Can't You See That Complicity is Acceptance?
Our country is a shithole and we have to start complaining more about that.
I’ve been wishy washy and waffling and have finally decided that this identity crisis I’ve been having has to come to an end; the imposter syndrome has to go.
Oddly, I feel like it doesn’t matter who is saying what I want to say - it just matters that someone cares enough to take the time to say it, share it, and ask, do you stand with me?
It comes down to this:
I want writing to be my livelihood, but I am not even remotely close to that happening.
To be able to pay the bills, I have to work a full time, Monday through Friday day job at a place with a reputation that must remain above reproach.
Meaghan gives me the ability to write about my job, since it’s such a huge part of my life.
Plausible deniability is the only way to go.
I work in human services, and the impact I am seeing because of the Trump administration’s asinine and unrelenting changes and executive orders are starting to ruin people’s lives - and I’m on the front lines watching it happen.
A Veteran’s program got cut at another non-profit, and two lovely women I work with every month unexpectedly and immediately lost their jobs.
A Veteran’s program was the first thing I saw get axed.
But why should we be surprised?
Think about what Trump had to say about a former Senator, presidential candidate, Veteran, and POW:
Trump told a conservative forum in Iowa in 2015 that his view of McCain changed when McCain lost the 2008 presidential election to Obama. “He lost, so I never liked him as much after that, ‘cause I don’t like losers,” he said. Trump went on to dismiss McCain’s war service: “He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”
Trump in 2015 also tweeted a news article on Twitter calling McCain a “loser.”
- From AP Fact Check
I could spend days providing evidence on why Donald Trump is a walking, talking, sack of stinking shit, but that negativity is not the message I want to send.
I observe a lot, and I think it’s very important for other people to also closely observe what’s going on around them.
If you’re one of those people who doesn’t want to watch or read the news because you don’t want to be bothered, want to stay out of it, want to just avert your eyes and consciences and pretend we’re not marching straight toward a Hitler style regime by way of a slow coup d'état?
You’re the ones who need to hear this most.
Pay attention.
Realize that calling someone a part of “woke” Antifa isn’t put down; I’d consider it a compliment.
Haven’t you ever been told by someone frustrated with you that you need to ‘Wake up!’?
They mean “Open your eyes, see the reality right in front of you.”
MAGA followers are trying to insult people by calling them woke.
A person who’s not paying much attention or just doesn’t know enough to care might roll their eyes at the name calling and brush it off as people being ridiculous.
What they’re really doing is trying to distort reality.
Don’t wake up.
Keep your eyes closed and your mouths shut.
Move along, nothing to see here.
Meanwhile, they’re dismantling our democracy.
I can’t not complain about this anymore.
Complicity is acceptance.
This morning I read an excellent article by Carlyn Beccia on her Substack, and I think she sums up my thoughts on the matter perfectly in this post:
Carlyn writes:
When you decide that one man’s power matters more than our Constitution and the law itself, you have already planted the seeds of your own destruction. Democracies do not crumble all at once. They die in inches, in bored sighs, in shrugged shoulders, in the endless, terrible quiet of people who think it’s someone else’s problem.
Courage then becomes rarer and rarer, partly because cowardice is communal. You do not have to believe in tyranny to strengthen it. You only have to decide — quietly, politely, regretfully — that speaking out is too much trouble.
You only have to tell yourself that keeping your head down is neutral. That you are simply minding your own business, while the business of Democracy bleeds out unnoticed at your feet.
I can’t only blame my job, but I can put most of the blame on my job for not being willing to publicly protest where I live.
We’re a human service agency, we help anyone and everyone no matter what (something I’m very proud of), so we must remain Switzerland.
I can’t go hold a sign down at Parade Plaza, I can’t put political bumper stickers on my car or wear a “I Still Feel the Burn” pin, or even drag out my old (amazing) hoodie that states simply and proudly around an American flag: “MY PRESIDENT IS BLACK”.
Those were pretty good times, amiright?
So what can I do, when I can’t do it in public, or on my private social media?
I can use Meaghan, for one thing.
I can use Meaghan’s social media following to spread the word that we’re in a tight spot right now as a nation and the walls keep closing in faster.
But what can Meaghan do?
What can you do?
Don’t worry, I’ll tell you.
You can write to the people who represent you and tell them you’re fucking pissed off.
You can complain about them all you want, but if you’re going to do that, put a little bit of time where your mouth is and use your phone for something other than doomscrolling.
Here is where you can get in touch with all your representatives:
https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials
You can find all of them from that link, from Senators to your town officials, and their phone numbers are just… right there waiting for you to call.
You probably won’t get a person answering a phone, but you’ll get an opportunity to leave a message about whatever your concern is, and someone will have to listen to it.
The more people leave messages, the more time staff has to spend logging and listening to them, and that’s how your representative knows what’s most important to their constituents.
If you did deeper and click on the links to each of the representative’s websites, you may find their email addresses or contact forms and use those to get in touch, too.
A decade ago I would have said send a letter in the mail too, but holy shit, stamps are expensive now.
Maybe I’ll call and complain about that.
This isn’t all we can do, but this is all I have time for now.
I got up at five o’clock in the morning to have some extra time to myself and to do things without distraction, like writing.
Like that thing I talked about way up there at the top of my post.
You know, wanting to get back to make money writing.
Honestly, I don’t have it in me right now to make this a paid newsletter.
I don’t even want to try to commit to a publishing schedule right now, I’m too scared I will let everyone down.
With that said, if you appreciate any of your time spent reading this, why not pretend I was ranting to you over a cup of coffee.
