lots of people call things a boycott when they mean they just don't and never have shopped someplace.).

Those 24-72 hours the People's Union want you spend not shopping but maybe shopping if they feel really powerful after the first 24 hours, will be much better spent bothering your elected officials to make them refuse the anti-DEI executive order.

This is a bragging rights boycott. It will not harm the businesses in the least, but at the end of it, all the people who participated can smugly announce they didn't buy anything at the Target for a whole 3 days because they're so morally correct.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Earth Island Journal:

As you read this, new executive orders are being signed, and old protections are being dismantled. Many of the frameworks and institutions of our aging democracy — more specifically, our representative republic — are being tested to the point of fraying or dissolution. We are being engulfed by a far-right dehumanizing government at all levels — executive, legislative, judicial.

While some progressive organizers and activists continue with “business as usual,” others are gripped with the question “What do we do now?” The truth is stark: We know the new president won by a slim 1.5 percent margin, with 19 million fewer voters participating compared to four years ago. We also hold that even though this was no MAGA mandate, it underscores a hard reality: Progressives lost the national election because there simply aren’t enough mobilized like-minded people overall. 

We didn’t get here overnight, or even in the past four years. A lack of effective relationship and solidarity building across class, color, gender, religious beliefs, sexuality, age, ability, culture and more is part of the problem. Another is the lack of alternative political parties that we can recognize as representing us — our values, our needs, our world view — to inspire us to engage. In short: No mandate, low engagement and the system is broken! 

Simply, we can’t do the same things as before because what we’ve done wasn’t enough. Living in these “interesting” times, it bears remembering that in crisis there is also opportunity.

We find ourselves in a closing space — our inclusive civil society under attack. There is an element of claustrophobia bearing down upon those of us who identify as progressive, social justice-minded, democracy advocates.

What does a closing civil society look like? Literally, our options are increasingly limited. We may be told how to behave, how to dress, who we can associate with, what we can say and even what we can or cannot do with our own bodies. Personal choices may narrow as community organizations are threatened with lawsuits and economic sanctions — or they may be outlawed entirely, as freedom of expression, access to education and literature and the right to protest are curtailed. 

How does authoritarianism show up? Authoritarianism often manifests through the actions of an autocrat or a small group (oligarchy) desperate to maintain control over their population. Tactics like mass disinformation or fake news, along with scapegoating — blaming and dehumanizing and othering specific groups — are used to strike fear and justify restrictions on freedom of speech, association and personal autonomy. Disregard for the rule of law becomes routine, targeting free press and public institutions, paving the way for corruption and political retaliation. Courts are co-opted, and authorities use surveillance, imprisonment and violent repression to enforce compliance, or silence dissent. In such environments, an open and thriving civil society becomes little more than a distant dream.

In the U.S., an extreme storyline for 2025 could land with the military being deployed to crush a people power movement — or enforce unpopular policies, such as mass deportations, even though national law generally limits the military taking action against its own citizens.

How do we prevent this? Fortunately, history offers lessons from those who’ve faced — and defeated — authoritarian regimes. Their victories remind us that change is possible, even in the most oppressive circumstances.

[chronically-ghosted]

✨get to know your moots!✨

thank you thank you thank you to @sp00kymulderr and @perotovar for the tags!

What's the origin of your blog title? from the song boogeyman by dead posey, it reflects my deep seated desire to be hunted like a prey animal by one of pedro's many competent characters and finally give my overactive anxiety a real fucking reason to panic.

OTP(s) + Shipname: Been a hot minute since I shipped anything other than me and whatever pedro's flavor of the week is, but looking at my ao3 tim rockford and shane morrisey (@perotovar what's their ship name), aloy/avad (horizon series), and father john pruitt and this pu$$y.

Favourite colour: tbd but dark green or purple

Favourite game: all time? horizon zero dawn. currently? fields of mistria - yall the brainrot is so real and deep and i need to spend every waking hour harvesting my crops or repairing bridges or giving every goddamn shiny stone to Balor in hopes that he'll fuck me in his wagon

Song stuck in your head: Stayed Gone from the Hazbin Hotel soundtrack (for all of you who thought i was mysterious i hope you appreciate me showing my whole ass for this)

Weirdest habit/trait? I need a fucking chapstick on my lips and lotion on my hands or i will explode. my husband legitimately has a stash of chapstick and lotion in his car and in the house in case of emergencies.

