If you are in a democracy that feels existentially threatened, or if you live in an autocracy and wish for a different reality, then you may be wringing your hands, wondering what you can do beyond registering outrage and disgust on social media or complaining to everyone you know.
You may even be wishing that someone would swoop down and change the trajectory.
Months pass. No one signs up to be Savior of Your World. What’s a body to do?
The Silent Rise
After fretting about far-flung countries that seem to be autocracies, dictatorships, oligarchies or something nearing those types of regimes, I now find the threat of oppression disturbingly close to home.
If I unpack how we got here, it didn’t happen overnight.
True of all movements, good or bad, big or small, some ones started working toward this moment a long time ago. They started with what may have seemed a crazy notion; it bounced along, ridiculed and ignored by the mainstream for years, maybe decades or centuries.
Then one day history presents an opportunity for their previously ignored idea to be considered, and that is when original notion goes from obscurity to mainstream. This is a typical path for societal change. When things go in the direction of my values and beliefs, I’m thrilled. Unfortunately, that is not the case here. My country’s government leaders are exhibiting fascist behavior and steering toward autocracy. Laws that appeared immutable one day are flattened the next. Battles that seemed settled with treaties are reversing course. Economic or strategic opportunism is generating imperialistic actions.
I may not have thought this amount of damage to institutions, trust and humanity was possible, but someone did believe it was possible. Someone made a to do list and consistently chipped away at it for a long time. This someone joined with others and threw themselves into what they believe, spread the word at the ground level, maintained resilience in the face of opposition and fear, and now, here we are.
The Universal Playbook
The good news is that no one holds exclusive rights to believing in the possible. And believing is the first step to mounting a movement.
Our opponents believed what they believe, and they worked for where we are. If we don’t agree with this outcome, then it’s our job to work for what we believe.
We can have crazy ideas too. We can work with other like-minded people and can eventually turn the tide from wherever we find ourselves today.
Choose an issue that matters to you. One issue where you can consistently show up with whatever amount of effort you can bring. Find others to share and support this one issue.
Our opponents worked for where we are. If we don’t agree with this outcome, then it’s our job to work for what we believe.
While it’s true that no one single factor got us to where we are and no one single action will change the direction, there’s too much for one person to cover in any meaningful movement. So don’t even try. Again, look to your opponents. They took one or two issues and focused on those. Others took up adjacent issues, and working in unison, were able to destroy a good chunk of human rights.
Disciplining around one issue will ensure you can maintain your commitment and not spread your efforts too thin or abandon the thing altogether.
You don’t have to choose an extreme. You can be in the middle and advocate for nuance and thoughtfulness.
Don’t get distracted by all the other issues you could be involved in. That’s where the rest of us show up. If each one of us chooses our one issue, we will, through a diversity of interests and passions, carpet a good amount of territory.
Remember the only thing more powerful than your opponent is your own despair. Leave the outrage and trash talk aside. It’s unnecessarily exhausting. Use that energy for your cause. Stop asking why others aren’t showing up and focus on where you are. Try not to get discouraged.
Be as brave as you think you can, and as you gain confidence, be a little braver still.
If you have a friend, invite them to join you. If you have an opponent, invite them to consider your ideas. You won’t sway them overnight but long-term reflection is a powerful tool.
Strike a Match
What to do depends on what is available to you, your cause, your time commitment, your freedom to operate, and so on.
As a guide for what you may join or organize on your own, consider what you have to offer and what you are prepared to sacrifice. For instance:
- Can you volunteer to help disadvantaged communities or groups under attack?
- Can you monetarily support organizations that have lost funding?
- Can you forgo shopping at brands or working with people who publicly support causes you are not aligned with?
- If you have professional skills, can you devote time and waive fees for legal issues?
- If you are a hiring manager, can you offer work to someone who has lost their job without cause?
- If you have a flair for social media or word of mouth promotion, can you help spread the news about others’ events and activities in the service of your shared issue?
- Are there local chapters or groups in your community where you can combine efforts on the ground?
- Can you leaflet, get out the vote, hold issue forums to educate voters, petition for a candidate or work a hotline?
- Is there a candidate that you like and for whom you can volunteer or assist the campaign team?
- Can you vote? Can you register yourself or help someone else register?
- Can you help others get to the polls on primary day?
- Can you remind acquaintances when the elections are (including primaries)? Can you help them research who the candidates are and what they stand for?
If you truly have no idea what to do with yourself, ask other like-minded acquaintances what they are doing. If there are no opportunities, but enough hunger, you can organize your own group, find others who share the cause, and determine together how best to tackle it.
I have joined a group whose stated goal is to protect and win elections. Our group engages in a variety of actions, including calling elected leaders to voice support or dissent for current decisions, holding open forums with experts to discuss issues in depth, writing get-out-the-vote postcards, and leafletting in nearby communities where primaries are being held to promote candidates whose goals match our objectives.
This work is not going to change the world; I know that. But it’s the “one” thing I could find that is locally-organized, aligned with my available time, and supportive of my beliefs.
Through this work, I’ve learned about history, activism, my local community, and so forth, but it’s also provided recommendations for movies, books, restaurants—there’s a rewarding social component with no agenda to the work.
One thing i’ve learned about myself is that I probably wouldn’t start or sustain any of this on my own. I’d have lost heart or felt helpless. Working alone, it’s hard to move the dial much. Being part of a group and working together gives us a larger voice. It gives us strength and motivates us when we’re overwhelmed or despairing. We exchange ideas and information; we each bring different skills; and someone always shows up even if all cannot make it.
Don’t panic if the first or second thing you join isn’t for you. Start somewhere; revise as you go.
Here are some links that helped when making my choices.
- Indivisible: A practical guide to democracy on the brink
- Mobilize: Events, petitions, and volunteer opportunities
Let us know if you have recommendations, we can add them here. Sign up for our free newsletter, find us on instagram and linkedin, and tell us what you think.
Asa Franz
