Social Activism in the Age of Trump: What To Do and What We Are Doing

There have been calls for this thread and I think it's useful, so here you go. Busy this morning so can't contribute much right now but here's a quick step one:

http://www.injusticeboycott.com/

im adopting a wait and see approach

i'm definitely on board with the injustice boycott.

Unfortunately, once the composition of Congress and the state legislatures are settled by elections, court cases are the only direct means of political action. Indirect political action would include lobbying, protests, and increasing public discourse. Charitable giving is always available to offset the loss of public social safety net programs, even if it is less effective than coordinated government action.

My wife and I are likely to double the amounts of contributions we make to political and charitable organizations in 2017. We're already stepping up our year-end contributions. The local food bank, environmental organizations, and the ACLU are high up on our list.

thanks for this thread

I forgot to mention Planned Parenthood and Oregon's US Senator Jeff Merkeley.

i would argue that the us political system has become so debased and corrupt that "indirect action" is more meaningful and powerful, these days, than direct action. i am also less motivated in giving to organizations that will attempt to provide charitable alternatives to the collapse of our institutions than i am to organizations that are working to create stronger formal institutions. i'm sure that, for instance, knitting booties for homeless children is the best a lot of people feel they contribute, but that's not particularly my focus.

i agree- our actions are now more codified within instituions for better or for worse. my list:

-i work for PP
-donate to ACLU
-trying to participate in the democratic party on a local level
-go to protests/pro-immigrant events etc

that's about what i've got

also paying for decent journalism

this reminds me to cancel my NYT subscription

Thanks for starting this thread. Injustice Boycott sounds like a decent place to start.
I'm cynical about the effect of protests, but I do think about joining. Often wonder if any individual action can have as much effect as say, corporations taking business out of North Carolina due to HB2. Protests can bring awareness to these things, and I guess every action is a tiny pebble...
Donations to sympathetic causes is a great idea and I'll give at convenient times but usually I don't have much to give.
Will consider subscribing to righteous news outlets. Who else besides WaPo is doing serious work out there?
Definitely considering volunteering, but not at all sure what to do.

Shaun King has before been better at getting ideas than following through, so I'm cautiously optimistic about th injustices boykott. Such a good idea, but we'll see.

I'd recommend watching this video for more background and info: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1215976078441308&id=799539910084929

"Often wonder if any individual action can have as much effect as say, corporations taking business out of North Carolina due to HB2. Protests can bring awareness to these things, and I guess every action is a tiny pebble...
Donations to sympathetic causes is a great idea and I'll give at convenient times but usually I don't have much to give."

to me the upside of the trump phenomenon is realizing that major organizations can be coerced into making decisions based on vocal fringe minorities. ok, that's terrifying, but it also means that we don't have to represent "mainstream" thought or get a majority of people to agree with us in order to have a positive effect. corporations are more vulnerable to the pressure we place through vocal boycotts than government institutions are to the "power" of our vote.

Curious how helpful/effective people find this: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/174f0WBSVNSdcQ5_S6rWPGB3pNCsruyyM_ZRQ6QUhGmo/edit#gid=114941615
I am trying to set asid a half hour a day to make calls, dunno if that's a pointless thing to do or not but it's a start.
Have recurring gifts to the SPLC and Make the Road, volunteering with kids and animals and elderly when i can, trying to find a way to make art that addresses my thoughts, reading the news and watching NewsHour, sub to NYT but should likely do a WaPo digital sub, just started with a BK action group to get organized on women's health issues
yoga and jogging to keep my head right
it all feels pretty small potatoes, dunno what else i should be doing

signed up for the injustice boycott but very skeptical that 200,000 people are going to make a difference w a nationwide boycott

Hmmm. I think there are more and less effective ways to use boycott as a form of protest, and organizations which are more and less vulnerable to boycotts.

The first thing I wonder is if "quiet" boycotts are necessarily less effective than ones which are accompanied by consistent propaganda pressure. My wife, for instance, has been boycotting Hobby Lobby for some time to no apparent effect. There's not really any organized opposition to Hobby Lobby, just grumbling at dinner parties.