Hobbies: thinking about writing, videogames, watching youtube essays and getting fed up with it and going back to nebula like an abused housewife

If you work, what's your profession? project coordinator, but i'm going back to school to get my license as an LCP so i can counsel people with addictions and their families.

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be? "I don't particularly dream of having a job, I dream of not having to work." <- real talk from @sp00kymulderr so i'm just gonna leave that.

Something you're good at: escapism

Something you're bad at: getting work done when i'm anxious

Something you love: the picture my husband gave me of our wedding for my desk at work, HotWorx, Dieter Bravo, and that little heart-shaped patch in Pedro's beard.

Something you could talk about for hours off the cuff: how late-stage capitalism effectively ruined fandom, in conjunction with the pandemic allowing the normies to find fandom spaces.

Something you hate: when i forget crucial little details that make my life easier (like putting tweezers in my purse)

Something you collect: men's hearts weird and cozy baseball caps

Something you forget: my own fucking head if it wasn't attached to my body

What's your love language? acts of service

Favourite movie/show: rn Severance (i'm rewatching the first season with my husband and i'm catching all these little things and alsdjkfalsdkj we don't get tv with this much care any more) and movie rn is the 2018 Suspiria (cuz it was the first one I thought of)

Favourite food: chicken and white bean soup

Favourite animal: my dog specifically

What were you like as a child? overconfident, a reader, dramatic

Favourite subject at school? english always and forever, but i did take an economics class in college that i thoroughly enjoyed

Least favorite subject? Maths <- once again, gideon with the correct answer

What's your best character trait? i think therapy can fix everyone because people are fundamentally good

What's your worst character trait? i think therapy can fix everyone because people are fundamentally good

If you could change any detail of your day right now what would it be? brought my fucking tweezers in my purse

If you could travel in time who would you like to meet? this might sound signal-virtue-y but Rosa Parks. What she and the rest of the NAACP did for community-building and protests is something that has been lost in time. we lost our unions and our local chapters of these social organizations and now we are more lonely than ever AND we are fucking powerless to fight back against an increasingly fascist government. (i think the isolation epidemic in this era is one topic i could yell about forever about too)

Recommend one of your favourite fanfics (spread the love!): going through old favorites:

making out to pablo honey by @mothandpidgeon

An End to Drought by @almostfoxglove

lotus-eaten postcard by @harehart (hope i tagged the right person bc i originally found it on ao3)

Forgot to tag!: @almostfoxglove @jolapeno @tinytinymenace @penvisions @quinnnfabrgay-writes

[greatrunner]

Someone asked Bisan Owda what she thought of the US TikTok Ban, and her answer was, effectively, "You all used the platform to build an awareness of what was happening to us. That's a good thing. But, now, you need to do more."

Materially, the US losing the platform isn't likely to change the material condition of Palestine this far into the genocide. The most we could've done has been done, and now we've fallen into a lull where the primary use is staying connected to the families folks are fundraising.

And everyone from GoFundMe to every social media platform nuking Palestinian accounts has demonstrated there is a collective effort within tech and capital to ensure that every single person in Palestine is murdered. Every institution on this planet you can think of has and is conspiring to murder these people, and what a way to realize the entire world is under the thumb of fascists.

On the other hand, TikTok has helped or brought attention to the living conditions of other Americans. People's lives are impacted by the negative aspects of the State and natural disasters and positively by community organizing efforts.

At the very least, TikTok has illustrated a collective sentiment of hatred toward our politicians and the wealthy, something the State is visibly rattled by (hence the ban).

Emotionally, many Americans aren't ready to do the more part. Folks haven't accepted that protesting in mass droves without doing anything or putting anything behind it won't change things. I'm not sure people have realized that "calling your represenatives" and trying to speak to them in person is a futile effort precisely because they are suggesting that you do. The moment they started doing that after that healthcare CEO got murked by The Adjuster, I knew the jig was up.

They know that shit don't work, and I need the rest of America to realize that as well.

