Read a masterclass from the political sage on how to fight back against Trump II, create "social proof," mobilize your community, stop waiting for Democrats, and start getting it DONE
This is awesome! And really useful framing in these %*@#!x& times. Will re-listen and discuss with my activist support group this weekend.
Under the category of "social proof that individuals can do," I respectfully suggest printing buttons. Wear one and offer to everyone you encounter. Our "Make America HUMAN Again" buttons worked well for this from 2017 on. New one is "Let's Try Sanity" (popularity TBD). Great conversation starter!
I would love an equivalent to the MAGA hats. Here’s my crazy-hairbrained idea:
Dark Blue hats with white lettering that says SAD
SAD stands for Save American Democracy
And it fits because we are sad that we are losing our Democracy at the hands of MAGA
Also with SAD, it is not yelling at MAGA in anger. It is saying we are SAD, sad about what they are doing. And I think it reflects how people sad about what is happening to the country
Anyway, just a crazy idea that popped into my head.
Myra, I totally agree. I wear different t-shirts with messages, have buttons and always carry extra. I also put flyers in my car windows and a bumper sticker. People need to know there are many like-minded folks out there and we need to corrale more to help fight back. Of course signage at your home and mailbox helps too. I have been surprised how much fewer signs, t-shirts, buttons etc there have been with this election cycle. We can't be afraid.....well we can be afraid and do it anyway!
Just can't imagine why this existential threat isn’t “landing with the people”...
Bill Clinton lurched the Democratic Party so far to the right it obliterated the bright lines between the parties and blended them into an oligarchic Corporate/OnePercent BigDonor Wall St. party and… it didn’t land with people.
George Bush lied us into illegally invading a country that was no threat to us whatsoever for resources (just like Hitler did with Ukraine in WWII) and built a massive Security/Surveillance state at home and spied on Americans and… it didn't land with people.
Barack Obama bailed Wall St. out with no strings attached and didn’t set any conditions to help the American people recover, much less prosecute any of the banks or their officers that caused the catastrophe and… it didn’t land with the people.
Trump elected. The Mueller investigation was hamstrung by Justice Department rules preventing the indictment of a sitting president, but the Mueller Report was viewed as a roadmap for Congressional investigations in the House. In 2018 when Nancy Pelosi became House Speaker again, she immediately announced that impeachment was off the table and no serious investigations. Instead the House would just pass meaningless messaging bills that would die in the Senate and just keep their fingers crossed that Trump lost the election and… it didn’t land with people.
Trump lost the election and Joe Biden had predicted on the campaign trail that everything was on its way back to normal “The thing that will fundamentally change things is with Donald Trump out of the White House. Not a joke, you will see an epiphany occur among many of my Republican friends.” and the day after the violent Jan 6 coup attempt, Biden chose the least aggressive Attorney General ever as if nothing unusual had happened during Trump’s administration and… it didn’t land with the American people.
Just a month after Jan. 6 all the Republicans who were going to have an “epiphany” were goose stepping 100% behind him as the 2024 nominee while Trump inflamed division, hatred, violence and authoritarianism and on April 2023 the Heritage Foundation published Project 2025 giving Democrats in Congress a 900 page YEAR AND A HALF heads up of the Fascist hellscape they were planning to unleash on DAY ONE if Trump won and as they do… Democrats used it to fundraise, but didn't give ONE THOUGHT to what THEY were going to do on DAY ONE if Trump won and…
It didn’t land with the American people.
I've been watching this slow motion train wreck ever since Newt Gingrich turned our politics and government into a knife fight blood sport and Democrats just treated it like a grade school sleepover pillow fight. The Democratic party isn't fighting back because they never have! "Civility" "Acting like the adults in the room" "Go high when they go low"... Democrats have signalled to Republicans can do anything and Democrats... will do nothing about it and it didn't land with...
Couldn't say it better than Anat Shenker-Osorio 2/21/25: "Trump and the billionaires who bought him, Musk...are coming for your life and your livelihood. He is coming for your freedom. He is coming for your privacy. He is coming for your information. And he is conducting a hostile takeover of our government so he can take our money.”
Brilliant conversation. Thank you, both. At best, it's about inventing a new community-based, community-led Zeitgeist. A Zeitgeist so powerful that it can remake the Democratic party. My wish; my prayer.