The second thing I wonder, as regards Hobby Lobby, is if their non-monopoly status might not diffuse the effect of a boycott. When we need craft stuff, we go to Joann's. If Hobby Lobby were to completely remove their objectionable corporate policies, you know, we'd still get our stuff from Joann's, because it's become a habit of ours. So, since Hobby Lobby's policies aren't costing them anything, why should they change those policies?

The third thing is that if you're in a business, you cater to certain markets, and those markets are accompanied by certain prevalent political beliefs. So, for instance, Home Depot may have policies I find anathema, but I do not own a home, and do not undertake "home improvement" projects. My perception, which may be incorrect, is that the demographic which _does_ undertake home improvement projects, by and large, aligns politically with the political positions endorsed by Home Depot management. So this does not strike me as being a particularly fruitful area in which to undertake a boycott.

The fourth thing is that a lot of boycotts are based on misinformation and insufficient information. I was a little embarrassed this year or last year when people started boycotting Target for being too trans-friendly, because I was still boycotting Target for being too anti-gay. I'm not sure if they were anti-gay at some point and just changed their position, or if the belief that they were, as a corporate entity, anti-gay was simply based on a misinterpretation.

So, then, an effective boycott should be based on the boycotters, as consumers, doing without, rather than picking another choice to have their wants met. It should be accompanied by a great deal of noise and hoopla. It should, at the same time, take great pains to convey effective information and avoid misinforming its participants. Its participants, in turn, should be those who may be reasonably expected to purchase the goods or services offered by the boycotted company. Finally, it should be targeted towards an industry which does not stand to gain more than it stands to lose from anti-Trump boycotts.

Glad this thread exists.

I know we've got a lot of musicians on ILX, and have been thinking I'd like to contribute to some sort of benefit compilation. For Planned Parenthood, ACLU, SPLC - organizations that could help people who this administration could hurt.

Lee Fang ‏@lhfang 4. dec.
From the conservative turned BLM activist who crashed Bernie's Seattle rally then lied about it: a whole new scam: http://safetypinbox.com

Everyone is trying to figure out what to do, but something not to? Tweet libelous lies about black women trying to make performative white wokeness work directly for Black women. Especially if your beef is that they once criticized Bernie Sanders. Sites like TheIntercept needs to cut ties with cyberbullies like Lee Fang.

a thought for today for any technophiles.

i think we can all acknowledge at this point that the internet is basically a teenage nazi chatbot at this point. so any activity that disrupts normal - i.e. fascist - internet discourse is of greater than ordinary utility in resisting fascism.

this need not take the form of sabotage! the internet in general is very insecure and totally vulnerable to attack, so vulnerable that most of these attacks have evolved to be parasitic rather than directly destructive as they were in the old days, but there are plenty of completely legal and effective ways for technophiles to sever the host/parasite relationship.

my impression is that most people, and certainly most trump supporters, have no very clear notion of how to use or maintain an internet connection. refusing to assist others with internet connectivity issues would, at bare minimum, significantly raise the cost of staying connected to the internet. the weak part of any state is its reliance on technocracy, and disrupting technocratic communication through noncompliance is a relatively simple and effective matter.

My experience with various kinds of social justice-y organizations in the last few years has been that a top-down organization is not for me. I tried being in a "money out of politics" org that does state govt-level maneuvering and mostly only gathers people together under their banner for the purpose of giving the org more visibility and their leaders a slightly bigger bargaining chip. Most of the members don't do much on the ground when it's not election season. My heart wasn't in it.

At this point in life my job is sjw-y and I work with frontline communities, but if you don't have this advantage then my advice is pick an issue area where you are passionate, look around online at the landscape of orgs, and reach out to organizations of affected minorities, immigrants, LGTBQ ppl, unsheltered/housing insecure ppl, etc and ask what they need and then do it in whatever way you are asked for. Let the people from that affected community lead, and support them. Learn not to talk at meetings even when you think you know the answer (I'm so bad at this). Ask one person later in confidence if your idea has merit, and let someone else advance it.