But at the same time, throwing a brick through their window doesn't do much except allow them to manufacture consent against people who aren't playing the optics game. They can still galvanize droves of people into believing someone is a criminal because they keep saying it on the news and strip a situation of all nuance.

And the rest are just trying to find a starting point where consequences can materialize. And that takes patience, patience that a populace socialized to expect immediate results, haven't made a discipline.

I've never felt more like a peasant than I have now.

[mariacallous]

A month after the Hamas attack that murdered 1,400 Israelis, including entire families, the country is still at war. Israel has launched a ground offensive aimed at “defeating Hamas.” Israelis are mourning their lost ones, attending funerals, dealing with well over 200,000 people displaced from their homes near the border, identifying bodies, and fearing for the fate of the more than 240 remaining hostages,

The country is caught between the front lines in the Gaza Strip, where the death toll of Palestinians has reached nearly 10,000 people, and the ongoing conflict with Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah in the north. Settler violence has surged in the West Bank, with armed militants raiding villages, torching fields, and firing at Palestinians, and even targeting Israeli peace activists. The West Bank death toll has surged to 154 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since Oct. 7.

But after a month of conflict, is it still possible to imagine not just a cease-fire, but a peace? A bruised peace movement is struggling to come to terms with the brutality of Oct. 7—but some see the possibility of hope among the ashes.

Normally, during wartime, citizens rally in support of their government—the so-called rally-around-the-flag effect—and a wave of national unity is evident. Israelis are helping farmers in the south with the harvest, members of the ultra-Orthodox community have volunteered to cook and serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and mothers have donated breast milk for orphaned infants. It is estimated that almost 50 percent of Israelis have volunteered since the war began, all while the public and the military are engaged in a substantial activation of reservists.

But the sense of popular determination stands in sharp contrast to the profound decline in trust toward Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government. Public confidence in Netanyahu is at a historic low. According to a recent poll by Israeli Channel 13 News: Some 44 percent of respondents believe that Netanyahu is directly responsible for Hamas’s attack, and 76 percent believe that he should resign, with 47 percent suggesting he should do so after the war and 29 percent calling for his immediate resignation.

A verse from Haim Nachman Bialik, widely considered Israel’s national poet, has begun to circulate on social media suggesting anger at the government juxtaposed with the cohesion of the populace: “It is the unseen wind that propels the ship forward, not the sails flapping noisily above the mast.”

Despite the resilience of civil society, it’s hard to imagine what comes next. Popular frustration has not coalesced into the organized demonstrations seen in the past, such as in the wake of the Sabra and Shatila massacres, when hundreds of thousands of Israelis called on then-Security Minister Ariel Sharon to resign, or after the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, with a protest that partially led to the resignation of Prime Minister Golda Meir. Nor have they matched the scale of more recent protest movements, such as the demonstrations against an attempted judicial overhaul.

Even before the Oct. 7 attacks, Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, was already under pressure. He was contending with charges of bribery and fraud, and his efforts to enact judicial reforms—which aimed to diminish the power of the Israeli Supreme Court and potentially make it more difficult to oust him from office—had triggered some of the largest public protests in the nation’s history.

The Israeli liberal left has suffered a setback because the momentum of the anti-judicial reform and anti-Netanyahu protests was stopped in its tracks. Though Netanyahu is widely blamed for the security failure, that frustration hasn’t been channeled into renewing the movement; instead, demonstrations have been mostly limited to installations and peaceful protests to raise awareness to the hostages.

“Israeli society is in a state of shock. We are still identifying bodies, still attending funerals. People feel that this is not the moment to restart protests,” said Ido Dembin, the executive director of Molad, a liberal think tank, in an interview with Foreign Policy. “Moreover, there is a deep disconnect between the public’s desire for Netanyahu’s departure and the political leadership, which has yet to acknowledge this pressing demand.”

The hurt on the left is all too physical. Some of the kibbutzim that were worst hit by the Hamas attack, such as Be’eri, Nahal Oz, and Holit, are strongholds of leftist ideology. Among those murdered was Hayim Katzman, a peace activist; among those kidnapped was Vivian Silver, a dedicated peace advocate. Hundreds have been murdered, including many who devoted their lives to peace, Arab-Jewish solidarity, and the pursuit of ending the occupation. Maoz Yinon, whose parents both were murdered, has been vocal about his support for peace.

