I have been struggling with the poor showing of people [locally] at organized resistance to the assaults on our liberties, our democracy, our environment and our humanity that continue to hammer us daily. I hear, “It’s just too much,” “I am so depressed,” and “I’m overwhelmed and paralyzed.” People are retreating to their “normal” lives, protecting their hearts and minds from what someone recently called PTSD. I would reframe that as OTSR: Ongoing Traumatic Stress Response.
It demonstrates cognitive dissonance, where we can’t reconcile reality with our expectations of how life “should” be. Shutting us down in this way is exactly the point of the daily assaults. We cannot and must not allow ourselves to fall for this tactic. Hiding only empowers those who wish to own our future.
To prevent the demise of our democracy, we must participate in it. We must come out of our cocoons and rekindle the fire of resistance; and commit to this for however long it takes to block the clear and present rise of tyranny we’re seeing in the U.S. Leaders follow when the people lead. We must act together to guarantee a safe and healthy future for our children.
— Carolyn Anderson
Asheville
Carolyn — Though I think you are speaking of the need for active citizenship on a national scale. As a long-time school board, city council, state official
Oh DRAT …. my hand tremors hit the wrong button, and who knows where the rest of my response went to …. anyway … just wanted to agree with you that folks need to develop that HABIT of attending local government meetings … most agendas are no online. As a long time local GADFLY, I know that getting folks out of their comfort zone is like pulling teeth. But once they do, they find that in addition to performing your civic DUTY it can often be fun. After meeting pie and ice cream gab sessions are a part of my happy memories.
My theory as to how to ensure voter turnout-forget the cutesy “I Voted Today” stickers.
Give some tax write offs for local BBQ catering companies.
You show up, vote, you get fed.
Piedmont vinegar based BBQ, greens, slaw and cornbread yes sir.
Win/win.
The Romans did it with ‘bread and circuses’.
Andrew Jackson (not my favorite POTUS by any means)did it with hard cider.
LOL so we have a nation where leftist oppose voter ID, perpetuate voter fraud, and still have to bribe people to come out to vote with food? Isn’t that what EBT is for? It’s not like many people who use it don’t pull out wads of cash to pay for things not covered under assistance.
Boatrocker – providing food for votes ….. OH YUM! I’m for it! The only trouble is – in this day and age, one would worry about contamination and of course law suits for every tummy ache.
As to providing liquor for votes cast …. Geo. Washington started that barrel rolling, so a long history. But today would raise a complaint from whichever side did not provide enough booze to get voters. More law suits, ad nauseum.
I’m both moved and confused by this letter…. yes we can “vote” for change, but does it really do any good?
2.8 MILLION MORE people voted for Hillary; yet we have this National embarrassment in office… the vast majority want single payer and it still Won’t happen..
Taking our country back by force or “resistance” only gets us detained WITHOUT due process indefinitely (patriot act)…. people can’t organize for change… once u try; givernemnt labels you a domestic terrorist via NSA email, text, and telephone conversation snooping.
Text from my 70 y/o mother
“This is no longer Democracy ….we are RULED into submission; silenced in one way or other. I see it, I feel it; and sad my kids are a part of it…..”
As an honorably disabled veteran who proudly served this country 20 years ago… Id NOW think twice about crossing the street to piss on it if it were in fire….
LOL the only embarrassment in this place is a former county commissioner who stole and the population of buffoons who don’t care.
TO ALL- – Interesting collection of data regarding all of our elections. How many voted , popular & electoral votes. —– One data point that caught my eye was the percent of turnout at each election 20;s – 1 ; 30’s – 0 ; 40’s – 3; 50’s 19; 60’s – 11; 70;s – 12; 80’s 3; — the lowest % was 26.9% in 1824 [J Q Adams – A Jackson] Interesting that the lowest turnout also was the only election to be decided in the House of Representatives. The 2000’s have ranged from 51.2 % to 58.2 % — the 1900’s from 49% to 73.2% — the 1800’s from 57.6% to 81.8% [exception 26.9% cited earlier] well, that’s enough of that. Here is link, if you have an appetite for more #’s [that is, if you are still awake after all of these fascinating stats. ]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_elections_by_popular_vote_margin#List
In case you wonder what all these #;s have to do with the subject of the letter …. how to get a larger percent of our citizens to vote with their feet as well as the ballot – these #’s give a measuring stick against turn out in other decades. And we have the GIGANTIC Social Media at our disposal. I’m somewhere between Pollyanna and ALL IS LOST, time to pick up the pitchforks.
His beef is that Clinton got more votes but omits it was from California. Why anyone wants to give control of national elections only to one or two states is absurd. Especially if those states allow non-citizens to vote. The electoral college is set up to equalize all the states.
