SPEAK UP: How’s your resilience?
Ten days in, and it’s already a lot. Let’s talk about how to stay in it for the long haul
Since November, we have talked a lot here at The Ink — because a lot of the smartest people we knew told us so — about how resilience was going to be key to making it through Trump 2.0. And these last couple of weeks (it’s only been 10 days!) have already been a serious test. Over the last few days, we’ve heard from a lot of you that it’s been a struggle just to follow and understand what’s happening, let alone process it, especially when it has seemed at times like the worst is coming true.
If the 2024 election was about emotion (and it should be clear that it wasn’t simply about kitchen-table stuff like egg prices), among the most important of those emotions was a sense of defenselessness, of having nobody up top fighting for you, of having nowhere to turn. As Ruth Ben-Ghiat has told us, that’s the kind of thing strongmen play on, and that’s what motivated people to look to Donald Trump. And that’s why we are where we are now.
And as we’ve been exploring over the past few days, many people opposed to what’s happening, who want to stay strong, step up, and protect core American freedoms — people like Ink readers — are now feeling the same way. Democratic leaders haven’t helped, nor have they been stepping up to inform or lead.
It’s true that the endless torrent of executive orders is exhausting, and the confirmation hearings can seem like pro forma exercises in “resistance” without real impact. But it’s possible to work against the tide. That second coup we discussed this week — Russell Vought’s attack on the federal budget and congressional spending authority and the separation of powers itself — was turned back for now in the courts, thanks to public pressure. The Democratic Party may not have its act together, but there are even people looking to fix that.
That said, many seem to be realizing that we may have to depend on us rather than turning to somebody to step in to defend us. That’s not to say we shouldn’t keep pressuring the Democrats to change. But there’s no need to wait for them to do it to get started.
Regardless, many may conclude that it’s time to look past Democratic leadership and figure out how we can be there for one another, and stay strong and active individually and collectively. People had some great ideas last week, and we’d love to dig into the collective wisdom here again.
So we want to know how you’re staying focused this week, and what you’re doing to stay involved and do the work, while tuning out the nonsense. Are you volunteering? Calling your representatives? Joining bigger organizations like Indivisible? We want to know. And if you’re not sure, we’re pretty sure your fellow readers have some great ideas, so ask away.
A reminder: These spaces are for our supporting subscribers, not anyone who happens to be on the internet. And so we expect you to be kind and respectful to each other. This is your space.
Join our community if you haven’t yet.
Photo by Ernesto Benavides/AFP via Getty Images
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