It’s a time of mass destruction. The forces of chaos have been unleashed in our world, fighting wars, causing chaos on our social networks, and chewing away at the very foundations of the U.S. Government.
It’s easy to fall into apathy in the face of all this, to conclude that all these things are way too big for any of us to comprehend, let alone do something about. This is part of the playbook – we are meant to feel overwhelmed, defeated, demoralized.
But we are far from helpless.
In the political sphere, the system (and the many people who make it up) is finally fighting back, using the courts to slow down the onslaught, as the general public starts to realize the scale of what’s being done to us.
The Attorneys General of many democratically-controlled states are at the forefront of these actions, seeking to draw the line at the wholesale plundering of our personal data that’s going on under the so-called DOGE department.
But we have to do more than just react. We need to act.
One of the smartest mid-to-long-term suggestions for democrats that I’ve seen since the election is the idea that we need to start in our own back yards to fix what is broken:
“We suggest that the best place to start is in the very states that are losing population. Ideally, Democrats could point to the states where they control government, and their largest cities, as demonstration projects that show Democratic policies could work for the nation. At the moment, they are not.” –Washington Post Editorial Board
And yes, I know it’s the “Bezos newspaper,” but even a broken clock is right twice a day. There’s an important idea in this editorial – that how we decide to act in this moment is just as important, if not more so, than how we react.
For a long time, Democrats have defended a system that, while well intended, was far too slow to deliver actual benefits to Americans, which gave our current co-presidents an opening to exploit. And exploit it they did.
This goes far beyond the recent issues with inflation. The housing market has gotten worse and worse, wages have struggled to keep up with the aforesaid inflation, and most of us – Mark and I included – feel like we’ve been left behind.
What we need is an anti-populist movement, one that starts to take concrete steps in democratically-controlled states toward actually solving the problems we face… starting with the cost of housing. And not just for the poor, which is of course a worthy goal. We need to fix it for everyone who’s not a billionaire, for what’s left of the middle class, for the young who aren’t even dreaming of home ownership and the elderly who are threatened with losing their homes.
That’s good as far as it goes, but what can people like you and I do in the face of such wanton destruction? Surely we are too small to make any meaningful difference?
That may be true right now at the macro level. The US won’t hold elections again for two years (if then). But down on the ground where we live, in our neighborhoods, our towns, our communities, we can be a force for creation instead of destruction.
I’ll give you an example from my own life. I am currently helping to create a brand new event here in Sacramento – the Sacramento Book Festival. It’s not political. It’s not pushing back directly on the current Administration’s horrendous policies. And yet, it is in direct opposition to destruction.
Our festival committee is building a new community, drawing together the disparate parts of the literary scene here in Sacramento, and getting them all to work together to create something great. On May 31st, more than a hundred local authors and dozens of bookstores and writing organizations will come together to celebrate reading, literacy, and the importance of education in our community.
It’s an act of life-affirming defiance, thoughtful creation in the face of wanton destruction.
There are so many ways, big and small, that you can apply this idea in your own life. Find a community garden and get involved in growing something. Start a neighborhood-group organization to fix just one thing in your world. Call your local democratic representatives and tell them how much you love them and understand what they are going through, and then tell them now is the time to build something better.
This is a time of great tribulation and greater chaos, and it can be overwhelming. Everything feels cracked and broken, with worse to come.
But as the amazing Leonard Cohen once sang:
“There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”
Let’s find the cracks and plant something new in them, so when the time for change comes once again – and it will – they will be ready to grow toward the light.