Imagine the shape democracy would be in in ANY country if even 1% of the
electorate actively participated in a program such as the one listed below.
If you think I’m overly pessimistic (i.e., imagine that such participation is
imaginary), post any data adding up to such participation in town meetings with
representatives, membership numbers for any of the councils or support groups
listed below, donations to the agencies mentioned, etc. In the U.S. 1% of the
electorate — i.e., the voting-age population — was 2,457,129 in 2014.
I’ve been trying, without luck, to find out just how many letters members of
congress in the US receive in a year. Can anyone help? (I did find a lot of
directions to an "Impeach Obama – Sample Letter to Congress” site though — and
many other sites urging one to put pen to paper, and assisting with sample
letters, etc. I would be interested in learning how many people actually take
such action.)
In Canada letters (but not parcels!) to members of parliament, senators, the
governor general, and a few others can be sent without postage. Is this the
case in the U.S.?
A 12-STEP PROGRAM FOR RESPONDING TO PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP
Nicholas Kristof
(found on the N Y TIMES website, Nov. 17, 2016)
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/17/opinion/a-12-step-program-for-responding-to-president-elect-trump.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region®ion=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region
Traumatized by the election results, many Americans are asking: What now? Here
are steps that any of us can take that can make a difference at the margins.
Onward!
1. I WILL accept that my side lost, but I won’t acquiesce in injustice and I
will gird for battle on issues I care about. I will call or write my member of
Congress and express my opposition to mass deportation, to cutting 22 million
people off health insurance, to nominations of people who are unqualified or
bigoted, to reduced access to contraception and cancer screenings. Better yet,
I’ll attend my representative’s town meeting and put him or her on the spot.
2. I WILL try to do small things in my own life, recognizing that they are
inadequate but at least a start: I will sign up on the Council on
American-Islamic Relations website, volunteering to fight Islamophobia. I’ll
call a local mosque to offer support, or join an interfaith event. I will sign
up for an “accompany my neighbor” list if one exists for my area, to be an
escort for anyone who is now in fear.
3. I WILL avoid demonizing people who don’t agree with me about this election,
recognizing that it’s as wrong to stereotype Trump supporters as anybody else.
I will avoid Hitler metaphors, recognizing that they stop conversations and
rarely persuade. I’ll remind myself that no side has a monopoly on truth and
that many Trump supporters are good people who want the best for the country.
The left already has gotten into trouble for condescending to working-class
people, and insulting all Trump supporters as racists simply magnifies that
problem.
4. I’LL DO my part to support the society I’d like to see. I’ll eat Chobani
yogurt because its owner has been subjected to racist attacks for his
willingness to hire and promote refugees. Likewise, I will give blood and
register for organ donation — for at least they’ll make me feel better. As will
a tub of Chobani.
5. I WILL support groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center that fight hate
groups, and back the center’s petition calling on Donald Trump to disavow
bigotry. Depending on my interests, I’ll support an immigration rights group,
the A.C.L.U. or Planned Parenthood. And I’ll subscribe to a newspaper as one
way of resisting efforts to squelch the news media or preside over a post-fact
landscape — and also to encourage journalists to be watchdogs, not lap dogs.
6. I WILL support refugees, one of the most demonized groups in the world. The
International Rescue
Committee’s work for refugees can for the first time be supported through
donations to The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund. In many cities in America
and abroad, volunteer can help refugees through this I.R.C. portal. More
refugee resettlement agencies are here.
7. I WON’T let it slide if a friend makes degrading comments about a minority
or women. Even if it’s over Thanksgiving dinner, I’ll push back and say
something like: “Come on! You really think that?!” Similarly, I may not be able
to prevent a sexual predator from reaching the White House, but at events I
attend, I may be able to prevent a sexual predator from assaulting a drunken
partygoer.
8. I WILL resist dwelling in an echo chamber. I will follow smart people on
Twitter or Facebook with whom I disagree. I will also try to enlarge my social
circle to include people with different views, recognizing that diversity is a
wonderful thing — and that if I know only Clinton supporters, then I don’t have
a clue about America.
9. I WILL do what I can in my own life to make sure that the needy aren’t
forgotten in the next four years amid paroxysms of tax cuts for the wealthy. I
can support Reach Out and Read, an outstanding program that helps at-risk kids
learn to read: A $20 donation covers one child for a year, or one can serve as
a reader. Or I can be a Big Brother or Big Sister or help through iMentor.
10. I WILL understand that progress may unfold at the state or local level, and
I will engage there. It’s encouraging that voters in four states passed minimum
wage measures, and in three states approved gun safety measures, while other
states and localities are wrestling with climate change. And, of course, a
starting point is to get my friends to vote.
11. I WILL take on sexism and misogyny, which in forms like domestic violence,
sexual assault and sex trafficking affect women and girls across the country.
Even today, Republicans and Democrats should be able to work together to get
funding for women’s shelters or to prosecute pimps.
12. I WILL not lose hope. I will keep reminding myself that politics zigs and
zags, and that I can do more than shout in the wind. I can fight for my values
even between elections, and even at the micro level I can mitigate the damage
to my neighbors and attempt to heal a social fabric that has been rent.
Chris Bruce,
ever the blue-eyed optimist, in
Kiel, Germany
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