They can heehaw all they want about it. What they propose is permanent one party rule made up by voters who don’t even legally belong here. Bribed by subsidies. And then expect the rest of the nation to cowtow to their laws. And when they say they fear for the “democracy” what they really mean is why don’t people support their agenda. Maybe because it entails calling people vile names, stealing their money, and expecting them to starve. On top of putting people who don’t even legally belong here before the citizens.
His beef is that Clinton got more votes but omits it was from California
False. Typical distortion of how our electoral system works. Want to devalue the votes for a candidate you don’t like? Just say that the margin of victory is entirely attributable to someone you look down on, and pretend the 60,000,000+ other votes don’t exist. In 2000, one of my pro-Bush co-workers said, “The only reason Gore got more votes is because all the blacks voted for him.” Get it? Votes cast by African-Americans are worth less, and so you can be comfortable throwing them out and handing the White House to the losing candidate.
Same deal here. Some people really need to forced into Remedial Civics class. And no, no state allows non-citizens to vote. That’s absurd.
LOL can you tell me where to sign up for the Wanda Green Buncombe County Crony Progressive fan club?
bsummers — Sorry for the broad generalization your co-worker said about Black voters. A good deal of that broad-brush group-blame is going around these days, too. Just goes to show that ignorance is found in every party and even in Progressives as well as Conservatives.
But out of the 60,000,000+ votes you opine were wasted because of the Electoral College, how many do you suppose were cast by non-citizens? Hard to say, but any effort to prevent it is decried as being counter to the American way. Also wonder how many of those inconvenient Electoral votes were based on the raw head-count at the last Census? Hard to tell, and the idea of asking citizenship status is demonized as not the American way….. yada, yada, yada. Sorry that your candidate didn’t win the Electoral vote [in my 80+ years I’ve been in that boat more times than I like]….. but again I ask …. how many were……?
bsummers — one last point — you say that “no state allows non-citizens to vote. That’s absurd.” NO KIDDING. But even though we don’t ALLOW bank robbery, they still happen. The only difference is that folks don’t object to the measures to prevent or punish bank robbery, as they do for efforts to prevent and punish non-citizen-voting. [not to mention the usual suspects of dead people voting. Think it is unfair to dear old Uncle Dave for denying him a vote just because he is no longer alive? Of course, that would be absurd]
Lultz — Your comment about non-citizens voting is valid — but according to those in charge of protecting the integrity of elections – “they see no evidence of illegal voting” – of course they don’t SEE because they won’t LOOK. But another way that non-citizens/illegal aliens DO vote for president is through being counted in each census – influencing the electoral college numbers.
The Electoral vote in CA – 55 ; FL – 29 ; NY – 29 … each of these states has a fair number – enough to matter – of illegal, as well as legal immigrants. So, in this respect non-citizens not only vote, they do it with the help of the Census Bureau, who count heads – even illegal – to appoint a state’s representation and Electoral vote.
But wait a minute here ….. a census question about immigrant status is GASP, HORRORS, UN-AMERICAN!! Former census Q’s asked if foreign-born and if naturalized. Since we so often hear that”we are a nation of immigrants” that Q doesn’t seem out of line.
Just a smidgen more on the CENSUS immigrant ‘thing’ … I wondered in how many different languages the census form is issued. Couldn’t find a clear # … except in the last census Spanish was definitely provide. Verbiage from study paper for the 2020 Census :
” [bureau ]Assessed these languages for translation feasibility, to ensure that the Census Bureau is able to provide effectively translated materials.”
Hi Jason – a couple of your comments piqued my curiosity … so I went online … and found: [1] “the vast majority want single payer” . Majority, yes. VAST, no [poll taken 2 months ago — FOR single payer 51% ; AGAINST 43% —By party: 74% D for ; 80% R against][how dependable a poll is = questionable]
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/383015-poll-slim-majority-of-americans-support-single-payer-health-care
[2] “Majority for C……..National embarrassment in office…” Of course the ‘majority-loser’ thing has happened B4 and country survives. Re “embarrassment” — See commentary below re: “Mellifluous illegality or Crass legality” The list of out-right illegal acts by the O admin. is stunning – all done with correct phraseology. That list i s an embarrassment to those who respect/honor constitutional law. Yes, T’s comments are often cringe-worthy, but still legal. And the reason given by the author is because the media is watching him like a hawk. Oh, so THAT’S HOW, the whole press/informed electorate ‘thing’ works!