Public outrage at the right-wing government, with individuals such as Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, who controversially suggested dropping on atomic bomb on Gaza, is evident. Ministers are chased away from hospitals by relatives of the injured.

“We’re seeing the unraveling of the right-wing doctrine that managing the conflict without end while weakening the voices of moderation is sustainable,” Labor Party Knesset member Naama Lazimi said in an interview with Foreign Policy. “Netanyahu and his colleagues have long empowered Hamas, because it served their interest by halting progress toward political dialogue. This approach has significantly undermined the Palestinian Authority and resulted in one of the gravest crises since Israel’s foundation.”

Yet there’s little public appetite for a cease-fire. According to a poll from the Israel Democracy Institute, even though Israelis lack clarity about the objectives of the operation in Gaza in relation to the government’s goals, they support the army and its mission. Save for Ayman Odeh, the head of the left-wing Hadash-Ta’al coalition, who along with 35 Israeli Jewish and Arab rights groups issued an open letter, no other Israeli leader has called for a cease-fire.

Many Israelis view the war as a necessary action to eliminate the threat of Hamas—and don’t put a lot of weight on Palestinian lives. The same Israel Democracy Institute poll showed that nearly 48 percent of Jewish Israelis surveyed think that Palestinian civilian suffering should not influence Gaza conflict strategies, and 36 percent say it should be given  “not so much” consideration. Meanwhile, 83 percent of Arab Israelis feel “very much” or “quite a lot” in agreement that it should be taken into account.

There are several reasons for this, beyond the sense of anger over the attacks. First, the lack of leadership has led Israelis to place an overinflated trust in the IDF. They trust it because with 300,000 reservists called up, most Israelis know someone who is serving.

Second, Israelis aren’t aware of the magnitude of destruction in Gaza. “Israelis are among the least aware of what’s happening in Gaza,” Dembin said.

The Israeli media, influenced by Netanyahu over the years, has also normalized extreme right-wing rhetoric. This includes people such as researcher Eliyahu Yossian, who suggested that the IDF should adopt the brutal behavior patterns of Hamas militants: “Zero morality, maximum bodies,” he declared on a prime-time TV show. “Liberalism has become the cult of the devil.”

Ratings have shot up for Channel 14, a Netanyahu-loyal TV channel that has taken a jingoistic line. Channel 12, the most popular channel, provides little coverage of the ongoing bombardment in Gaza—in part because journalists either need to get authorization from Israeli authorities to enter the enclave or enter another way.

As Shimrit Meir, once an advisor to right-wing former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, wrote, “Someone decided about 20 years ago that coverage of the other side is leftist, and since then, the coverage of the opposing perspective has been minimal. This has strategic implications. For example, the heavy price Gaza already paid with bombardment. The feeling in Israel is that until we enter by land, nothing has happened.”

Protests against the situation, or even expressions of solidarity with the hostages, have also been met with censorship, suppression, or even violence.

Four former Arab Israeli Lawmakers were arrested over plans for anti-war protests. Uri Horesh, a professor at Achva College, was suspended from his job for posting against the war. Additionally, the police banned anti-war protests in the cities of Umm al-Fahm and Sakhnin.

Violence broke out at a Tel Aviv protest when a bystander accused the father of one of the abducted children of being a “traitor” and told him that he wished for “your daughter to die.” Left-wing activist Yona Roseman wrote, “Unlike the impunity the police have extended to far-right mobs, left-wing activists are facing detention and arrests for much less.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has been particularly provocative. A former Kahanist—an outlawed party that advocates for a Jewish theocratic state and supports the annexation of the occupied territories—Ben-Gvir, who was convicted of expressing sympathy for terrorism, attempted to incite animosity against Israel’s Arab population at the onset of the war by claiming that there were indications of planned riots.

When those failed to materialize, Ben Gvir called to simplify the process for citizens to acquire firearms. Just last week, an Israeli rapper called the Shadow, known for his extreme right-wing views and online activism, was spotted on the Tel Aviv boardwalk carrying a gun.

“Unfortunately, there are those who have taken this tragedy as a chance to become vengeful and violent” said Alon-Lee Green, the director of Omdim Beyachad. “Right now, we are concentrating on Jewish-Arab solidarity,” Green said. “We are able to show people that Arab society is equally appalled by the murder of Israelis, and that we are in this together.”