I hear you both. I read, watch & listen consistently but here's a consideration to add to your bank of "to-do's": MEET PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE. Invite creators and narrative designers to work with you to develop interactive venues that actually include people (especially young people) in ways they understand where they can have their voices heard - and I don't mean focus groups or town halls. To bridge the 'credulity gap' engage with narrative designers to create projects that are designed to immerse "we the people" in 'story' where through the characters or the 'world' built for them they given the ability to have their voices heard, if even indirectly. It will give them the confidence to engage and speak up and to get involved in issues that they care about most. Words are the new currency and storytelling connects. We remember best what we experience. For instance, no one is ever going to get young people to stop using social media or gaming, especially role-playing games. So, give them agency by immersing them via platforms they know and enjoy and which are designed and set up to do that. I know narrative designers who are experts in this approach to storytelling and making connections among people in the physical & digital world. I have seen it change lives. This CAN BE applied to the crisis we are in and to the crisis of connection existing in our country. Somebody needs to step up to make this happen. The design could be replicable so that groups all over the country could engage. Imagine the possibilities + the ideas and action that could emerge from this aproach to storytelling & connecting. Will you be the one to step up to support narrative designers who will do this, if asked? Please contact me for more information: sfurey@comcast.net Thanks!
There is a point at which the five "stages of grief" intersect with the stages of change. I see myself marching in a memorial parade for the dying planet on Earth Day in April, but I'm not ready to take action on the death of democracy because the lack of awareness in the general population isn't ready. They neither feel nor fear it yet. A leader who can articulate why the attacks on DEI and trans people are so wrong, who can communicate how slash & burn valuable programs is a minor charade, may be able to ignite the revolt against the Project 2025 stooge and eventually reach its lemmings.
Getting over our disbelief (and being there to catch others when they get over theirs) is key to mobilizing change! If there is a purposeful way to live in the post-disbelief America, it will help!
Come back Anat! Things I wrote down: Mangione Without Murder, change the perception of the number of people around you that feel that way (aka we're not alone), resistance/refusal/ridicule
I agree with the advice and the ways to organize ,however I am concerned for people's safety. The folks who support MAGA ,Trump and Musk are prone to violence as was seen on January 6th. Republicans are even afraid to say or do anything negative or which displeases Emperor Trump. Like a gangster he howls with indignation at the slightest real or perceived slight and riles up his base with his dog whistle and next people are being threatened with violence and harassed out of a normal life. Additionally our current social situation and working conditions leave very little free time to do anything. Leisure time has already disappeared for most people. They live in economic damage control and lay check to paycheck. It is difficult to organize when your at the point of exhaustion just trying to live. We are in essence a class of working poor debt slaves being hammered with Disinformation on a grand scale. Being hammered to buy buy buy crap we don't need in media. Psycholically driven and manipulated to keep the great American Consumer Culture going no Matter the cost. These issues are also the great barrier to raise consciousness. I agree that most people won't act until it hits them ,on a personal level, in the face and they are harmed the message won't register. Sadly by the time this happens ,historically speaking, it is too late.i for one firmly believe that reconstruction after the Civil War was a dismal failure and therein lies the problem we are facing today. Racism was allowed to flourish until the Civil Rights Movement and that cost lives. It's no secret that race is one of the unspoken talking points of Trump , Musk and their like. No DEI ? Claims of inferiority by race and gender. All an ill that was never cured after the Civil War. This in part plays a role in the potential for physical harm and violence by those on the right. Finally dthe fact that private armies are allowed to exist in this country heavily armed and ready to kill people they don't agree with make stating your position on any issue a matter of life and death. Looknat the kooks who tried to abduct the Governor of Michigan . I have spoken my thoughts on this matter an old man of 66 years old whose whole life has been a witness to horrible events starting with the murder of JFK . As far as I can ascertain that was the first of many coups on the March to total control by the enriched merchants of death and perpetual war in the name of anti communism . And now the current boogeyman who can make the select few rich either grinding up our young people on lies about war or by proxy supplying others who are dying for a supposed cause or for control.
This is awesome! And really useful framing in these %*@#!x& times. Will re-listen and discuss with my activist support group this weekend.