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/06/obama-trump-administrations-elites-value-style-over-substance/
[3] Defining RESISTANCE as something that gets one arrested — is different from that PRACTICED by me. So guess I won’t weigh-in. Except maybe to point out the way the O admin. IRS targeted conservative groups to stifle voices B4 the election for folks wanting nothing more than to peaceably assemble and otherwise use the tools of citizenship provided by our founding generation. Now THAT’S beyond embarrassing! And the “people’s watchdog” – media – were too busy following one titillating, juicy story after another to bark, let alone growl at blatant power-flexing TYRANNICAL behavior.
The USA is not now and never was a “Democracy” (two wolves and a sheep voting on whats for dinner). It is a Constitutional Republic in which the difficult to amend Constitution provides (or at least used to provide) the rules of the game. A “democracy” could reestablish slavery or expel all Muslims (or Gays) with a vote of 50%+1.
Mike — Right on spot re: democracy or republic! To often confused by those who SHOULD know better. Here is something that my 5th grade teacher in Encinitas CA in 1943 required us to memorize and recite to our parents at PTA meeting:
***I believe in the United States of America, as a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.***
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Creed
May I suggest that you direct your attention to the very liberal, bloated, overpaid, under supervised, and out of touch Buncombe County Government. If throwing fiduciary responsibility to citizens out the window qualifies as “tyranny”, then You have yourself a worthy target. After all, much of the “talking heads” will say all politics is local.
Question: How can you expect to encourage “resistance” in the local population when we have such a mess in our own “back yard?” As my grand daddy use to say, “that dog just want hunt!”
Stan – all of my activist – GADFLY – experience was in S an Diego county, but all that you say about your county resonates with what I have seen. I would guess that just about every city or county of any size in this nation has a similar line-up of corruption. And this done under the eyes of a citizenry who are asleep under the cozy, warm belief that those types of things only happen somewhere else — because the ‘civically minded’ members of local boards, commissions, and councils are honest. And anyone who points out their careless/clueless/venal acts is vilified. And ever was it thus — which is no excuse for people blessed to live in a nation designed to REPRESENT us, not being informed. The other side of the corruption/criminal coin is an facile/clueless body of CITIZENS, and both sides of that coin are worthy of contempt. “I VOTED” is only the smallest portion of what it means to exercise one’s rights/duties as citizens. And all of this ‘rant’ is only to underscore that Joe and Jane Average must become less-trusting and more alert to the understanding that we human beings too easily slide into corruption – right here, in our own local MAYBERRY. “Back in the day” before social media – I had a list of about 150 folks to whom I sent post cards [YIKES! that WAS a long time ago] to alert to something coming up on the school board or city council agenda. And by making phone calls, writing letters, and SHOWING UP at meetings, we were able to draw some significant lines in the sand. Unfortunately the special-interest folks understand/practice these tools of citizenship, and show up on the evening news protesting with picket signs or even breaking windows/ setting fires. I’m not sure what the writer of this letter means by RESISTANCE — but wholeheartedly agree that Joe and Jane have got to LEARN how to [and the reasons for] being more ACTIVE and less trusting/asleep-at-the-wheel. END OF RANT.
There is no “demise to our democracy” . You’re just upset because the majority of the population doesn’t “feel” the way you do. Like it or not, elections work…just not in your favor every time. People will get ticked off eventually and vote another way…and then it will happen again. It’s cyclical.
Our US election process is not “cyclical.” It’s a two party system and they all work for the same machine so you really are just selecting between a Douche and Turd as Matt & Trey so eloquently put it back in 2004. The two party system is what holds us back from real change and keeps corruption rampant in ALL local, city, state & federal government entities. Just for a reminder: http://southpark.cc.com/clips/znwi5k/turd-vs-douche
Voter turnout/protests/electoral college system oh my!
Resistance seems to have a different meaning for many who post here.
My favorite tried and true method of ‘resisting’ is still the boycott.
Most modern societal problems seem to stem from an excess of greed and lack of empathy.
Wacko anti gub’ment types who whine about taxes yet vote for candidates who favor
a bloated military budget/lower taxes on corporations tend to annoy me. So I
simply find out who funds their candidates, where their money comes from
and then hit them where it hurts- the wallet.
The only caveat? Many SJW types won’t give up convenience to take a stand.
Don’t like sexual harassment in the restaurant business?
Boycott the restaurant, regardless of how good their pesto is.
Don’t agree with the NRA? Cancel your membership like 1995 George H. Bush.
Don’t like your personal info being sold online to third parties?
Boycott social media. This one will be difficult for many and will separate
true resistance vs. hat knitter/sign makers.
James Brown had a cool song (The Funky Governor) with a great line
“Save yo’ money, do like the Mob (hoooooooo!)”.
Correction:
James Brown’s Funky President
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BhDyIY8Q80