In keeping with the holiday fast approaching, thank you for this menu of ways to take action and REFUSE to obey in advance.
We, and others before us, have fought and won against those who want to take us backwards and keep us down. I've long argued, winning progress and freedom for all, is not a sprint, nor is it a marathon; it's a relay—in which we all have our laps to run, and our wins come as much from carrying the baton, as they do the handoffs from those who came before us, and to those who will follow us.
Perspective is a key ingredient in this relay, and one POV I would love to encourage all of us who are taking action/choosing a role etc. to keep in mind is the following:
Successful Democratic messaging going forward must recognize that we aren't just competing against MAGA messaging (which is straight up disinformation, lies, projection and gaslighting), we also have to counter the destructive framing of the mainstream/traditional media, which both sane-washes and creates false equivalences.
A couple of examples from the countless media failures to inform and hold power accountable: the media 'calls' the results of our elections, before all votes are actually counted, this does great disservice to all of us as it mis-shapes the core narrative of an election before the true story of that election can even be understood, let alone told.
Also, the media constantly says we are a nation divided in half (on its face, an easily disprovable falsehood).
- There are 334M Americans; 244M are 'voting eligible'...when only 76M voted for MAGA at top of the ticket, that's not even a third of the entire voting eligible population and far under a quarter of all Americans!
- As the votes continue to come in, do most of us know that more Americans in 2024 voted for someone NOT Tr*mp, than for him?
- Or that Clinton 2016's popular vote margin is bigger than the convicted felon's?
- Or, that the last time a Presidential election was this close, it was 2000 (when Gore won more votes than Bush, but was denied a recount by the same corrupt Justices who have been steadily working to take away freedoms from anyone, but a white, wealthy, well-connected few billionaires)?
- Also, for all the hand-wringing around sexism (not disputing per se), why did we not stop to notice that 12 million more Americans have now voted for a woman, than in 2016 (73M vs 65M)?
Instead, we have internalized this idea that we are in the minority; WE are not.
We cling to the idea that we should 'resist' - acting from a position of weakness, rather than the idea that we should 'refuse' - standing in a position of strength.
We forget (having grown so accustomed to the cognitive dissonance) that we have an arcane and byzantine Electoral College construct that decides Presidential elections, an artifice from the slave-owning days of our nation's founding, that continues to reinforce race/class divisions by hollowing out our civil and political society and sense of both individual and collective agency.
We should message to convey that there are more of us than them, and that ALL of us share common values (justice, equality, liberty), paramount of which are our freedoms!
The country as whole shares the freedom to dream and grow up to live out those dreams, the freedom to simply be true to ourselves and be who we are, and the freedom to love whomever we love! We all want those common values, and there's no reason we can't ALSO lift up our specific individual stories of difference to illustrate just how universal those values are no matter our race, birthplace, home, or backgrounds.
Even on the divisive issue of abortion—shouldn't we all have the freedom to decide if, when, or how to start or grow our own families? Why should a handful of powerful people in government take that freedom from us?
Or, why should a handful of greedy corporations profit by polluting our land, water and air, and then buy judges and politicians, just so they don't have the pay the taxes they owe, or be held accountable for their crimes? All this, while those same big-hidden money interests deny working families the freedom to earn a living wage—so we don't have to choose between food, housing, child care, education, healthcare and senior care? We (writ large) are left fighting for scraps while wealth inequality accelerates and is at a level unseen since the era of the Robber Barons or just before the Great Depression.
We can speak BOTH to our diverse, distinct core democratic constituencies AND to the majority of Americans across every constituency, but we have to change HOW we do it.
Borrowing, as you so effectively share already on your blog, from the incredible thinkers/communicators/organizers: Anat Shenker-Osorio, George Lakoff, Marshall Ganz.
1. Start w/ shared values, i.e., what we're FOR, not against (that just echoes/amplifies opposition—learn about the how negation works in neural networks and the 'illusory effect')
2. Call out opposition's actual bad acts AND their motivation (arguments about process/hypocrisy don't matter, people need to have the dots connected—MAGA does this over and over; it's just that they just lie and target the vulnerable rather than the actual villains)
3. End w/ vision of the future we all want and that through our agency, through our community, through our organizing, we can realize (again—because we've done it before)!
If the Democratic party and its allies could adopt such a framework, we would be able to effectively speak to all Americans...but doing so requires all of us to be disciplined, to follow the example set, and to be repetitive, and in this—unlike the fascists MAGAs/Repubs—we face our single greatest challenge.
