I consider myself as somewhat politically active; I
always make it to the voting booth (even for mid-terms) and I talk about policy
with people who agree with me. I think it’s safe to say that I need to do more. I see a lot of acquaintances
bouncing back and forth through the stages of grief: shock, anger, rejection .
. . not quite making it to acceptance yet. I’m adding one more voice to the
many others detailing positive steps we can all take to move forward.
Protest. And just in case there’s any doubt about how I feel
about this, I mean peacefully. Physical assault and intentional destruction of
property yield neither the moral high ground nor political progress. I am all
for marching, sign waving, sitting in, and loving in. Just keep your hands to
yourself. As a side note, has anyone else noticed how much press coverage
violent vs. non-violent protests get? No, I still don’t condone it.
Call congress. Don’t just call your congress person, call
all your elected officials. Yes, call, don’t write. (But if it’s a choice
between writing a letter or doing nothing, please write!) If you can get a
bunch of people to call about the same issue, that’s even better. Get contact info here. Not sure what to talk about? One pressing issue would be the
appointment of Steve Bannon. I worked as a canvasser for a lobbying
organization, and one of the most common conversations I had was around letting
elected officials know what you care about. All they know is that they won;
they don’t know what issues you actually care about until you tell them. I was
fired from that job twice, so maybe I wasn’t very good at explaining that.
Get a job. The new administration needs to fill roughly
4,000 jobs. If you are a smart, thoughtful person and at all qualified or
interested in any of these positions, I beg you to look into them. I realize
that entering the belly of the beast won’t be palatable to everyone but you
could be like Peeta and give the rest of us an early warning when crap’s going
down. (Without all the unfortunate brainwashing and subsequent murderous
tendencies.)
Donate. Whatever issue you care about, there is an under-funded
non-profit that’s fighting for it. You can start with the issue you’re most
passionate about, find an organization, and set up a recurring donation. Or you
can pick a different recipient each month. Not sure where to start? Here’s one
good list of charities. Or you could just start with the Southern Poverty Law Center, a non-profit committed to combatting hate, intolerance and
discrimination; or Propublica, an independent non-profit news agency.
Volunteer. Don’t let your wallet be the only one that shows
up. Commit your time to your community. I’ve been half-heartedly scrolling the
New York Cares website (a local aggregator of volunteer opportunities) since I
got back into town but now I’ve committed that I will sign up for an ongoing
project before the end of this month. If you want help finding a volunteer
opportunity that matches your passion and your geography, let me know. That’s
totally my jam.
Make dinner. Don’t just make dinner, but invite someone
different from you to share it. When was the last time you shared a meal with
someone whose political beliefs were different from your own (other than
that work happy hour or church potluck)? One of the reasons we’ve become so
divided is that we’ve just stopped talking. So eat ramen with a Republican, dim
sum with a Democrat, and ice cream with an Independent. Isn’t that something we
call all get behind?
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