Under the category of "social proof that individuals can do," I respectfully suggest printing buttons. Wear one and offer to everyone you encounter. Our "Make America HUMAN Again" buttons worked well for this from 2017 on. New one is "Let's Try Sanity" (popularity TBD). Great conversation starter!
I would love an equivalent to the MAGA hats. Here’s my crazy-hairbrained idea:
Dark Blue hats with white lettering that says SAD
SAD stands for Save American Democracy
And it fits because we are sad that we are losing our Democracy at the hands of MAGA
Also with SAD, it is not yelling at MAGA in anger. It is saying we are SAD, sad about what they are doing. And I think it reflects how people sad about what is happening to the country
Anyway, just a crazy idea that popped into my head.
I may take this and run with it
Myra, I totally agree. I wear different t-shirts with messages, have buttons and always carry extra. I also put flyers in my car windows and a bumper sticker. People need to know there are many like-minded folks out there and we need to corrale more to help fight back. Of course signage at your home and mailbox helps too. I have been surprised how much fewer signs, t-shirts, buttons etc there have been with this election cycle. We can't be afraid.....well we can be afraid and do it anyway!
Just can't imagine why this existential threat isn’t “landing with the people”...
Bill Clinton lurched the Democratic Party so far to the right it obliterated the bright lines between the parties and blended them into an oligarchic Corporate/OnePercent BigDonor Wall St. party and… it didn’t land with people.
George Bush lied us into illegally invading a country that was no threat to us whatsoever for resources (just like Hitler did with Ukraine in WWII) and built a massive Security/Surveillance state at home and spied on Americans and… it didn't land with people.
Barack Obama bailed Wall St. out with no strings attached and didn’t set any conditions to help the American people recover, much less prosecute any of the banks or their officers that caused the catastrophe and… it didn’t land with the people.
Trump elected. The Mueller investigation was hamstrung by Justice Department rules preventing the indictment of a sitting president, but the Mueller Report was viewed as a roadmap for Congressional investigations in the House. In 2018 when Nancy Pelosi became House Speaker again, she immediately announced that impeachment was off the table and no serious investigations. Instead the House would just pass meaningless messaging bills that would die in the Senate and just keep their fingers crossed that Trump lost the election and… it didn’t land with people.
Trump lost the election and Joe Biden had predicted on the campaign trail that everything was on its way back to normal “The thing that will fundamentally change things is with Donald Trump out of the White House. Not a joke, you will see an epiphany occur among many of my Republican friends.” and the day after the violent Jan 6 coup attempt, Biden chose the least aggressive Attorney General ever as if nothing unusual had happened during Trump’s administration and… it didn’t land with the American people.
Just a month after Jan. 6 all the Republicans who were going to have an “epiphany” were goose stepping 100% behind him as the 2024 nominee while Trump inflamed division, hatred, violence and authoritarianism and on April 2023 the Heritage Foundation published Project 2025 giving Democrats in Congress a 900 page YEAR AND A HALF heads up of the Fascist hellscape they were planning to unleash on DAY ONE if Trump won and as they do… Democrats used it to fundraise, but didn't give ONE THOUGHT to what THEY were going to do on DAY ONE if Trump won and…
It didn’t land with the American people.
I've been watching this slow motion train wreck ever since Newt Gingrich turned our politics and government into a knife fight blood sport and Democrats just treated it like a grade school sleepover pillow fight. The Democratic party isn't fighting back because they never have! "Civility" "Acting like the adults in the room" "Go high when they go low"... Democrats have signalled to Republicans can do anything and Democrats... will do nothing about it and it didn't land with...
Democratic voters, so... here we are.
Couldn't say it better than Anat Shenker-Osorio 2/21/25: "Trump and the billionaires who bought him, Musk...are coming for your life and your livelihood. He is coming for your freedom. He is coming for your privacy. He is coming for your information. And he is conducting a hostile takeover of our government so he can take our money.”
Brilliant conversation. Thank you, both. At best, it's about inventing a new community-based, community-led Zeitgeist. A Zeitgeist so powerful that it can remake the Democratic party. My wish; my prayer.