Because by nature/definition, the 'left' so cherishes our individuality and freedoms, that we put the freedom not follow what's told to us or not to stay inside the lines—especially, when someone else is drawing those lines—above the all-important goal of actually winning over the hearts and minds of our sisters and brothers.
Because even though we already have effective messaging frameworks, we (currently) don't have the mindset to deploy it at scale as needed. The singular mindset that has allowed MAGA to successfully bring a 2X-popular vote losing, 2X-impeached, 34X criminally-indicted, jury-convicted rapist and traitor, who began his first run for office by selling his country out to the highest bidder, and then ended it by leading a violent and deadly attack, built on nothing but lies, to overturn our free and fair elections.
But we can succeed in fighting for our values—because we have before, and because we must now.
Antonia, I wish you and yours a wonderful time of gathering and for much in your own life for which to be thankful, because your inspired writings are one of the resources for which I am personally truly grateful.
A great way to envision our lives going forward. Although I know we need each other and we indeed have each other, I must say it still feels like a lot. We need rest and holidays not just now, but over the long run. But this is what speaks to me:
- Watch and warn. I am particularly concerned that the cumulative effects of voter suppression (and the resulting self-enfranchisement that comes with discouragement) have changed the electorate and that we must be aware of that.
- Resist. I see a lot of phone calls in the future, and also emails, and finding ways to encourage others to make their voices heard. There will be a million battles to pick from. I'll focus on voting rights and pushing our elected officials to follow democratic principles.
- Push forward. Can we end the death penalty and get rid of solitary confinement, please? May not be the largest issue out there, but it's one that speaks to me. Hurting people in the name of 'criminal justice' erodes our humanity.
- Drive change. Help Democrats win, and not just through the Democratic Party. Lots of grassroots groups that are already structured to reach out to community members, AKA as voters. But yes, we do need to support the Democratic Party at all levels to actually talk to people. My focus here is increasing the electorate - talking to more people, and promoting the idea that a better democracy is something we have the power to do if we stick together.
- Envision - I am not a messaging expert, but I have a role in helping people already on our side to take action - talking/writing about what it's like to be an activist and all the ways we can turn fear into action.
We need to connect to each other (90 million + Democrats), speak simply, and mean it.
No party has helped the worker in 50 years
Clinton- gutted welfare and NAFTA damaged labor movements badly
Obama-I love him but banks are too big to fail, let's give them a lot of free money?
Etc.
And the military industrial complex...
We need to follow AOC, Bernie, Jeff Merkeley, Robert Reich, John Russell and other working class groups, unions, and speak simply. Ask always, is this benefitting the average person?
Jobs and decency. Done.
When people have enough and aren't afraid of the future or working 16 hours a day, they make good choices.
Carrie, you are absolutely right! I am writing a newsletter on this but you beat me to it! We have to stop talking about the economy from the perspectives of neoliberal economists and start understanding that economics is something experienced emotionally by people.
I have only the deepest respect for the emotional. All altruism, care and solidarity is emotional. I mean emotional as in "I'm deeply stressed out because I need to put a roof over my kids' heads" or "I can't sleep at night because I'm worried about being able to put my mother in a memory care home." Or as in, "I was told that if I worked really hard and went to college and got a good job I'd be able to support myself and my family but that turned out to be bullshit." As opposed to "rational" as in " I'm going to vote for Republicans because they're going to lower my capital gains tax and I'll be able to buy that yacht I've had my eye on"
Basic, first level Maslow hierarchy stuff. Perhaps I should have used the term psychological?
Antonia, thank you. Yes, take action. Yes, relay on each other.
Like your readers, I read daily about recommendations, criticisms, and finger-pointing across the political spectrum. Yet I wonder—are others thinking critically about how we, as readers and writers, might explore discussions on less publicly accessible platforms? Figures like Pete Buttigieg have suggested this approach to encourage more candid dialogue, away from the polarized glare of social media. Even my conservative friends admit they enjoy examining left-of-center strategies, but how do we balance the need for discretion with the value of open exchange?
On a personal note, I’ve noticed a gap between the anti-Trumpers being quite generous with public viewing of their grievances and criticisms. After 2020, I for did not see public discussion by R's of substantive conversations shaping major projects like Project 2025 or recent campaign strategies.