If you want to get involved in local govt by all means do it! PTA leadership, school board, zoning committee, idk what is out there but frankly I suspect a lot of it is pretty boring and actually a lot of work. Make the casseroles, sit through the meetings, keep your eye on the ball so when someone tries to ban a book or remove sex ed or w/e you are at the meeting and not reading about it in the paper the next day thinking "Jeez why didn't anyone say anything??"

Giving money is not a cop out! Grassroots orgs always need money. Economic inequality is super real and your dollar can do a lot for a community org. Whatever values you admire, whatever resources you consume, fund them. When you read an article and you think, "That kids' mentoring thing with the free books is cool and made me have hope for humanity for at least 10 seconds" throw them $10. I pay $5 a month or $10 a month to a handful of orgs, just using low level continued giving so I don't even really notice it.

The specifics of what you can do will be mostly about your situation! Where you are, how much time you have. Generally I think it's most sustainable for ppl, in terms of time and emotional commitment, to act in their existing circles more or less rather than make the rare big gesture.

Great post, in orbit. That mirrors a lot of things I've been thinking about and provides some solid advice. I want to focus as much personal attention as possible on my local community while throwing small but steady amounts of money at some worthwhile national orgs.

I'm sorry for every place that isn't Minneapolis because you just aren't this cool, but here's an example of a local good thing to support: http://appetiteforchangemn.org

Appetite For Change uses food as a tool building health, wealth, and social change in North Minneapolis. AFC is a community-led organization that strengthens families, creates economic prosperity, and encourages healthy living.

http://watchtheyard.com/activism/these-black-kids-rapping-about-urban-farming-is-the-dopest-thing-youll-see-all-week/

*Giving money is not a cop out! Grassroots orgs always need money. Economic inequality is super real and your dollar can do a lot for a community org. Whatever values you admire, whatever resources you consume, fund them. When you read an article and you think, "That kids' mentoring thing with the free books is cool and made me have hope for humanity for at least 10 seconds" throw them $10. I pay $5 a month or $10 a month to a handful of orgs, just using low level continued giving so I don't even really notice it.*

^^^this. a friend of mine founded a non-profit in NM for immigrants (which i will shamelessly plug: http://www.santafedreamersproject.org/what-we-do/) and after Trump got elected she was approached by all kinds of folks who wanted to help, like, stuff envelopes and make coffee and what-not. all of which she appreciated but what she really needed was money, because money pays lawyers to do the actual work. getting involved in organizations by showing up and being visible and doing what's asked is def Right and Good, but if, as Laurel says, economic inequality is real and you happen to be on the "haves" end of the curve, then you are probably most useful as a source of dollars. some folks can feel like its a cop-out, and others want the validation of being in the trenches, but for real: just write a check

I guess basically if you aren't leading the charge, letting communities and organizations tell you what they need from you is the best way to go.

Yep!!

Also you can do more than one thing, so if you keep a low profile in one space as a personal policy to support others, maybe find another space where you can express yourself openly just for balance. I'm practically allergic to shutting up so I need both.

injustice boycott sounds good but i've read some very pointed critiques of sean king, how close is he to the leadership of it? he's all over their FB page

He's involved in the organization and he's the public face, but it's unclear who exactly is involved because they're intentionally keeping a lid on the details. Watch the video I linked to yesterday for more info.

I'm not sure what the critiques of King are about but if the targets and the motive seem sound to me, I'm generally unconcerned with who's spearheading the endeavor.

I signed up but am waiting to see what the targeted companies are. I'm not very interested in nitpicking this or that person's exact righteousness unless it comes to my attention from a trusted source that they did something fucked up or their analysis is secretly terrible or something, I can't even really imagine an example right now. A boycott that keeps my resources out of the hands of companies who will use them for things I disagree with seems like a win-win regardless.

this was the article. that said, this injustice boycott seems really organized and thought-out so i am gonna participate probably when more details come out

http://www.complex.com/life/2016/01/shaun-king-black-lives-matter/

The announcement of their intended targets is supposed to be noon today.

