Holy Hell, America Had A Rough Couple Weeks. What Now?
Well friends, it’s been a little while since we last talked, and hoo boy has a lot happened in the good old U.S. of A.:
First, a rough set of primary results came in, where pro-Palestinian advocate Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) lost his seat in Congress while fascist sycophant Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) is now safer than ever in a new, redder district.
Next, President Joe Biden had a horrific debate performance that raised concerns about his age and ability among the public to deafening levels. While Biden has defiantly insisted that he’s staying in the race, more and more of his fellow Democrats are publicly and privately calling for him to drop out.
Then, a slew of disturbing Supreme Court rulings came which criminalized homelessness, disempowered federal agencies, and granted Presidents like Donald Trump presumptive immunity from prosecution for any “official” acts…whatever that means.
These events alone will give me plenty of material to cover in the coming weeks because a lot needs to be said about all of the setbacks that those who want a thriving, fair democracy in America just experienced. I don’t know who will be running on the Democratic ticket when their convention happens in August, whether other candidates relying on left-leaning voter turnout will recover, or the full extent of what SCOTUS just enabled Trump to do if he wins.
Today, we’re gonna talk about how, even (and especially) in times that feel bleak, we can move forward, take care of ourselves, and use our discontent for good.
What Can We Do?
A friend of mine, who works as a therapist, told me the following recently:
“It breaks my heart when I’m sitting with my clients and they’re telling me how depressed and anxious they are about this election year. In essence, there’s really nothing I can say or do except to tell them to use their emotions as motivation to vote….I’m very scared that Trump is very much going to be in office and all hell is going to break loose. I’m scared for my friends who are female-identifying and [who are] LGBTQ+….Everything is just bleak and it’s sinking in more and more as we approach November.”
First of all, I’m grateful that people can get support from committed, empathetic professionals like him. Between everything that’s happening in the news and the pressures of living under American capitalism, it’s no wonder so many of us are struggling. In times like these, it’s more important than ever to have friends and family (chosen or otherwise) who can be mutually supportive and bring joy into our lives. For many, including me at several points in my life, having a trained professional can fill in any additional support we need to cope the best we can.
I wish I could tell you that everything will be okay or that things look anything other than bad right now. I can’t, because if I did, I’d be gaslighting you. It is okay (in fact, it’s rational) to be scared, to be sad, and to be angry at where we are in America.
That said, I do want to use the rest of this piece to make an addition to my friend’s point above. It’s not going to be enough for us to use our rage, grief, or disgust as motivation to vote. We need to also use it as motivation to organize.
Everyone knows (or is) someone who feels that their vote won’t make a difference. If that’s you, I will plead with you to vote this November, but I’ll also acknowledge that the impact of voting alone is limited, and you aren’t wrong to notice that. Politicians don’t always uphold their stated values, and a major reason we’re in this mess is that people across the political spectrum aren’t feeling heard. The only way to get change is to demand it.
While there are going to be limits to everyone’s bandwidth and skillset (I tried political organizing as a full-time job and it crushed my mental health), almost everyone has some way they can help. A site called The Civic Season has a 3-minute quiz where you can find your “civic superpower.” As an “amplifier”, I love breaking down complex topics in an accessible way and writing on Medium has been a great way to do that.
In addition to posting here, I’ve signed up to make calls for Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) in her primary race for a couple of nights this month. After Bowman lost, media outlets presented it as a win for the conservative, pro-killing Palestinians wing of the Democratic Party, and I have no intention of letting them take another true progressive out of Congress. I don’t love phone banking, but I know that I’m good at it and that Bush may lose if the progressive voters in her district who showed up for her before don’t show up again.
People who work as organizers, like I used to, are tripping over themselves for the opportunity to meet you, train you, and empower you to make an impact. Their job is to make it as easy as possible to help: if you’ve never called a Congressperson before and don’t know what to say, they’ll send you a script. If you’ve never written a letter to the editor before, they’ll send you a template and some examples that you can easily adapt, give you helpful feedback when your first draft is ready, and walk you through how and where to get it published. If you find a group you like and participate in a few events with them, they’ll probably invite you to lead events of your own and train you on how to do it. With their help, you can go from feeling powerless to knowing you are powerful.
If you’re not able to make a sustained commitment to a particular cause, one-off actions can make a significant impact also. This could include taking an afternoon to knock on doors in your neighborhood, using a mass texting platform to reach voters from the comfort of your bed, sharing stuff on your favorite social media platform, or texting five friends/relatives to remind them to vote on Election Day. Regardless of the outcome or the grand scale of our problems, I promise you’ll feel better for having done something.
If you’re financially stable, this is also a time when donations can go a long way. Instead of questionable national organizations like the DNC, I’d recommend giving to groups actively working on specific issues (such as LGBTQ+, environmental, or abortion access groups) you care about or to individual campaigns if there’s a down-ballot candidate you’re genuinely excited about. Donating earlier (or making a recurring monthly donation) allows groups to hire more staff, get the word out about their mission, and directly support and sustain their programs going into and after the election.
Still Not Sure?
One of the reasons I started writing about politics is because I (like many of us) felt powerless to stop what I saw happening to my country. By doing this, I’m able to express my anger directly while also reminding myself that there are, in fact, solutions to a lot of our problems. While I haven’t fully figured out how I want to be involved in this process, I know things won’t get better without me and each of you trying to make it so.
If you’re the kind of person who reads political content on sites like this, you’re going to be anxious about the election no matter what. That anxiety probably won’t get any quieter for you or me over the next four months. If that’s true, you have two options: you can either be anxious by yourself, or you can find community with other anxious people who are doing meaningful and constructive work.
If you haven’t already, I hope you’ll join me in that.
The next few months are gonna be a wild ride — I hope you’ll stick around and keep learning, reacting, and fighting alongside me. As always, I invite you to “applaud” (up to 50 times) if, follow me and/or A Pile Of Stuff, subscribe to my emails, and comment below with what you’re doing to keep yourself sane in these times or to fight back!