Despite this, we’ve all witnessed the marginally successful, though undeniably pervasive, right-wing messaging campaigns—effective enough to earn 2.5 million or so more votes than Vice President Harris.
Should we focus on building public platforms that solicit broader input from diverse voices, or rethink the ways progressive ideas are formed and shared?
Thank you , Antonia. I do believe that those of us truly concerned about resisting Trumpism have to push Democratic Office Holders to adopt a posture of 100% resistance. I cannot abide the Biden Administration and Democratic members of Congress treating Trump as if he were a "normal" elected President. He's an insurrectionist, a rapist, a criminal and a fascist --- and he's proving it with every appointment he makes. 100% resistance by anyone in a position to do so is the only moral (and politically viable) approach to take.
Yes, that map was part of the thinking that went into this post. I was trying to adapt it to the current post-election situation. It's very insightful!
Appreciate you breaking this out. As to your question about how to overcome the flawed dichotomy between socialism and markets, I recommend the work of Spanish socialist Carlos Garcia Hernandez, in particular, <Fiat Socialism>.
Some neuro nerdy stuff for y'all who read this far down into the comments...
With regard to rational versus emotional decision-making: I am a practitioner of cognitive metaphor theory, as described by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson in their ground breaking book "Metaphors We Live By." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphors_We_Live_By
As such, I am aware that there is no such thing as "rational" thinking. What we perceive to be rational is only the application of our experience interacting with the physical world, repurposed onto abstract situations. What people think of as rational depends on which real world situation they metaphorically apply.
Also all decisions are emotional. There was a person who had a brain injury that separated their emotional side from their so-called rational side and they were unable to make any decisions because none of the choices mattered to them. Technically speaking, the choice to eat so that you don't die of starvation depends on the capacity to care whether you live or die.
There is only physical reality, the metaphors we use to comprehend it housed in a vast neural structure, and how we feel about everything!
Excellent post.
We can't wring our hands for the next four years, holding our breath and waiting for someone to save us.
It's up to us.
My role is to Envision, Educate and Build.
If we communicate, network, and work together we can make a big difference.
Restack.
This is a call to action.
J.
In keeping with the holiday fast approaching, thank you for this menu of ways to take action and REFUSE to obey in advance.
We, and others before us, have fought and won against those who want to take us backwards and keep us down. I've long argued, winning progress and freedom for all, is not a sprint, nor is it a marathon; it's a relay—in which we all have our laps to run, and our wins come as much from carrying the baton, as they do the handoffs from those who came before us, and to those who will follow us.
Perspective is a key ingredient in this relay, and one POV I would love to encourage all of us who are taking action/choosing a role etc. to keep in mind is the following:
Successful Democratic messaging going forward must recognize that we aren't just competing against MAGA messaging (which is straight up disinformation, lies, projection and gaslighting), we also have to counter the destructive framing of the mainstream/traditional media, which both sane-washes and creates false equivalences.
A couple of examples from the countless media failures to inform and hold power accountable: the media 'calls' the results of our elections, before all votes are actually counted, this does great disservice to all of us as it mis-shapes the core narrative of an election before the true story of that election can even be understood, let alone told.
Also, the media constantly says we are a nation divided in half (on its face, an easily disprovable falsehood).
- There are 334M Americans; 244M are 'voting eligible'...when only 76M voted for MAGA at top of the ticket, that's not even a third of the entire voting eligible population and far under a quarter of all Americans!
- As the votes continue to come in, do most of us know that more Americans in 2024 voted for someone NOT Tr*mp, than for him?
- Or that Clinton 2016's popular vote margin is bigger than the convicted felon's?
- Or, that the last time a Presidential election was this close, it was 2000 (when Gore won more votes than Bush, but was denied a recount by the same corrupt Justices who have been steadily working to take away freedoms from anyone, but a white, wealthy, well-connected few billionaires)?
- Also, for all the hand-wringing around sexism (not disputing per se), why did we not stop to notice that 12 million more Americans have now voted for a woman, than in 2016 (73M vs 65M)?
Instead, we have internalized this idea that we are in the minority; WE are not.
We cling to the idea that we should 'resist' - acting from a position of weakness, rather than the idea that we should 'refuse' - standing in a position of strength.
We forget (having grown so accustomed to the cognitive dissonance) that we have an arcane and byzantine Electoral College construct that decides Presidential elections, an artifice from the slave-owning days of our nation's founding, that continues to reinforce race/class divisions by hollowing out our civil and political society and sense of both individual and collective agency.