As I see it, there are two parts to the criticism of Shaun King 1) He does seem quite disorganized, and keeps putting himself at the center of events and happenings. And while that's kinda good, he's a good writer and a smart thinker and a good promoter, he does seem to bite off more than he can chew. 2) He's a leftist black man, so every little misstep is magnified into enormous proportions. 99% of everything written about him is probably untrue. That does not mean he will be good at organizing a boycott, though...

Guess I'll post this here since a search turned up no results. Shaun King is spearheading an Injustice Boycott that starts Monday.

― i need microsoft installed on my desktop, can you help (Old Lunch), Friday, December 2, 2016 7:09 PM (three days ago) Bookmark Flag Post

I'm in

― El Tomboto, Friday, December 2, 2016 7:15 PM (three days ago)

and I'm out. Terrible targeting, no clear idea what specific policies I would be supporting, and not at all clear what exactly I'd be doing differently. Dumb on all the counts that boycotts are usually dumb, PLUS no details on what is going on other than a date in January.

We're screwed.

San Francisco and New York are two cities that are all but impossible to boycott for most of the people you've gotten the attention of. Profoundly, profoundly stupid.

poll the boycott list lol

For reference, I'm talking about this:

https://medium.com/@ShaunKing/today-we-launch-the-injustice-boycott-against-racial-injustice-police-brutality-in-standing-rock-b1bb18da1f4f#.upyjzpi9s

yeah ummmm 'boycott all businesses headquartered in NYC or SF' seems a bit nebulous

Especially for people who live there

starting with new york and san francisco, huh? that's... bold. particularly when the email comes from a new york daily news email account...

i see the justification for it. if you don't have justice in cities like new york and san francisco - and you don't - then how can one reasonably act in support of justice anywhere? shouldn't boycotts take place in the areas most affected by them? you know, the third city... boycotting standing rock is not going to make fuck-all difference to anybody, and we have to recognize this.

that said, the lack of a clearly defined end state for these boycotts is problematic. i get the feeling like king or whoever had planned for so long he didn't want to waste all that effort. the most important part of a boycott is _ending_ it; if it's nothing more than "fuck you forever" it's hard to expect meaningful results.

i also think that a key part of a successful boycott is _doing without_. i just don't see how simply re-balancing one's expenditures can accomplish much. so my question is, if i'm boycotting new york, if i'm boycotting san francisco - what am i _doing without_? what's my equivalent of getting up at five in the morning and walking to work for a year straight?

Everyone is trying to figure out what to do, but something not to? Tweet libelous lies about black women trying to make performative white wokeness work directly for Black women. Especially if your beef is that they once criticized Bernie Sanders. Sites like TheIntercept needs to cut ties with cyberbullies like Lee Fang.

― Frederik B, Sunday, December 4, 2016 7:41 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

hardworking catholic bishops trying to make the desire of people to pay for indulgences work directly for catholic bishops

It's not all businesses headquartered in NYC or SF, but only those involved in police brutality and systematic racism, right? But, um, would probably have been a good idea to have a partial list up already...

I'm almost positively surprised because my suspicions were so low, but, this needs to become a lot better in the next 43 days for it to work at all.

It's not all businesses headquartered in NYC or SF, but only those involved in police brutality and systematic racism, right? But, um, would probably have been a good idea to have a partial list up already...

― Frederik B, Monday, December 5, 2016 12:47 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

so glad that twitter activists will be refusing to shop at Joe Mook's Billyclub and Taser Emporium and "Heeeeeyy, I'm being Systematically Racist Here, Inc." and, uh, the policeman's ball.

s.clover, you can't seriously think black women play an equivalent part to what catholic bishops did in the indulgence system?

Like, you seem dumb as fuck, but clearly not even you are that dumb?

I tend to think the most important "activism" right now is actually rebuilding local and state democratic parties (or third parties like Working Families that will still support democrats when necessary). The only check on Trump's power will come from congress and from state governments.

