If you believe the election of Donald Trump represents a grave threat to the American way of life, and given where we are that’s probably most of us, then resistance is our calling and our duty.
In the weeks since the election, the American Left, however you define it, has mourned. As with all mourning, it has taken different shapes depending on who is mourning and what they feel they’ve lost. The Left has moved (or is moving, I should say) through various stages of grief — which I should note do not come in order, nor do they progress linearly. Many of us were stuck in the numbness of denial for days after the election — it can’t be! Some of us lashed out at Nate Silver and the other polling agencies — how could you have been so wrong? Some of us bargained with ourselves — maybe faithless electors will save the day, maybe we can work with Evan McMullen! Many of us have witnessed, or participated in, or initiated even, re-litigation of some facet of the election cycle in hopes of finding the key to preventing future loss. Or, in some cases, to justify righteous anger and feed power to the “I-told-you-sos” which let us distance ourselves emotionally from the loss and the pain that accompanies it.
And make no mistake, it was a loss, and there is hurt, and there is fear.
And so we come back to the central thesis: Freedom is in peril. Democracy is in peril. The American way of life is in peril. Our duty now is to resist that peril with all our might. And what I find frustrating and heartbreaking in every conversation in every forum and coffee shop and Left/Liberal/Progressive/Democratic discussion are the voices who are saying nothing except “your idea for how to resist is dumb and it won’t work and you’re going to fail and I will have told you so.” And that kind of response is pretty much guaranteed to end the conversation.
There are three possibilities I see for what drives that sort of response to someone who chooses to shut down a person who has made a public declaration of a decision and initiative. The first is simply that the person who shuts down the conversation is a troll. Let us be honest for a moment, there are a percentage of folks who are just assholes, and who only find joy when they have pulled everyone down to the same low mire where the troll lives. And sure, maybe some of them are agents sent into the conversation to sow discord, and we shouldn’t discount that possibility, but Occam’s razor also tells us that they very well might just be sad jerks unworthy of our limited energy.
The second group saying these things wants to be right. They want to be right so badly that they will shut down any idea that is not their own. These folks want the credit. The problem is that while no snowflake in an avalanche feels guilt, one snowflake in a blizzard doesn’t get credit either.
The third group is sincere that they think it’s a bad idea, but that’s all they know. Many of this group are paralyzed by fear and unable to admit it. Whether because of machismo or a desire to look like one of the “cool kids,” they can’t admit that fear and shame tinges their preference that no one try. They hope that “well, this will all work out” or that someone else will come along and rescue us all.
Y’all, Superman isn’t in orbit. Batman isn’t going to solve the caper of the stolen election. Wonder Woman was just kicked out of the UN for being a woman.
And so, again, back to the thesis. There is peril. In the face of that peril, I tell you there are many ways to resist and the only ones which are wrong are those that dehumanize those around you, that initiate violence, and that give way to the paralysis of despair! Do you believe that the courts are the answer? You are correct – go and lean on the law! Do you believe that civil disobedience is the answer? You are correct – practice in full view! Do you believe that art is the answer? You are correct – throw art against the peril! Do you believe that feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and healing the sick is the answer? You are most certainly correct – do this for the least of these wherever you find them! But do not do any of these things alone! Find those of a like mind and resist together!
And if you find one of those naysayers amongst yourselves, redirect the one who wants to win to a battle that can be won. Raise up the fearful and brace them on their feet. Hold the hand of the ashamed and help them walk in bravery. And if you find that you are beset with trolls, leave them behind and alone beneath their bridge.
There is work to be done, and if you will not lend your hand to the work then step aside! Move over! Pick up and get out of the way! There is someone who will do the work, who is prepared to fight with all her strength, to resist with all he has, to work and struggle and step forward and say “we have come a long way and I will defend this with all my might!” And if you find that you are in the company of these people, lend them strength that someday we can look back and say “we, together, were successful. We resisted. We were not defeated.”
Because if you believe that freedom is in peril, that democracy is in peril, that our way of life is in peril and all you can do is mock those who are willing to work to save us, then you are not worthy of our company, you are not worthy of our attention, you are not worthy of our energy, and you are not worthy of our country.