We should message to convey that there are more of us than them, and that ALL of us share common values (justice, equality, liberty), paramount of which are our freedoms!
The country as whole shares the freedom to dream and grow up to live out those dreams, the freedom to simply be true to ourselves and be who we are, and the freedom to love whomever we love! We all want those common values, and there's no reason we can't ALSO lift up our specific individual stories of difference to illustrate just how universal those values are no matter our race, birthplace, home, or backgrounds.
Even on the divisive issue of abortion—shouldn't we all have the freedom to decide if, when, or how to start or grow our own families? Why should a handful of powerful people in government take that freedom from us?
Or, why should a handful of greedy corporations profit by polluting our land, water and air, and then buy judges and politicians, just so they don't have the pay the taxes they owe, or be held accountable for their crimes? All this, while those same big-hidden money interests deny working families the freedom to earn a living wage—so we don't have to choose between food, housing, child care, education, healthcare and senior care? We (writ large) are left fighting for scraps while wealth inequality accelerates and is at a level unseen since the era of the Robber Barons or just before the Great Depression.
We can speak BOTH to our diverse, distinct core democratic constituencies AND to the majority of Americans across every constituency, but we have to change HOW we do it.
Borrowing, as you so effectively share already on your blog, from the incredible thinkers/communicators/organizers: Anat Shenker-Osorio, George Lakoff, Marshall Ganz.
1. Start w/ shared values, i.e., what we're FOR, not against (that just echoes/amplifies opposition—learn about the how negation works in neural networks and the 'illusory effect')
2. Call out opposition's actual bad acts AND their motivation (arguments about process/hypocrisy don't matter, people need to have the dots connected—MAGA does this over and over; it's just that they just lie and target the vulnerable rather than the actual villains)
3. End w/ vision of the future we all want and that through our agency, through our community, through our organizing, we can realize (again—because we've done it before)!
If the Democratic party and its allies could adopt such a framework, we would be able to effectively speak to all Americans...but doing so requires all of us to be disciplined, to follow the example set, and to be repetitive, and in this—unlike the fascists MAGAs/Repubs—we face our single greatest challenge.
Because by nature/definition, the 'left' so cherishes our individuality and freedoms, that we put the freedom not follow what's told to us or not to stay inside the lines—especially, when someone else is drawing those lines—above the all-important goal of actually winning over the hearts and minds of our sisters and brothers.
Because even though we already have effective messaging frameworks, we (currently) don't have the mindset to deploy it at scale as needed. The singular mindset that has allowed MAGA to successfully bring a 2X-popular vote losing, 2X-impeached, 34X criminally-indicted, jury-convicted rapist and traitor, who began his first run for office by selling his country out to the highest bidder, and then ended it by leading a violent and deadly attack, built on nothing but lies, to overturn our free and fair elections.
But we can succeed in fighting for our values—because we have before, and because we must now.
Antonia, I wish you and yours a wonderful time of gathering and for much in your own life for which to be thankful, because your inspired writings are one of the resources for which I am personally truly grateful.
Thank YOU, Natalie! 💙 Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
What a beautiful and thoughtful reply Natalie💙
Thanks Lisa!
A great way to envision our lives going forward. Although I know we need each other and we indeed have each other, I must say it still feels like a lot. We need rest and holidays not just now, but over the long run. But this is what speaks to me:
- Watch and warn. I am particularly concerned that the cumulative effects of voter suppression (and the resulting self-enfranchisement that comes with discouragement) have changed the electorate and that we must be aware of that.
- Resist. I see a lot of phone calls in the future, and also emails, and finding ways to encourage others to make their voices heard. There will be a million battles to pick from. I'll focus on voting rights and pushing our elected officials to follow democratic principles.
- Push forward. Can we end the death penalty and get rid of solitary confinement, please? May not be the largest issue out there, but it's one that speaks to me. Hurting people in the name of 'criminal justice' erodes our humanity.
- Drive change. Help Democrats win, and not just through the Democratic Party. Lots of grassroots groups that are already structured to reach out to community members, AKA as voters. But yes, we do need to support the Democratic Party at all levels to actually talk to people. My focus here is increasing the electorate - talking to more people, and promoting the idea that a better democracy is something we have the power to do if we stick together.
- Envision - I am not a messaging expert, but I have a role in helping people already on our side to take action - talking/writing about what it's like to be an activist and all the ways we can turn fear into action.
