Hope is the life's blood of resistance, just as lies are the life's blood of authoritarians/totalitarians.
Hope is essential. And connecting with others to create a feedback loop of hope and action is INCREDIBLY powerful. When we connect with others in action, any action, we see more of what others are doing, and that feeds greater hope, which inspires the will to greater action.
Yes, marching is ONE type of action, but there are thousands of other acts. Lobbying our electeds to stand up for us. Connecting with others to set up meetings with your electeds. Lobbying state legislatures to issue declarations of condemnation. Lobbying anti-regime members of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House to get their acts together and issue a new Declaration of Independence listing the usurpations and abuses to "Let facts be submitted to a candid world."
I don't know if you are saying this, but frankly, I am sick to death of declarations that "we need a movement" or people bemoaning the fact that they don't "see the movement we need."
Screw needing a "movement."
We each just need to find a way to move! Find a way to connect to other people who are "moving," and bring our creativity, hope, and energy to bolster the action.
Crowds are just ONE of the C's. Find joy in the fact that so many people are demonstrating the other C's every single day: Creativity, Commitment, Connection, Community, Collaboration, Conversations, and Communications operations.
Job Number 1 is inspiring each other with what we are doing, or efforts we're supporting.
Some of that is happening online. The protests are being organized online. Here on DU we can do a lot more organizing for REAL WORLD events. Way back when, I became friends with other DUers in the real world when we lobbied Congress for an objection to the Ohio electors in early January 2005, when we lobbied to Filibuster Alito, when some fellow DU Howard Dean supporters meet up at Dean Fest in MA before those later events. That DIY spirit of the Dean campaign gave rise to the Netroots -- real people collaborating and finding creative ways to be inspired and be heard.
Ariella Elm's round up of "wins" and things happening often has things that any of us can emulate or get involved in.
And we all have different skills to bring to the table. The lawsuits are SO so important. Lobbying members of the U.S. Congress to file amicus briefs is important. Working locally to stop the sale of public lands. Or growing food for a food bank, if that is your skill, creates real world connections.
People who live in red places are up against enormous forces against them, pushing them into hopelessness and feeling so alone. But, however red the area, NO ONE is alone in this. And you don't need an enormous crowd in front a rural town hall. Even a small group demonstrates to others they are not alone. And the numbers across this country -- everywhere -- are growing with every protest. And the presence of small crowds in out-of-the-way places is as important, if not MORE important, than mass rallies in big cities. We aren't hearing much about this because coverage is limited to local outlets, but it is happening.
Because MAGA has done such a great job of weaponizing social media, there is a lot of emphasis on boosting our presence there. And there is validity is striving to get louder in those spaces. But that cannot be to the exclusion of engagement in the real world -- real world connections, real world conversations. Groups like Braver Angels and Living Room Conversations are also doing essential work.
And then there is that last C, Cash. Creating our own feedback loop of hope and action is essential, but so to is finding endeavors that would benefit from our monetary support, even if all we can give is a few dollars. Personally, I think state democratic parties in red states are getting more creative and are in desperate need of support.
YMMV.
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