Sorry, not "the only" check, but one of the most important checks.

yes i think they are exactly equivalent because i have never been introduced to the concept of an analogy

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CyzkgfxVEAA0AIw.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cy3Oc-8WIAAzceP.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cy3Oc-8WIAAzceP.jpg

A Box of __________ Shipped to Your House Each Month

Yeah Roxy would be a great Virginia contact, I'll give her a shout for sure.

This thread is full of cautionary tales

Will consider subscribing to righteous news outlets. Who else besides WaPo is doing serious work out there?
Definitely considering volunteering, but not at all sure what to do.

― Nhex, Sunday, 4 December 2016 08:42 (seven years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Shaun King has before been better at getting ideas than following through, so I'm cautiously optimistic about th injustices boykott. Such a good idea, but we'll see.

― Frederik B, Sunday, 4 December 2016 09:16 (seven years ago) bookmarkflaglink

tipsy I'm sure you know about Appalshop. i'm sure they'd be very interested in what you're up to.

You can also contact the places listed in the Slingshot planner …

Oh for sure, Appalshop is on my list. I spent a little time there once, just an amazing place. The building was wrecked by the floods in ‘22, last I read they were building back.

I don’t have a Slingshot planner, but I should!

I could send you pdfs of the listings from 2023. … I haven’t gotten the 2024 one yet but i think it’s out

PDFs would be awesome! I’ll order one of the new edition too. My email is j m a y s h a r k @ the gmails.

I should order a new Slingshot, it's literally been decades

This thread is full of cautionary tales

― John Backflip (Camaraderie at Arms Length)

see, i don't look at it that way. i look at things and see how far we've come since 2016. i was _not prepared_ for trump winning. i spent a lot of time confused, flailing, not having any idea how to deal with, like, the shock of it. Most people maybe didn't flail _quite_ so much as I did, but there was, I remember, a fair bit of "what do we do now?" And grifters did come in to take advantage of that.

I think I was... more prepared for this. I look around me and a lot of people are more prepared. There is a tremendous outpouring of grief. There are a lot of people, I think, who weren't prepared for this outcome. That's not a judgement. In a better world we wouldn't have had to be. I don't have the same sense of swimming in the dark that I did eight years ago. That link in orbit shared - I've been sharing it around with people I know, people who are scared, and worried, and it helps people so much to just know that there are things we can do. That we know what's effective, what works and what doesn't work. This morning someone else asked me, scared, upset, why isn't anybody DOING anything? Why aren't we out there in the streets, up in arms against this? And I was able to share that link, to say, look, this is what we are doing, this is what _you_ can do. These are the ways every single person can make a difference, in ways that are most likely going to be more effective than the things people did in January 2017.

That said, I just kinda came to the realization... shit, we're gonna have to put together an entire fucking parallel supply chain, aren't we? Well, _that_ sucks. Still. At least we know what we need to do and can start doing it.

Like 37 people came to the FNB food distro yesterday, considerably more than were needed to do the task of giving away food. The same thing happened in 2016, people turned out in masses. The challenge is to activate them quickly and give them a job to do before they drift off, and no one I've talked to was totally ready for this right now. (Admittedly a small sample size of a few friends in movement orgs.) Dean Spade has popped back up on TT giving sensible advice as usual.

I'm stepping up my involvement and doing some hot meal prep soon.

we're gonna have to put together an entire fucking parallel supply chain, aren't we?

Yeah it totally sucks because I'm not even very smart but I think it's pretty obvious it's difficult/impossible to do this at scale to meet the need. Some of how people live will probably need to change, so it's good to start re-centering around shared values now so that the change is more welcome and is "part of how we pull together" instead of being felt as deprivation.

Anyway it would not be amiss to go out and buy some things to share later that might get harder to get soon. In little bits so it doesn't exhaust the supplies for those who need them right now.

Yeah it totally sucks because I'm not even very smart

Ftr i disagree with this as I've learned a lot from yr posts!

Especially itt over the past few days.

Does anyone have any advice on self-defense training for an inexperienced 50-something woman?