90 million did not vote
We need to connect to each other (90 million + Democrats), speak simply, and mean it.
No party has helped the worker in 50 years
Clinton- gutted welfare and NAFTA damaged labor movements badly
Obama-I love him but banks are too big to fail, let's give them a lot of free money?
Etc.
And the military industrial complex...
We need to follow AOC, Bernie, Jeff Merkeley, Robert Reich, John Russell and other working class groups, unions, and speak simply. Ask always, is this benefitting the average person?
Jobs and decency. Done.
When people have enough and aren't afraid of the future or working 16 hours a day, they make good choices.
Carrie, you are absolutely right! I am writing a newsletter on this but you beat me to it! We have to stop talking about the economy from the perspectives of neoliberal economists and start understanding that economics is something experienced emotionally by people.
I'm not sure what you mean by emotional. That feels dismissive. Housing, food, and healthcare are basic needs.
I have only the deepest respect for the emotional. All altruism, care and solidarity is emotional. I mean emotional as in "I'm deeply stressed out because I need to put a roof over my kids' heads" or "I can't sleep at night because I'm worried about being able to put my mother in a memory care home." Or as in, "I was told that if I worked really hard and went to college and got a good job I'd be able to support myself and my family but that turned out to be bullshit." As opposed to "rational" as in " I'm going to vote for Republicans because they're going to lower my capital gains tax and I'll be able to buy that yacht I've had my eye on"
Basic, first level Maslow hierarchy stuff. Perhaps I should have used the term psychological?
Antonia, thank you. Yes, take action. Yes, relay on each other.
Like your readers, I read daily about recommendations, criticisms, and finger-pointing across the political spectrum. Yet I wonder—are others thinking critically about how we, as readers and writers, might explore discussions on less publicly accessible platforms? Figures like Pete Buttigieg have suggested this approach to encourage more candid dialogue, away from the polarized glare of social media. Even my conservative friends admit they enjoy examining left-of-center strategies, but how do we balance the need for discretion with the value of open exchange?
On a personal note, I’ve noticed a gap between the anti-Trumpers being quite generous with public viewing of their grievances and criticisms. After 2020, I for did not see public discussion by R's of substantive conversations shaping major projects like Project 2025 or recent campaign strategies.
Despite this, we’ve all witnessed the marginally successful, though undeniably pervasive, right-wing messaging campaigns—effective enough to earn 2.5 million or so more votes than Vice President Harris.
Should we focus on building public platforms that solicit broader input from diverse voices, or rethink the ways progressive ideas are formed and shared?
Both and, imo.
Thank you , Antonia. I do believe that those of us truly concerned about resisting Trumpism have to push Democratic Office Holders to adopt a posture of 100% resistance. I cannot abide the Biden Administration and Democratic members of Congress treating Trump as if he were a "normal" elected President. He's an insurrectionist, a rapist, a criminal and a fascist --- and he's proving it with every appointment he makes. 100% resistance by anyone in a position to do so is the only moral (and politically viable) approach to take.
Excellent and informative post. Thank you! I'm in. Going to share to everyone now. And I'll be looking out for how I can help.
I posted your article to a Slack channel that I am on and a commenter shared a link about the roles involved in social change. Seems apt. https://buildingmovement.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Ecosystem-Guide-April-2022.pdf
Yes, that map was part of the thinking that went into this post. I was trying to adapt it to the current post-election situation. It's very insightful!
Appreciate you breaking this out. As to your question about how to overcome the flawed dichotomy between socialism and markets, I recommend the work of Spanish socialist Carlos Garcia Hernandez, in particular, <Fiat Socialism>.
Thanks, I will check it out!
Some neuro nerdy stuff for y'all who read this far down into the comments...
With regard to rational versus emotional decision-making: I am a practitioner of cognitive metaphor theory, as described by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson in their ground breaking book "Metaphors We Live By." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphors_We_Live_By
As such, I am aware that there is no such thing as "rational" thinking. What we perceive to be rational is only the application of our experience interacting with the physical world, repurposed onto abstract situations. What people think of as rational depends on which real world situation they metaphorically apply.
Also all decisions are emotional. There was a person who had a brain injury that separated their emotional side from their so-called rational side and they were unable to make any decisions because none of the choices mattered to them. Technically speaking, the choice to eat so that you don't die of starvation depends on the capacity to care whether you live or die.
There is only physical reality, the metaphors we use to comprehend it housed in a vast neural structure, and how we feel about everything!