The left, already marginalized domestically, feels further betrayed and alienated by a global left that has often engaged in apologism for the massacre, framing it as just another salvo between the oppressed Palestinians and their Israeli oppressors. Israel’s left find itself caught between the trauma of Hamas’s violence, a feckless government, and the dehumanization and abandonment by those who claim to stand up for human rights.

Yet despite the absence of leadership, the suppression of anti-war views, and a profound sense of alienation from the international community, there are signs of an increasing recognition of the conflict’s consequences and the potential for civil society and international actors to pave a new way toward resolution.

There is a growing awareness among Israelis and the international community that Hamas is distinct from the Palestinian people and their aspirations for self-determination. The actions and comments of Hamas leaders have solidified the movement’s status as an outcast, regardless of whether Israel can “erase” it.

Indicative of this perspective is the suggestion by Tzachi Hanegbi, the head of Israel’s National Security Council and a known security hard-liner, that the Palestinian Authority should take over governance in Gaza if Hamas were to be defeated. While it’s a controversial suggestion, it underscores an acknowledgment by some Israelis of the Palestinian Authority as the legitimate governing body for the Palestinians.

Emboldened by recent electoral gains—which saw Ben-Gvir ascend to the role of internal security minister and Bezalel Smotrich become finance minister (both of whom have been under investigation by the Shin Bet in the past)—the settler movement had overreached, underestimating the determination of mainstream liberal Israel. The liberal public began to connect the dots between the assault on the Supreme Court by the government and the attacks by settlers in Palestinian villages such as Hawara. “Where were you in Hawara?” became a chant in the anti-judicial overhaul protests.

The public has also become aware that on Oct. 7, just two battalions were deployed to maintain security at the Gaza border, while 32 units were dedicated to protecting the settlements.

This overstep by the settler leadership has unintentionally cast a spotlight on the immediate threats to democracy that many Israelis now perceive with growing clarity. The settlers and their allies not only benefit from the occupation, but also endorse an agenda that erodes democratic values. They promote a model of Israeli governance that is in sharp contrast to the pluralistic, democratic values held dear by a substantial segment of the population.

This animosity may lead Israelis to acknowledge that reining in the settler initiative, dismantling illegal outposts, and granting the Palestinian Authority more autonomy is not just a partisan issue; it’s a matter of existential importance. Settlers have used the cover of war to increase their violence in the West Bank, a phenomenon that the U.S. White House has called out aggressively

Another powerful factor is the White House’s renewed vigor in seeking to resolve the conflict with a sustainable long-term solution. As President Joe Biden’s approval ratings decline domestically, in Israel, his unequivocal support for the Israeli populace—and his critiques of leadership—have garnered respect even from those who were previously doubtful.

“Since the war began, Biden has proven that he is a true leader in this conflict. Even right-wingers, who had until recently written him off as senile and ineffectual, have started to change their tune,” Dembin said.

A Maariv poll showed that if elections were held today, a centrist coalition would have 78 seats. This would give it a mandate to govern effectively the day after. The old right/left paradigm is dead for now. This could give the White House a way in to create a package that could suit a wide range of the Israeli population.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that Gaza “must not be reoccupied” discussed the Palestinian Authority taking control over Gaza when the war is over. PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s approval—albeit as part of a wider Palestinian state—shows that there is some possibility of that proposal working

Yair Lapid stated in an Al-Arabiya interview that the Palestinian Authority should govern Gaza post-conflict, with backing from the global and Arab communities. He added that this could revive two-state talks. And Netanyahu himself has remained implacable, suggesting that Israel will control Gaza for the foreseeable future. However, in a private conversation, Biden suggested that Netanyahu’s reign is on borrowed time.

And so, amid this crisis, a window has opened to find a sustainable solution to the conflict. Members of the Abraham Accords, along with states contemplating the normalization of relations with Israel—such as Saudi Arabia—hold potential sway in convening an international conference.

When it comes to the Israeli public’s readiness to support a process leading toward Palestinian sovereignty, Dembin is cautiously optimistic.