― Infanta Terrible (j.lu), Friday, November 8, 2024 7:08 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Hi, j.lu! Tx Brad for the good advice! Noted. Also someone who trains people for street fighting popped up on my TT and then I heard a podcaster talking about Black Flag training gyms opening up so that people can be ready for a wider variety of scenarios. Interesting. Probably not for this 48-yo woman but who knows. I could surprise myself.

I've taken a few self-defense classes over the years (and like two seconds of muay thai, enough to realize I was not going to make it lol) and they mostly say to try to de-escalate or disrupt the situation so you can run. I don't think there are many realistic situations where I would have any confidence that I could overpower or evade a man or someone significantly larger than me. Having a knife on you if you're not extremely skilled just increases your risk of having it used against you iirc (same with guns).

Physical confidence and movement/strength/endurance feels very do-able, though, and will help with ANY future challenges including just getting older.

Anyway it would not be amiss to go out and buy some things to share later that might get harder to get soon. In little bits so it doesn't exhaust the supplies for those who need them right now.

― Ima Gardener (in orbit)

it's hard because out here all anybody wants to talk about is guns, guns, guns, and when i say "ok cool but like can we talk about supply chain and logistics shit" and people get huffy and be like "SOMETIMES SELF-DEFENSE IS NECESSARY" like i'm trying to push a respectability narrative

it feels so much like that one scene from putney swope, "violence is a cleansing force", but with white trans women

-

i guess i need to look at prepper stuff, don't i? that's the thing, a lot of the preppers are actually pretty reasonable and have pretty good ideas about how to do this stuff, despite the public image. does anybody have any recommendations for resources?

I think if you google "leftist prepper" you'll find things, but for incubating useful perspectives on collective survival and creativity around resources and things, I again recommend "Live Like the World Is Dying" very strongly. It's part of the "Behind the Bastards" universe and co-hosted by infamous Appalachian transwoman personality Margaret Killjoy, among others.

I'm listening to the latest episode of "It Could Happen Here" right now and they just got into really really good post-election perspectives at the 1 hour mark. (The first hour was recorded before the elex.)

when i say "ok cool but like can we talk about supply chain and logistics shit" and people get huffy and be like "SOMETIMES SELF-DEFENSE IS NECESSARY" like i'm trying to push a respectability narrative

You should ignore those people because they're dumb. I used to follow someone with an incredible amount of survival skills (including rearing livestock and driving oxen) on various soc, who used to write hilarious comment threads about the show "Preppers" about all the things they hadn't thought of, like SHOES and CLOTHING and CALORIE CROPS. Logistics shit is the actual shit. (I can't recommend that person bc they went off social media for their safety a while ago.) But you're right and people who argue with you are stupid.

I think there was a definite increase in focus on this during covid — from maker farms to town fridges to people building tiny homes together.

Apologies for this long c&p. This was posted on Facebook on October 5, which feels like a hundred years ago. It's an interesting reality check on prepping:

