u/catsclaw

Americans always like to think of themselves as rebels who stand up for themselves and who'll fight when the chips are down, but when I look at the United States these days I only see tiny pockets of genuine resistance such as in Minneapolis, or the way black representatives in South are standing up after the gutting of the VRA. The vast majority of the country seems to prefer to lie down and take it (such as the VA democrats who meekly accepted their court defeat) or just meekly wait for the next election to vote someone in and hope they'll solve the problem.

It really feels to me like the United States just flat out doesn't have the stomach to fight for its democracy. Between the unprecedented levels of corruption, the attacks on clean energy, the unjustified and illegal wars, and the gross economic mismanagement, I'd have expected a lot more popular anger and political activity. Instead, most people just seem to be keeping their heads down and hoping to ride it out.

Why is that?

As someone with virtually no experience in woodworking, nine months ago I signed up for Rowden Atelier's 12-month woodworking/design class. I start in a little over three weeks. If you're interested in my reasons, I started a Substack but apparently that falls into "self-promotion" so I won't name or link it.

I've been working through the assigned readings and preparing to begin, but I wanted to ask what people here think I should be doing to get ready or how I should be preparing to get the most out of the class. What do you think I should be studying now to be ready? What do you think I should focus on as the course begins?