Obviously, I didn’t get quite the start on this project as planned. It doesn’t seem like it’s been nine months since I sprouted this grand idea. Wow, look at the time.
Like so many others, the ramp-up to the election was generating the same kind of stress that we experienced from 2017 – 2021. Keeping up with the republicans’ plans in order to know what to fight was a necessary task. Watching the insanity around Biden’s departure and the embarrassing insistence of prominent Democrats that a reality-show style DNC competition for the candidacy was what the people wanted – unbearable. The fact that they were actively working to edge Kamala Harris out of any real consideration for the candidacy because they were sure that a younger white man in the flavor of Newsom or Shapiro would have the masses squealing with joy. That just about sent me over the edge.
But here we are, once again having to face the fact that a large percentage of the country either hates us or just doesn’t care enough to vote. Any little glimmer of cautious hope that we held throughout the lead-up to election day is gone, and now we’re left with the knowledge that for an undetermined number of years, we’re all going to live in hell.
Let’s not pretend that we’ll have a chance to end what’s coming in four years. Let’s not pretend that even the mid-terms of 2026 could serve as a beacon of hope.
I will never give up on the idea of fighting the incoming fascist rule, but it’s going to have to be different this time. We don’t know exactly how different yet, and won’t until they take office. What we do know is that the first order of business for any vulnerable member of society is to start building our own self protection.
Healthcare, privacy concerns, self-defense, food and shelter. Free communication. We have two months to plan for all of it, and more.
None of us have the answers, but we can share information and strategies so we can each figure out our own plan. We all have roles to play, and while many of us (me included) have had grand fantasies of being the resistance fighter written about in history books, most of us will play the most important roles of keeping our families, friends, and neighbors as safe and healthy as we possibly can. That’s not only good enough, it’s imperative.
We’re going to make it through this.