I hear you both. I read, watch & listen consistently but here's a consideration to add to your bank of "to-do's": MEET PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE. Invite creators and narrative designers to work with you to develop interactive venues that actually include people (especially young people) in ways they understand where they can have their voices heard - and I don't mean focus groups or town halls. To bridge the 'credulity gap' engage with narrative designers to create projects that are designed to immerse "we the people" in 'story' where through the characters or the 'world' built for them they given the ability to have their voices heard, if even indirectly. It will give them the confidence to engage and speak up and to get involved in issues that they care about most. Words are the new currency and storytelling connects. We remember best what we experience. For instance, no one is ever going to get young people to stop using social media or gaming, especially role-playing games. So, give them agency by immersing them via platforms they know and enjoy and which are designed and set up to do that. I know narrative designers who are experts in this approach to storytelling and making connections among people in the physical & digital world. I have seen it change lives. This CAN BE applied to the crisis we are in and to the crisis of connection existing in our country. Somebody needs to step up to make this happen. The design could be replicable so that groups all over the country could engage. Imagine the possibilities + the ideas and action that could emerge from this aproach to storytelling & connecting. Will you be the one to step up to support narrative designers who will do this, if asked? Please contact me for more information: sfurey@comcast.net Thanks!
There is a point at which the five "stages of grief" intersect with the stages of change. I see myself marching in a memorial parade for the dying planet on Earth Day in April, but I'm not ready to take action on the death of democracy because the lack of awareness in the general population isn't ready. They neither feel nor fear it yet. A leader who can articulate why the attacks on DEI and trans people are so wrong, who can communicate how slash & burn valuable programs is a minor charade, may be able to ignite the revolt against the Project 2025 stooge and eventually reach its lemmings.
Getting over our disbelief (and being there to catch others when they get over theirs) is key to mobilizing change! If there is a purposeful way to live in the post-disbelief America, it will help!
I suggest this book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-escape-artist-the-man-who-broke-out-of-auschwitz-to-warn-the-world-jonathan-freedland/18978277?ean=9780063112360&next=t&next=t
People didn’t want to believe it was happening when it was right before their eyes.
Come back Anat! Things I wrote down: Mangione Without Murder, change the perception of the number of people around you that feel that way (aka we're not alone), resistance/refusal/ridicule
Portland, Maine…struggling to find my voice.
I can’t go along living my life like there isn’t a huge crisis in my beautiful country… I am fraught with anxiety and sadness!
I love this. Needs to watched again. She is brilliant. Rndy..
Anat is a glorious truth-teller. Absolutely make this a repeating gig if there's the opportunity to do so.
I agree with the advice and the ways to organize ,however I am concerned for people's safety. The folks who support MAGA ,Trump and Musk are prone to violence as was seen on January 6th. Republicans are even afraid to say or do anything negative or which displeases Emperor Trump. Like a gangster he howls with indignation at the slightest real or perceived slight and riles up his base with his dog whistle and next people are being threatened with violence and harassed out of a normal life. Additionally our current social situation and working conditions leave very little free time to do anything. Leisure time has already disappeared for most people. They live in economic damage control and lay check to paycheck. It is difficult to organize when your at the point of exhaustion just trying to live. We are in essence a class of working poor debt slaves being hammered with Disinformation on a grand scale. Being hammered to buy buy buy crap we don't need in media. Psycholically driven and manipulated to keep the great American Consumer Culture going no Matter the cost. These issues are also the great barrier to raise consciousness. I agree that most people won't act until it hits them ,on a personal level, in the face and they are harmed the message won't register. Sadly by the time this happens ,historically speaking, it is too late.i for one firmly believe that reconstruction after the Civil War was a dismal failure and therein lies the problem we are facing today. Racism was allowed to flourish until the Civil Rights Movement and that cost lives. It's no secret that race is one of the unspoken talking points of Trump , Musk and their like. No DEI ? Claims of inferiority by race and gender. All an ill that was never cured after the Civil War. This in part plays a role in the potential for physical harm and violence by those on the right. Finally dthe fact that private armies are allowed to exist in this country heavily armed and ready to kill people they don't agree with make stating your position on any issue a matter of life and death. Looknat the kooks who tried to abduct the Governor of Michigan . I have spoken my thoughts on this matter an old man of 66 years old whose whole life has been a witness to horrible events starting with the murder of JFK . As far as I can ascertain that was the first of many coups on the March to total control by the enriched merchants of death and perpetual war in the name of anti communism . And now the current boogeyman who can make the select few rich either grinding up our young people on lies about war or by proxy supplying others who are dying for a supposed cause or for control.