How are we supporting Amy Acton?
I've seen people complaining here and I get it. I get how disheartening the state of the world is. Every election upset or news story confirms how broken things are, especially if you truly love and care about this state or just other people. It's easy to look at the system and see how we've gotten here and wonder why bother. Sure, there are plenty of bad people out here and it feels overwhelming. But there are still people who care. Who are making a difference. And if there weren't, the powerful 1% wouldn't be working so hard to silence and oppress the masses like they are in this exact, pivotal moment.
I've had conversations with strangers about politics who genuinely stopped to think critically about the things they were saying. When they jumped to defend a point of view, I saw gears turning as they realized they were just spitting out things they'd heard from family or been fed from the media. It reminded me that maybe things are not as fixed as they seem.
We're at crossroads in history with how polarized things are (and yes late-stage capitalism, and racism, and sexism, and homophobia, and broken education/healthcare/all the systems) and yet in some ways not much has changed. People are just more open now about how they really feel than in recent years past. But it's also a moment ripe for incredible transformation.
Misinformation spreads easier, but so does content that's exposing the truth that's always been there underneath. There's been many setbacks in politics, but the only reason anyone has had any rights at all is because everyone didn't just stay at home when things got better for a little bit or give up when it got hard. They started fighting and they kept fighting for causes they believed in.
Amy Acton has ~70k followers where Vivek has a 2M+ reach and probably lots of bots. How could we change that? Because we could. Are you good at social media? Numbers? Fundraising? Can you get involved in helping a campaign with your skills? Creating or sharing content and speaking up online where a lot of the action is? Connecting with people in your community and volunteering? Because I've seen firsthand how just connecting and talking to people can have a small but widespread effect. The small moments matter and you see this happening on both sides of the aisle.
Power-hungry, corrupt people are always going to do power-hungry, corrupt things. But the bad guys aren't even really that smart if you really look at it, just strategic. How can we find new ways to advance the causes we care about? If you've enjoyed any comfort from having rights or lived in such a way where the state of the world outrages you today – good. If you're tired from fighting or just surviving, I get that too. But let's use our rage, anger and sadness to find ways to support ourselves, each other, and to not give in. I've seen so many cool people here in this sub and I want better for the places we love and the world we call home. So let's hear it, how are we making a change come November?