Update 13 Nov 2016: Please read the entire post.
Seriously just stop… [update: just to make it clear ORGANIZE — read the body]
I agree that Trump may be bad.
I remember Bush the Lesser being selected.
I get it. You want to protest. Protesting feels good.
I remember the build up to the Iraq War. I protested. Many other people protested. The Iraq War happened.
Let me say it again: The Iraq War happened. Protests did not stop the war.
We lost in 2004 because we thought that protesting and the war would unseat Bush the Lesser. It didn’t.
In 2006, we flipped the House and Senate. In 2008 we won the White House.
… Only to start losing first the House, then the Senate and now the White House….
Protesting didn’t get the wins. Protesting won’t stop the loses. In 2004, 2005 and 2006 — we ORGANIZED.
Save your energy.
ORGANIZE.
Here is OUR action plan:
Communicate at the one on one level with a right-wing conservative.
Talk about productive things. (Hint: not the last election)
Talk to Trump supporters. Understand them as humans. Don’t call them racists. Listen to their economic fears. Listen to their needs.
On the left we humans have more in common with the humans on the right.
They don’t trust mainstream media — neither do we.
They don’t trust corporations — neither do we.
Set aside the labels.
As parents, share our concerns that “Ms. Owens who is an excellent teacher is leaving because she can’t afford to live here.” and who will replace her?
As dads, talk with other dads about how we love our daughters as much as our sons. Share our concerns that our daughters will not be as successful because of the wage gap.
Get outside the comfort zone.
Organize and build organizations at the grassroots level in PERSON (not on the internet).
The corporations are coming. They are reaching in to influence city council elections. They are reaching into take control at every level. Protesting will not stop this.
Organize. Quietly. Out of sight of the corporations.
Meet in person. See their face. Develop a relationship.
Build our own personal circle of influence.
Meet with that next door neighbor. Strike up conversations with people around us.
LISTEN more than talk. Understand how people think. Understand their concerns. LISTEN. Don’t talk.
When we LISTEN, we are getting information. When we LISTEN, we are gaining understanding.
If we didn’t learn anything from the conversation — we talked too much.
Its hard. I have this problem. Practice listening.
With listening comes influence, a good listener has invested time in the other person.
Build locally
We need governors and people in the state assembly and houses. We need people in the County government. We need people in the city council. This is more than a single race every 4 years.
I say it again: The corporations are coming. They are reaching in to influence city council elections.
Start with the campaign disclosure rules. Get friendly people in city council. Build relationships with everyone around you. We can’t win nationally when we are not winning locally. Look at all the “blue states” with Republican governors! They are focusing locally.
Focus on the DOers (and be a DOer)
Organizing requires doing. If we are spending time talking, we are not doing. If people we are with are talking, but not doing then they are wasting our time.
Protesting is loud talking.
The Civil Rights Movement did protesting. But first they did ORGANIZING and DOING. The Civil Rights Movement was organized so that when the Rosa Parks case happened they could pounce. The Selma Bridge was part of a larger march that was organized with news media and a support system.
Stop protesting
Stop protesting Trump and the Republicans. They know that they are safe when the protests are happening.
When the left grows silent, they are in trouble. The time for protests will happen during the spring break. The time for protests will happen in the coming months. But now we need to organize and focus locally.
New Leadership
We need to understand why voters turned out for Trump.
We need to discard our failed Democratic leadership.
Lets find new and better leadership.
Be the new leader.
Update #1 — 13 Nov 2016:
Protesting takes energy to make shit happen.
There will be lots of voices that want to yell and chant — we need to have voices that point out that the wins come from the hard work that is not glamorous and does not feel good.
Organizing and listening is WORK.
Protesting is showing up at a street corner.
I would rather people focus on the hard work of organizing ten thousand voters to flip a State Assembly Seat, 20000 to flip a House seat, 30000 to flip a Senate seat, rather than having a million people show up in a single city.
We have less than two years to work.