From a friend's page; originally posted in both prepper and frugal-living FB groups:
"I’m in Asheville, NC right now and we were devastated by the hurricane. Day 5 of no power, water, internet, or even cell service. We are cut off from the world. Here’s what has mattered so far and what hasn’t in my particular situation:
Life saver #1 = Starlink internet. All our phones say SOS. Can’t text for help. Don’t know what’s going on. I plugged in my satellite internet and have been helping the whole neighborhood call loved ones. Everyone is offering me anything from their supplies because it’s so valuable.
Life saver #2 = Solar panels and 3000w battery pack. I can run satellite internet, electric kettle to purify water, charge headlamps, electronics, instant pot for cooking, ice maker for the cooler, everything I need. I’ll won’t run out of the sun like I would propane or gas if this extends a lot longer.
Life saver #3 = Gas cans and extra gas. These are sold out everywhere and are harder to get than gas itself. When power goes out so do gas station pumps. When you have portable gas you can run a generator, evacuate, drive to where the supplies are, check on family members, etc. People are stranded and sleeping at gas stations for days in their car waiting for power to come back on so they can get home.
Life saver #4 = Knowledge on how to survive without a huge stash. Some preppers spend too much on stocking up and not enough on education. None of us knew the hurricane was going to be this bad. Some people lost their entire house including supplies. Those who know multiple ways to collect water, purify it, start a fire, find food, are the ones still alive that haven’t been rescued yet. I could go for another month if I had to with nothing but my backpack and tools.
Life saver #5 = Hand sanitizer. Sanitation is rough here and the hospitals are out of power, food, and water. People are starting to smell and after you touch something you do not want to get sick and go to the hospital because it’s bad there too. The water you do find may not be safe for hand washing without purification. I wash my hands with soap and water and then do hand sanitizer after to stay healthy.
Other things I’ve relied on:
Cash. No power means no debit cards can be used
Disposable cutlery and plates
A 4x4 truck that can drive where others can’t or help tow people to safety
Solar/battery radio
Dogs for company and to alert if someone is outside
Hasn’t mattered as much as I thought:
#1 = Guns! I haven’t even thought about needing my gun and realized I put too much on this. Strangers have come together in our area and are taking care of each other like you wouldn’t believe. Each person has a surplus of something and is missing something else. We all share while still respecting boundaries and only sharing what we choose. Again, this can depend on the area but here if you are acting paranoid/standoffish of others and open carrying a gun, the nice innocent people are going to avoid you and you will be isolated without community or resources. I’m still glad to have a gun but I wish I spent more time on other skills too instead of putting so much emphasis on shooting. (And to anyone who says, “it only takes one time and you will be glad for your aim”, you’re missing the point I’m trying to make here.)
#2 = Food. This is easy to find for me but it may be due to the part of the country I’m in. I can also fish, forage, and don’t cook much because I don’t want to waste water on dishes. I had shelf stable food prepped and lll probably end up only using 25% of it in a month. As people’s freezers start to thaw we’ve had big cookouts so it doesn’t go to waste and I’ve been full most nights.
Again, this list could be based on location, type of natural disaster, weather, etc But it’s interesting to me because I’m actually living it instead of preparing and wanted to share"

Fomenting and fermenting revolution innit

I like all of that except the Starlink, which as we have seen in the Ukraine can be turned off at any time if its CEO decides to

I also spent the covid years living in the country with a garden and being very extra about it. And watching 187438737 tiny house vids on YouTube. I definitely get the impulse. Then I remembered that I already live in a tiny house, it's called "A New York City apartment" and I can stand up in my bedroom to put my pants on.

I do miss my garden though.

Thanks for sharing that experience, Brad. Really interesting! I come from a family of weirdo minimalist campers--I'm not one of them but I'm grateful for all the Christmases that we've given each other pocket knives (or multi-tools) and boxes of candles. You can never have too many flashlights.

I don’t know if this is the place for this - I’d thought of starting a “Signal Boost These Things For The Public Good” thread but we have too many threads

https://theatlantavoice.com/atlantas-mr-clean-nicky-crawford-is-here-to-help/

Some decent points here: https://margaretkilljoy.substack.com/p/the-sky-is-falling-weve-got-this

Things don’t get done unless you organize to get them done. Now is not the moment to rely solely on cliques, friend groups, or subcultures. Now is a time to form or join organizations of like-minded people wherein you can collectively determine goals and the tactics by which to work towards those goals.

<3 <3 MK

Xp - the biggest challenges tend to be:
1. The perfect is the enemy of the good
2. “We were doing this first” and reinventing the wheel jostling and resentment
3. The long hard slog — most people lose motivation when the reality of effecting change is absurdly bureaucratic and slow and involves specialized and technical work

I am currently reading “12 who ruled” recommended here on ilx, and there are definite lessons for social activism in it.

And the key tips:

-Deescalate all conflict that isn’t with the enemy.
-Deescalate all conflict that isn’t with the enemy.
-Deescalate all conflict that isn’t with the enemy.

otmfm

Our movement needs fewer gatekeepers and more ushers—people who help newcomers find ways to plug in. Always be on the lookout for newcomers. Always try to help them find their place.

