Don’t Say What’s Wrong, Fix It – We all hear people complain about how government doesn’t work. Well, if it’s not working it’s our job, as the governed, to fix it. We need to stop tolerating poor performance by our legislators and make sure they know what they’re doing wrong. Call them, write them, show up and talk with them. It’s their job is to represent ALL of us, even those who didn’t vote for them.
Know Your Own Red Line – Everyone needs to have a ‘red line’ that signals an emergency, when the administration has gone too far, and what they’ll do if we cross that line. This does NOT include violence. One person in B4D told his wife that when his line is crossed, he’s driving their RV to Washington DC and protesting, for as long as it takes. We can’t cave in as many colleges, law firms and companies have done.
Don’t Accept What’s Wrong – It’s often easier to go along with changes than to resist them, especially if you’re not directly affected, today. But when the CDC changes its vaccine recommendations, against overwhelming evidence to the contrary, we ALL have to say something – even if we can still get our own kids vaccinated.
Focus on Local Actions – We’d all like to see big changes, but without big money or a big name we probably won’t make the evening news. The process for success is lots of us helping out, doing the work, doing the ‘small things’ in our communities. As one expert puts it the reason for the election results in November 2025 (when Republicans lost across the country) is that “people were paying attention and doing the work”.
Be Realistic, but Show Up– This fight will take time. We need to be patient but persistent, tough but thorough, understanding but uncompromising. Besides the protests and marches, show up for yourself, your family, your friends, your community and for your commitments. Things get better when we show up for our country.
Understand This is Really Happening – It’s easy to ignore what’s going on; after all, the stores are still open, kids are still going to school, the sky hasn’t fallen. But the threat to our democracy is real, very real. The insidious thing is that the objective for those trying to kill democracy is to make it seem like everything is OK, save for a few groups of outsiders (that don’t include you). What happens when that group includes your neighbor – or your family? The only way we can lose is if we don’t do anything.
Give Yourself Some Credit – This process takes patience and persistence. Remember, every time you complete an action pat yourself on the back and acknowledge that you did what you should be doing, and you’ll do it again tomorrow – and the day after. Give yourself permission to feel good about what you did. Chances are you’d be beating yourself up if you didn’t do anything.
We need to teach our kids about democracy for sure, but refresh that knowledge for ourselves too. Celebrate holidays for those who fought for our democracy, visit the museums, read / reread the documents – marvel in the fact that those people, 250 years ago, got it so right.
The American Experiment* has changed the world, really. Ready to roll?
Let us know if we can help.
* term coined by Henry Reeve, translator for a book “Democracy in America” by Alexis de Tocqueville, French diplomat and philosopher. He saw America’s greatest strengths as its commitment to equality, the ability of citizens to associate freely and the strong civic participation in local affairs.