“I would think yes, they might get on board, but it would need to be a measured, gradual approach that reassures Israelis that their safety is front and center—not just an American push for regional peace,” he explained. “Israelis seem to warm up to the idea of peace and coexistence when there’s a solid proposal in play and tend to reject it when there’s nothing tangible in sight.”

[whysperingwoods]

Based on what I'm seeing getting reblogged today, it looks like it might be a good time to share this article again from Waging Nonviolence:

This was published before the election, obviously he has won, but there are a lot of excellent points that I think are great to remember in these times.

It's a very long article, if you're on Firefox I use the extension Read Aloud to listen to articles while I'm getting other things done.

I have many favourite parts of the article, but I'm going to share point #5 because people are feeling like doing everything and that is not sustainable. This point is about finding the pathway that works for you over the next few years, and focusing your efforts instead of spreading yourself thin:

5. Find your path

[...]

One pathway is called “Protecting People.” These are folks surviving and protecting our own —  especially those of us directly targeted, such as trans people, folks choosing abortions and immigrants. This might mean organizing outside current systems for health care and mutual aid, or moving resources to communities that are getting targeted. Further examples include starting immigrant welcoming committees, abortion-support funds or training volunteers on safety skills to respond to white nationalist violence.

Another pathway is “Defending Civic Institutions.” This group may or may not be conscious that current institutions don’t serve us all, but they are united in understanding that Trump wants them to crumble so he can exert greater control over our lives. Each bureaucracy will put up its own fight to defend itself. 

Insider groups will play a central battle against Trump fascism. You may recall government scientists dumping copious climate data onto external servers, bracing for Trump’s orders. This time, many more insiders understand it’s code red. Hopefully, many will bravely refuse to quit — and instead choose to stay inside as long as possible. 

Institutional pillars understand a Trump presidency is a dire threat. The military, for one, is well aware that Trump’s potential orders to use them to crack down on civilian protesters would politicize them permanently. 

These insiders will need external support. Sometimes it’s just folks showing compassion that some of our best allies will be inside, silently resisting. A culture of celebrating people getting fired for the right reasons would help (then offering them practical help with life’s next steps). Other moments will need open support and public activation.

Then there’s a critical third pathway: “Disrupt and Disobey.”This goes beyond protesting for better policies and into the territory of people intervening to stop bad policies or showing resistance.

Initially a lot of that prefigurative work may be purely symbolic. In Norway, to create a culture of resistance during World War II people wore innocuous paperclips as a sign they wouldn’t obey. The symbolism is to build preparation for mass strikes and open resistance. In Serbia, protests against their dictator started with student strikes before escalating to strikes by pensioners (which were both largely symbolic) before finally escalating to the game-changing strike of coal miners. 

In effective “Disrupt and Disobey” type actions the ultimate goal is paving a path for mass noncooperation: tax resistance, national strikes, work shut-downs and other nonviolent mass disobedience tactics — the most effective strategies to displace authoritarians. (Training on how to do that in a new Trump era can be found here.)

Lastly, there’s a key fourth role: “Building Alternatives.”We can’t just be stuck reacting and stopping the bad. We have to have a vision. This is the slow growth work of building alternative ways that are more democratic. It includes grounding and healing work, rich cultural work, alternative ways of growing food and caring for kids, participatory budgeting or seeding constitutional conventions to build a majoritarian alternative to the Electoral College mess we’re in.

Myself, I’m attracted to “Disrupt and Disobey” — though I know when certain moments hit I’ll be pulled into some immediate “Protecting People.” I’m perhaps too impatient for most “Building Alternatives” and too unhappy with the status quo to do “Defend Civic Institutions.” However, I’m delighted others will do that work!

I’m reminded of another way of finding your role that comes from my friend Ingrid’s grandfather, who lived in Norway under the Nazi regime. He learned that the resistance was hiding people in the basement of a church near a cemetery. As a florist he already traveled to and from the cemetery — so he found a role smuggling messages in funeral wreaths, delivering them all over the city. 

He didn’t go out designing his perfect role. In fact, I’m not sure he would have looked at the list of possible “roles” and found his political path. Instead, he found his space by circumstance.

In other words: Your path may not be clear right now. That’s okay. There will be plenty of opportunities to join the resistance.