Waking up on November 6th in the US Election year is always a ride. I'm a bit numb, to be honest. Upset, and devastated for folks I consider good friends in the US. Like Brexit was in 2016 and the last time Trump was elected, I know the feeling well.
It's interesting to note that a huge percentage of white women appear at this point in time to have voted for Trump. A nation of Karens. All I can say to that is this: when you hit the sharp edges of this administration, the ultimate manager isn't going to listen to you.
In the meantime, the rest of us will organise despite you.
So now I've got my snark out of the way. What do we do now?
At this point in time, I feel we must turn to history. I don't mean the jingoistic fetishization version of history. Personal history.
My grandfather who ended up helping people out of Occupied France was a courier. He guided them to the south and eventually, those folks made it to the Pyrenees as part of the Pat O'Leary line (or riseau in French.) [1]
But before he joined, he was captured at St Valerie. During the walk to the camp, he rolled into a field near Lille and was sheltered for months by a local farmer. They hid him and taught him French. When he got captured again, he went back up north to warn the network. The farmers hid him again and nursed him back to health as he recovered from whatever he caught from hiding in the Somme River.
Then my Grandfather helped some other folks and got captured. But the network was composed of ordinary people. Different political factions who had one thing in common. They were opposed to the Nazis.
So this is where we are now. No matter where you are in the world, you need to prepare for this. Either you are leaving, or you're wondering what to do.
So prepare. Learn skills, learn how to organise. Learn from the preppers' channels, not to hole yourself up in a bunker. No, you learn those skills so that you pass them on. To share those skills and knowledge with the community.
It's participating in all levels of democracy. It's becoming political. It's organising, protesting and ensuring people can vote. It's running for office, any office. There's no magic one thing you can do to fix this. You will have to fight. But you don't need to fight with weapons. You fight back with radical care and solidarity
This is the time for mutual aid which isn't just cash. It's providing shelter to others, it's a couch at your place. It's helping to find other couches. It's providing help and support to folks who come to your country. It's mutual support.
It's teaching about privacy and repair-it cafes. It's phone trees and organising food for those in need. Small acts of radical care are defiance, it's an act of caring resistance.
What will you do?
You're the resistance now.