Coping
The flood of assaults on government led by billionaires and the vengeful criminal is daunting. I believe that the first step in dealing with it is self-protection. I used to tell my clients that they had to take care of themselves because they couldn’t help anyone else if they didn’t. That’s good advice, and I’ve been trying to take it.
i canceled my subscription to the New York Times. I stopped watching news programs including late night television where the hosts talk about the news of the day. I downloaded a copy of my Twitter account, then scrubbed it using Redact, and then deleted it. I stayed off BlueSky for a couple of weeks to prevent doomscrolling. I get shreds of news from the daily emails from the Guardian and from several substacks. I stopped thinking about the outrages of the day.
I upped my reading a bit, hard because of my eyes. I’m reading War and Peace, America Is Not The Heart, The Orphan’s Tale, and The Human Condition, along with a chapter of Discipline and Punish, Docile Bodies. I’ve maintained my exercise program, and tried to argue myself into increasing it without success. I started listening to Philosophize This by Stephen West from the beginning. West discusses philosophers from Thales forward, so it fills in gaps. It’s introductory and easy to listen to while exercising. I quit listening to legal podcasts like Strict Scrutiny, Amicus, and Supreme Myth
I watched several series on streaming services. I highly recommend A Gentleman In Moscow; also it’s a good book. We went to the movies, shared meals and time together with friends and family. I started on some of the chores that I don’t like. Turns out I still don’t like them, but it’s nice to get them done. I’ve been doing crossword puzzles including the ones in the New Yorker and the Atlantic.
I’ve been trying to think of things I can do besides donate to sane groups helping people, and I do this with friends and family too. This is really hard to do without getting angry. I’ve been trying to think of things that might work, even though I can’t do them. So far, it’s mostly changing the focus of my reading and writing here,
So that’s my coping program. What’s yours? This is an open thread.
first thing in a.m., sit with a book and my cuppa while watching the world awaken outside my window / daily puzzles & podcast time / walk walk wallk / breath breath breath / escape to the movie theatre /
trying to stop doomscrolling, but the stakes are so insanely high feel i need to stay more informed than less for the time being…
*sigh*
Please don’t make yourself crazy with the scrolling. If you can’t figure out what to do with the information, maybe you don’t need it?
I meditate daily, try to walk 2 1/2 – 3 miles/ day, study Yiddish, read, watch a fun show w my husband, groom our dog. I never watch tv news and haven’t since 47 was 45. Reading Bluesky started to alarm me, so backing off that.
I’ve reduced my morning NPR from 3 hr. to 1 hr., and listening to more music, especially artists like Leyla McCalla (e.g. Capitalist Blues), Jean Rohe (e.g. End of the World Tour) and Zoe Mulford (e,g. Bonfires).
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My response is half joke, half serious. But, wow, the songs titles you listed in that exact order sound just the Trump 2.0 administration.
One of the strongest writings i’ve seen, just today, is Timothy Snyder’s The Logic of Destruction on Substack. He describes the Oligarch Coup and what can be done.
Combined with learning this week that Hitler used “constitutional” or “legal” means to take complete power within 2+ months. just as this Coup is happening. I stand in open-mouthed horror, but will prepare myself to do what i can.
There’s more i could write now, but i’m hoping you or peterr would make a discussion of Snyder’s post.
The Logic of Destruction
There’s so much more of use in the piece, be warned, it’s very strong.
oh i forgot, i walk 5-10 kilometers pro Tag, do other exercise, listen to vintage and meta modern music, practice stick control for taking up the drums again after an absence of 4 decades (i did get to play with some fine people), and now that January ist vorbei, i might drink a Kräusen from Haake Beck, a dram or 3 of Caol Ila, or finish the Abelour Glenfiddich distilled in 1966, complete with the original dust on the bottle.
There’s been a week of strong demos throughout Deutschland, even 150,000 in Berlin today, in many many cities and towns, even blocking entrance to the CDU offices.
Something strong and wonderful is afoot… whether strong enough we will see.
(PLEASE notice i did not write anything about the even greater problem modern “civilization” is facing, being climate and environmental chaos)…
A terrifying read.
Probably that’s why he wrote it, and why i posted.
What Snyder wrote could foment a detailed discussion here.
Dr. emptywheel has the table set.
This:
The logic of “move fast and break things,” like the logic of all coups, is to gain quick dramatic successes that deter and demoralize and create the impression of inevitability. Nothing is inevitable. Do not be alone and do not be dismayed. Find someone who is doing something you admire and join them.
