Is it just me, or does this country feel like it’s going into a tailspin? Like when an aircraft was flying along and maybe hits a rough patch… and next thing you know it’s flying out of control?
We’ve been in that rough patch for a while. I was hoping we’d find stable air instead of spinning out, but it’s not looking great. And I don’t see a major counter effort to try to correct the spin. Yet.
I’m not one of these people who’s going to write off the country; to give in. Nope. Absolutely not. They’re out there, though: people giving up, giving in, and spreading doom. Throwing their hands up. “Oh well! Looks like the plane’s going to crash! It was a nice flight!”
The overwhelm is significant. The shock increases.
This weekend some bunch of haters are doing a “National Day of Hate.” Like we need more of that. State legislatures all over the place are enacting absolutely absurd, hateful, misogynistic, anti-family, anti-diversity, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-protestor, anti-science, anti-education, anti-public-anything, and anti-childhood legislation. It’s mindblowing.
Really? Weakening child labor laws is their vision of a bright future? Book bans? Making state-run Medicaid even more limited? Keeping healthy food from people who need it? Outlawing vaccines? Are they on crack?
I don’t think they’re drugged — or medicated — for the most part.
I do think they’re high on power.
I do think they’re high on white supremacy, holding onto it, and keeping the patriarchy. And all this when I — for one — came out of college in the 90s saying the patriarchy was done for. Ha! As if! Nope. Those folks are holding on for dear life.
The thing is… there’s no organized, widespread, active resistance. There’s no coalition of opposition. YET.
There needs to be.
Let’s build one.
This nonprofit is set up to help facilitate such a thing… building on the all the work that’s been done by so many up to this point. Here are the 5 Things we’re pushing to help change our trajectory, and to get through all of this craziness too:
Thing 3: Involve Businesses Through Partnerships & Pressure.
Thing 5: Drive the Narrative, Create a Buzz, & Spread It Everywhere.
We need your help. Yesterday we announced a kick-off event for this Wednesday, March 1. Help us recruit folks to join us. Share that event around, or this post.
Or share any of our stuff. Here’s our website. We’re on Substack, Patreon, the new Post platform, Facebook, LinkedIn, Eventbrite, and ActBlue.
In countries that have pushed back on an authoritarian movement, an organized coalition of the majority was the key.
Let’s do it. We can. And we can build it from here. We can take charge of the aircraft and pull it out of the tailspin.
Half the battle is deciding we’re going to go after it. Figuring it out is easy once we’re committed.
We can’t build something from nothing without actual humans getting involved and helping us build the thing. It’s going to be dependent on volunteers, hope, faith in this country, faith in each other, and genuine planning for our collective future. Sign up for our kick-off Zoom call this week and let’s get going.
We need the cashola, too! We’ve raised $2038 of our early 2023 fundraising goal of $10,000 so far. Pretty awesome, and some fantastic donors. THANK YOU. Our donations come in through the website, ActBlue, paid Substack subscriptions, Patreon, and Eventbrite ticket donations. Also, folks can snail mail checks to Shift the Country, PO Box 1093, Ames, IA 50010.
It’s a realistic dream. It’s also a worthwhile dream, because this country can be so much more than an authoritarian hellscape. Let’s go about making it something so much more awesome… where everyone has a better chance to thrive and flourish, and where we’re taking on the enormous challenges of staying alive on this planet head-on rather than pretending they’re not real. Let’s get this plane headed somewhere where we all want to live.
Going to be a hell of a fight, but it can be fun, too — and amazing. Join us.