What are we going to do now? A historical perspective

Before delving into different approaches to living in the brave new world of Trump, I want to make another quick note on running for office. I came across a great interview this week with Jennifer Lawless, who studies participation in elections and politics, on the Ezra Klein Show. I will spare you the details, but if you’re interested, you should check out why you, yes you, should run for office.

There is a new normal. And it is a new normal that we are refusing to normalize. It is, however, important to look at history as a guide.

As unprecidented as Trump’s presidency may be, there’s been another President who had a fiery temper toward any who challenged him. And who used his personal wealth to gain power. And who was a great marketer, using clever slogans to appeal to the working class with whom he had little in common (“Sweep the Augean Stable!”). It was, of course, Andrew Jackson.

It’s a comparison that has been made far too many times since Trump accepted the Republican nomination for President of the United States. But it’s an important comparison. Not for us to be able to predict what President Trump will do, based on what President Jackson did (Jackson confirmed the existence of Antartica, while Trump refuses to accept the melting of the polar ice caps is real).

But to remember that when our country was still in its infancy, we faced constant crisis on the land where we currently stand and across the world. Yet, the best was yet to come.

Before Jackson, there was Washington. But lets not forget that after Jackson, there was Lincoln and (T.) Roosevelt and (F.D.) Roosevelt and Kennedy and Obama. All elected after the unprecedented Presidency of Jackson.

And, more importantly, there was Tubman and Douglas and Debs and Goldman and Hill and (E.) Roosevelt and King and X and Davis and Hayden (RIP) and Dohrn and ACT UP and so many more whose names we may never know but have been critical to bringing all of us to where we are now in history.

While we can declare historical comparisons, this time is different, isn’t it? And, right now, it doesn’t feel like it’s going to be okay.

So, what are we going to do now?

My first response is to do what David Remnick of the New Yorker recently had suggested for journalists (but is great advice for just about everyone right now):

I think we need to buck up… You need to do your work constantly. And get up earlier and work harder… And know that as down as you may feel, in so many ways, there is wind at your back. I mean, look at what happened over the weekend (Women’s March of Washington). How many hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people were out in the street? They were saying something to that person in the White House. They were saying that we are not going to lay down.

And when we are up earlier and working harder, we need to, as individuals and as members of communities, get more focused on targeting the powerful that have direct and serious impact on our lives and the lives of everyone around us.

One key way of doing so is by being ferocious in making sure that those in power, from the school board to the Congress and the White House, need to represent your values and ideals. After all, more people voted for a Democrat to be in the White House and more people voted for Democrats to be in Congress, yet the Republican Party won both.

A wonderful toolkit that can be used to make our values the top priority, is Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda. Groups have been popping up across the country to embody the framework that’s detailed in this guide and it has been spread across several corners of the internet. But I implore you to read it and encourage everyone you know to do the same.

I will have a lot more to say in the very near future so stay tuned. In the meantime remember the wise words of Bill Pullman:

Oh and, despite what The Colonel says, the Boss still rules!