#dr mila marinova

[bitsofsciencelife]

I would like to add:

Learn a different language! Get your info from unbiased or foreign sources. Most US-based news outlets are filled with propaganda because of USA imeprialism and centrism. Get different points of view.

Learn about other countries. Actually learn. Chat with immigrants, for example. Talk to Chinese people online (like you did with the RedNote app). Learn their histories, the way USA has intervened.

Go get a library card (you can use Libby). Today. You have one of the best library systems in the world. Take advantage of that.

Learn what pseudocience is and how the right wing uses it to scare and manipulate you. Learn about cognitive biases (we all have them as humans) and about logical fallacies. Critical thinking starts here. You need to be able to spot these things to spot propaganda and anti-science rhetoric.

Go follow some good science communicators online because fascists often target science. (Your is no different, just loook at JD Vance and Robert F Kennedy Jr.) If health access was an issue before, with anti-science it gets worse.

Read up on socialism. Start with Marx. Yes, the manifesto. Not just Wikipedia (I love Wikipedia but it's for summaries, an overview source, you can check the references tho!) Get into a (free) Uni lecture, read books, scholar articles, etc. You might not quite understand it at first, but teach yourself to learn. Everyone is capable of complex thinking and learning. It just takes time and effort.

I know it seems like nothing, but educating yourself well and those around you is an act of resistance. It doesn't have an immediate impact but it's important too. There's a reason the high up's are targeting education right now. (TikTok is good for discourse but not as good for learning.)

Draw posters. Do art. Put it everywhere in your town.

Learn a handy skill or craft. Sewing, woodwork, cooking, fixing electronics, first aid, etc. Treach it to others and help the community around you with it. It seems silly but consumerism is part of the problem. Individualism is part of the problem.

If you can, talk to people who are more conservative. Some are forever lost to us and drinking cool aid, but some of them are just worried, scared, ignorant, and thinking they're doing their best. Do not immediately write off anyone who has a more conservative view of the world. Everyone can grow. It might take months or years. Take it on case by case basis. Just listen to them first, and then speculate with them, ask them questions that challenge them. Learn patience like you're a high school teacher.

Don't forget to support climate change action as well! USA is one of the bigger polluters. Especially pay attention to damaging foreign policies and projects USA is doing because it's not always in your news.

life has gone so crazy lately, forgot my sense of humor, so here’s information and advice for my u.s. citizens:

an executive order is not a law. you will see lists circulating of a thousand executive orders trump has made in the past week, but be aware that the constitutionality of those orders are (knowing him) limited, and people and groups are already fighting them through the courts.

immigrants, here both legally and not, are at the most imminent risk. ice raids have begun. regardless of immigration status, i highly recommend checking out immigrantjustice.org and propagating it as a resource. know your rights and the rights of your community members.

things to do:

- chose one issue you care deeply about and organize around it. i’m usually a believer in intersectionality, and it’s important not to overlook how social issues are connected, but trying to mitigate all of the abuses happening in the country right now as an individual is not possible.

- don’t tune out, but control your stream of information. limit your time online, especially if your feed is highly political. vet your news sources. you should not expect to feel normal when reading about the current administration, but avoiding all-out panic and despair is important. believing things are hopeless is self-fulfilling.

- easier said than done, but try to avoid in-fighting. trump-supporting american conservatives (more appropriately, regressives) present a far more united front than those who oppose them. this isn’t to say we should abandon controversial issues, but to focus our efforts on the greatest existing threat and not each other.

peace, love + all of the above. stay safe!