This is such great advice and fits in with Dean Spade's guidance about org culture, that every group of people has a "culture" and if you don't set it intentionally, it will be created by norms and preferences that you may not be paying any attention to. And one of the determinants of your group's culture is, do outsiders feel welcome? Can they ascertain how to get involved? Is it clear what role(s) they can take? Etc. Be explicit. Explain expectations.

I take this VERY much to heart and I also believe in giving people something to do rather than letting them wander around. I'm often the person that connects people to things they express interest in. You want to do grocery packing in person, lifting boxes? Talk to these people. Or if you have small kids and have to stay home, you can join the "social connection" group that calls seniors every week. If you like to get out of the house and you have a car, you can do home deliveries of groceries with a partner or friend.

Speaking of which I have to go home and be at a computer by 6 in case the delivery drivers have questions. xoxo

And the key tips:

_-Deescalate all conflict that isn’t with the enemy.
-Deescalate all conflict that isn’t with the enemy.
-Deescalate all conflict that isn’t with the enemy._

still in the getting-501c3-status stage, but basically I'm starting a Southern progressive media nonprofit.

They can be directly political.

Yeah the restrictions on nonprofits are primarily on direct endorsements of candidates. You can advocate for issues. That said, I’m planning to talk to a media lawyer to make sure I know where those lines are. But there are already plenty of nonprofits with ideological missions.

As a 501c3 you can’t directly endorse candidates for elected office or make campaign contributions.

In terms of publishing, you have it easier than orgs that do the work you are writing about/doing advocacy for. As in, it is less likely that you would have a need to meet with government officials/staff and “motivate” them to take a position related to your work or put something on an agenda. This falls into “lobbying” which has restrictions, and can have fewer restrictions if you file extra forms and track things. This is something my org grapples with.

Some funders avoid giving money to orgs that do lobbying, including some of the “platforms” that are basically conduits for corporate giving (e.g. companies that match employee donations).

But in terms of endorsements, I have seen orgs get around it by messaging that basically reiterates their mission and values, and then cites something that the candidate they are opposed to said/did/intends to do and make the contradiction very clear.

An obvious one would be say … Black Lives Matter; here is a picture of (the asshole you shouldn’t vote for) in a KKK hood from a newspaper of record.

Would something like publishing a voter guide be off the table, or could you get around it similarly?

Voter guides are an interesting thing! Good question!

Voter guides and candidate questionnaires are OK, according to https://www.nonprofitvote.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/nonpartisan-election-activities-501c3-nonprofits-1.pdf.

I wonder how pointed the language you could use and still qualify as non-partisan:
e.g. "Support for Prop 834923 / Measure XZX is funded by Gorbles McLorbles, a thrice convicted embezzler and VP of the Dave Matthews Band fanclub which he definitely embezzled from, all of which are non-partisan facts, folks!"

I've been to a number of candidate-interview events, sometimes when they're seeking an endorsement, and sometimes just when they want to get their message out. It's an opportunity for a non-profit or community group to a) Show a bit of power, that they command enough respect that candidates will agree to attend their event, and b) Get some visibility for their community members, who then get a chance to ask questions and hear directly from candidates. The org isn't stating a preference for a candidate, more like giving them enough space to either praise or damn themselves.

I thought Philip was asking about voter guides with endorsements… as opposed to just descriptions of who is running/what the ballot measure would actually do.

many 501c3 orgs “have” separate associated 501c4 orgs where they can do political stuff, run PACs etc

It might work if you were to just cite the endorsements of others and why… but that isn’t the area of nonprofit tax law I am super familiar with

many 501c3 orgs “have” separate associated 501c4 orgs where they can do political stuff, run PACs etc

I look at a site like Scalawag — which is a 501c3 — and see that on election day they had a profile of Steve Scalise's Democratic opponent that included lines like "As the House majority leader, Scalise wields tremendous power, and his conservative beliefs pose a serious threat to his constituents' fundamental human rights." I suppose it's possible they're crossing a line there, but they're not explicitly saying who to vote for, and lots of their coverage is equally pointed. So that gives me some comfort level.

(Scalawag is very good btw and worth reading for progressive Southern news, if you don't know it — https://scalawagmagazine.org/)