Inundated
I don’t know how you’re doing, but I’m honestly straight-up overwhelmed. Inundated. Bone-tired. Emotionally spent. Stuck. Scared. Sad.
I don’t usually talk like this, and certainly not in public. Yet I think it’s time for that to change; for many of us. I think it’s time that we get way, way, way more honest about that uncomfortable, niggling stuff that we hesitate to say out loud.
Like how about this?
It’s NOT OKAY for an entire, established political party in the United States of America to be openly targeting LGBTQ+ people for harassment, hatred, and legalized intolerance. It’s become part of the accepted Republican playbook to win primaries.
Where is the noise and outrage on this? The silence is DEAFENING.
It’s NOT OKAY that the Republican party in the US is openly calling for “de-funding the FBI,” because that agency executed a legal search warrant on a former president of the US who clearly pilfered highly classified documents that we own that he was keeping illegally. The fact that Trump retained such documents and kept them outside of secure facilities and systems created enormous national security vulnerabilities, on top of all of the other national security vulnerabilities the Trump Cabal all create together.
It’s not okay that violence and threats of violence are on the increase in the US against Americans - whether they be in law enforcement, or because they are Jewish, or because they are people of color, or because they attend a historically black college or university (HBCU), or because they are LGBTQ+, or because they support public health, or because they work in hospitals, or because they are getting groceries in a majority Black neighborhood, or because they are at synagogue, or for whatever reason. The lists go on and on.
It’s not okay that public schools are being weakened, and that teacher standards are being relaxed. It’s weakening our country, our society, our competitiveness, and our innovative and problem-solving capacity. It hasn’t been okay that kids have been forced to go to schools where public health mitigation measures were outlawed. It isn’t okay that teachers are expected to do more and more with less, and that we’re doing nothing at all to make it harder for people to get AR-15s that can be used to target kids and teachers in school. It’s not okay that kids in the US have traumatic experiences in active shooter drills that they might need to save their lives in case an actual active shooter turns up at their school and they have to know all the things.
It’s not okay that books are being banned and libraries are being threatened and closed - even in a world where so much is available on the internet. Libraries are some of the few remaining public spaces that help to anchor communities.
It’s not okay that history and science are being thrown out for no good reason except for being uncomfortable wearing masks, for wanting to be part of the anti-vax crowd, or for not wanting to face the harsh truths about the flagrant violence and inequality inherent in our history and in our present.
It’s not okay that underage girls are being forced to birth children they’re deemed by judges “too immature” to abort, but apparently mature enough to raise in states where abortion has been mostly outlawed. It’s not okay that Republicans are targeting contraception in the whole array of things that make it difficult for women to have any control over their own bodies, their futures, their jobs, or their families.
The lists go on and on.
All of this stuff is outrageous and appalling and unacceptable.
That being said - we don’t appear to have an organized national approach to counter it.
Some of it is culture war stuff. Actually, a lot of it is culture war stuff.
Only it seems like one side is waging the war… and the other side is just trying to live, to have equity, to have food, to make rent, to have a chance, to not be shot, to be accepted, to not be actively discriminated against, to marry the people they love, to take care of their people, to dance, to read, to learn, to be able to make their own decisions about their bodies and futures, and to be who they are… without being attacked.
I think we need to fight differently. I really do.
You can’t fight unprecedented threats by doing the same damn things. It’s time to evolve.
I have this idea that we could do 5 Things to energize voters this year, on top of all the stuff people normally do. There’s time, because this approach includes fast growth as part of how we make shift happen.
We’ve got to do more. We’ve got to reach more people. We’ve got to convince them how damn important it is to get in the fight, to vote, and to do whatever else we can to make shift happen.
These are the 5 Things:
Thing 1: We create a phenomenon of action, advocacy, & energy.
Thing 2: We build power by taking connecting & coalitions to new levels.
Thing 3: We involve businesses through partnerships & pressure.
Thing 4: We champion vision, values, & moral courage.
Thing 5: We spread this shift everywhere, & we drive the narrative.
We’re right at the beginning of getting this shift going.
We’re getting ready to have events to do teamwork and to brainstorm to ramp this up. We’ll start by focusing on pressuring businesses or partnering with them, and also by focusing on helping Democrats anywhere and everywhere with “messaging.” Especially by focusing on championing moral courage, vision, and values.
If you want to help run these events, if you have contacts with Democrats at any level, or if you want to otherwise be involved… holler. Contact info below, or sign up to volunteer here.
We’re a little bit stuck and behind schedule because we’ve had some major advertising “challenges” that are driving me bananas. That’s putting it nicely. It’s certainly contributed to my own bone-weariness and flat-out exasperation.
You may be able to help with the advertising trouble. If you have any way to reach Facebook technical support, we would deeply appreciate it. Contact info below.
We’re also looking to place ads in other places to help grow this movement - it’s a challenge because political ads are limited on platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. We’re not in a position to hire help or a marketing firm, but we do have a bit of money to run the ads themselves.
And as far as that goes, we need cash. We’ve got a few paying subscriptions here, but we’re running this shift so far on sheer persistence, a loan, and a few paying Substack subscriptions. We are in very serious need of funding in a real way, so we can run way more ads and promote the content we all create once we get past this ad hurdle.
There is tremendous potential here… and that’s a lot because Shift the Country is working in zones where other national groups don’t appear to be focused.
And the thing is - any group or political committee or candidate anywhere can use our methodology. We need to do bigger things, tie our efforts together, and take them farther this year.
We need to take on the culture war. We need to champion values and moral courage. We need to raise holy heck and drive the narrative, and we need to do it fast.
And the thing is - we can.
All of this overwhelm is not an accident. Democracies fail when people don’t get organized enough to push back on the overwhelm caused by those seeking to seize power from the majority of voters so that they can have long-term minority rule. Not cool.
So let’s get organized. And let’s do some different things. Fast.
We totally can.
Be safe out there. And pass this along.
k