Christian nationalists, the GOP, clueless Dems, & SCOTUS have done quite a bit of real, serious damage to the fragile state of democracy & discourse in the U.S. They’ve also set back over 70+ years of hard fought advancements at record speed.
It’s a big, complex problem to solve, and, if it all feels overwhelming, asymmetric & unfair, well, it is. Demoralizing us into anger-fueled apathy is one of the goals.
In one side of my profession, a process called “decomposition” is used to break a complex problem into smaller subproblems that are easier to solve. The subproblems are solved recursively or iteratively. The solutions to the subproblems are then combined to solve the original larger problem. Some subproblems can be solved in parallel, with different folks working on different subproblems; others need to wait for some subproblems to be solved first.
The big list of components of this present concern/danger needs to be enumerated & documented, so the actual subproblems can be identified. Nobody is going to do that for you/us. It’s a cognitively & emotionally painful, but important, step. But, it will also help folks explain the big picture to friends/family. The massive scope has to be understood, if only to help others grok that there is no quick, magic solution. It’s going to be a long, hard slog.
Once that settles in, the most essential thing happens next: what is the first subproblem that needs to be solved? It provides focus and — more importantly — an accomplishable goal.
I think it’s fair to say that one bigger subproblem that fits into the next category. It is working to ensure no member of the GOP gets elected to any office in any capacity anywhere in the U.S. for the next forty years. They’ve demonstrated they can’t be trusted with power, and that they have no integrity or shame.
That’s a big subproblem.
Decomposition ultimately brings that down to what an individual can do in the place they live, which means you & I need to prevent GOP-aligned folks from being elected to:
- local offices (including school boards)
- state offices
- federal offices
- [V]POTUS
Organizations like Indivisible can help provide tangible, accomplishable tasks to complete in order to make that reality. Also: it kind of doesn’t matter “who” is opposite a GOP contender. What matters is that they’re neither in the GOP nor a fringe third-party with no chance of being elected. We’re all going to have to put away our pet desires/agendas for a few decades if we really want a foundation for change that can be built on.
A parallel, bigger subproblem, is watching what local, state, and federal legislation is being floated/worked on, and pushing back hard. GovTrack, POGO, Common Cause, Public Citizen and others can help with that, but the onus is on us to do the actual challenging.
And, another, parallel subproblem to work on is building community resilience and mutual aid networks because we’re not going fix every instance of every subproblem (e.g., despite solid efforts, GOP folks are almost certainly going to get elected to positions of power, and, thus, pose a real threat). GWU’s Center for Community Resilience is not a bad place to get started learning how to do that.
Those are three, tangible, accomplishable subproblems anyone can work on (even if you just focus on one of them).
It’s going to take a very long time to course correct. It will be very painful. And, far too many folks will get hurt along the way until things get better. But, giving in and doing nothing aren’t options.
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Where Do We Go From Here?
Christian nationalists, the GOP, clueless Dems, & SCOTUS have done quite a bit of real, serious damage to the fragile state of democracy & discourse in the U.S. They’ve also set back over 70+ years of hard fought advancements at record speed.
It’s a big, complex problem to solve, and, if it all feels overwhelming, asymmetric & unfair, well, it is. Demoralizing us into anger-fueled apathy is one of the goals.
In one side of my profession, a process called “decomposition” is used to break a complex problem into smaller subproblems that are easier to solve. The subproblems are solved recursively or iteratively. The solutions to the subproblems are then combined to solve the original larger problem. Some subproblems can be solved in parallel, with different folks working on different subproblems; others need to wait for some subproblems to be solved first.
The big list of components of this present concern/danger needs to be enumerated & documented, so the actual subproblems can be identified. Nobody is going to do that for you/us. It’s a cognitively & emotionally painful, but important, step. But, it will also help folks explain the big picture to friends/family. The massive scope has to be understood, if only to help others grok that there is no quick, magic solution. It’s going to be a long, hard slog.
Once that settles in, the most essential thing happens next: what is the first subproblem that needs to be solved? It provides focus and — more importantly — an accomplishable goal.
I think it’s fair to say that one bigger subproblem that fits into the next category. It is working to ensure no member of the GOP gets elected to any office in any capacity anywhere in the U.S. for the next forty years. They’ve demonstrated they can’t be trusted with power, and that they have no integrity or shame.
That’s a big subproblem.
Decomposition ultimately brings that down to what an individual can do in the place they live, which means you & I need to prevent GOP-aligned folks from being elected to:
Organizations like Indivisible can help provide tangible, accomplishable tasks to complete in order to make that reality. Also: it kind of doesn’t matter “who” is opposite a GOP contender. What matters is that they’re neither in the GOP nor a fringe third-party with no chance of being elected. We’re all going to have to put away our pet desires/agendas for a few decades if we really want a foundation for change that can be built on.
A parallel, bigger subproblem, is watching what local, state, and federal legislation is being floated/worked on, and pushing back hard. GovTrack, POGO, Common Cause, Public Citizen and others can help with that, but the onus is on us to do the actual challenging.
And, another, parallel subproblem to work on is building community resilience and mutual aid networks because we’re not going fix every instance of every subproblem (e.g., despite solid efforts, GOP folks are almost certainly going to get elected to positions of power, and, thus, pose a real threat). GWU’s Center for Community Resilience is not a bad place to get started learning how to do that.
Those are three, tangible, accomplishable subproblems anyone can work on (even if you just focus on one of them).
It’s going to take a very long time to course correct. It will be very painful. And, far too many folks will get hurt along the way until things get better. But, giving in and doing nothing aren’t options.
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