Do not be alone and do not be dismayed! Or be kind to self about dismay – and then join them yes. My friend is picking one group to help with her fundraising skills. I am showing up to work and continuing to (try to) live the work mission of serving *all* of our patients, and mentoring younger colleagues in more vulnerable groups with more to lose – after admiring others doing same. You are not alone!
Also, the majority of my fellow voting Americans are not evil. Work to remind myself of this. The misinformation, gaslighting, and control are working. That’s scary. But that doesn’t make them evil.
Because of my work, I can’t simply disconnect from the news – if anything, it’s making me more connected. I had a webinar conference call last week with a bunch of ELCA churchwide staff who work with immigration and refugees, getting a sense for how much their work — all with legal immigrants going through all the right channels — has been thrown for a loop in the last two weeks. Among other things, they provide food and clothing assistance to recent immigrants, to help them get settled in their new home. Now imagine having to tell a family from Afghanistan who arrived in Wisconsin in January that “we’ve got some good winter clothes to give you, but because of recent executive orders, we can’t give it to you right now.”
I’ve been having conversations with local school administrators, as they grapple with how to handle potential ICE raids in/around schools, or even in the community. How do you prepare a second grade teacher to respond to a question from one of their kids who asks “Why isn’t Guillermo here any more? Are they going to take away Jose next?”
I’ve got to follow the news, so that I can do my job as a pastor, but I have become much more careful about where I go for that.
That said, I completely agree with what Ed said about about taking care of yourself. I have begun scheduling in down time on my calendar, especially when I can do so either right before or right after what I know will be a tough meeting (like those above). For me, my go-to for refocusing myself is music. Some times it might be hymns or religious music, and other times rock or blues or country or rap or folk. I find someone to “preach” to me through their music, so that I can do the same for others.
Re: Music. Found this about two months ago. Fantastic version of Rachmaninov’s “Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini.” Good enough to provoke tears.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIseGcrNsQs
NB: Play with subtitles enabled, and it will alert you to which variation is currently playing.
Since this is Groundhog Day, a shout out to the movie of the same name. Bill Murray’s character learns piano in his interlude and notably plays part of Rachmaninov’s 18th Variation on a Theme of Paginini.
Maybe Murray’s character is an example of one potential coping program. Learn things that give yourself and other people happiness and some from of serenity, in the sense of the philosopher Epicurus.
Totally forgot that segué. I all I remembered was the bluesy solo part. Great film.
Just saw Musk and his minions have identified money that goes to Lutheran charities to help immigrants, refugees and victims of International sex trafficking. They are gleeful that they will be cutting this funding off as it is “illegal.” Will the “Christians” defend Musk or the Lutherans? Are Lutherans not the right kind of “Christians?”
Got a link for that?
Whatever they have identified, it is not illegal. It is either from competitive grants or contracts to provide services to refugees and immigrants, and has been going on for decades. Both Lutheran and Roman Catholic groups partner with the US government to provide all kinds of social services, and none of it involves any religious recruiting of those receiving services.
Ralston Deffenbaugh, the former head of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, wrote about their work with immigrants and refugees back in 2009 for the Journal of Lutheran Ethics.
I read that Vance considers Lutherans not to be Christians. I’ll try to find the link if anyone wants it.
Vance’s definition is so narrow that most Catholics wouldn’t fit in it. (I suspect he’s one of those who thinks Vatican II and everything after it is illegitimate.)
Mike Flynn doesn’t, and it was initially his list, I believe.
Yes, Ithaqua0 — it was Mike Flynn. Thanks for the correction.
Flynn was also railing about Catholic Charities just before he got onto the Lutheran charities:
https://xcancel.com/GenFlynn/status/1885708723907100683#m
https://xcancel.com/GenFlynn/status/1885872007062892568#m
Unclear (to me at least) if Musk is also shutting down those payments.
wondering how all this will work with the new “no more anti-Christian discrimination” exec order…
LG&M have the story here, including a forceful rebuttal by the head of Global Refuge.
That MAGA is heavily evangelical is not a coincidence. That the LDS church doesn’t see what is coming …
The Society of Friends have filed a lawsuit against the directive that church are no longer off limits to ICE.
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.575074/gov.uscourts.mdd.575074.1.0.pdf
Same. I have effectively tuned out of social media and DO NOT consume cable news anymore.
I read books. Practice my engineering skills at home. Focus on hobbies and spend time with family and friends more than ever.
It feels like “the worst is yet to come”, to quote Guilfoyle from an alternate reality…
I hope the voting demographic will be allowed or even capable of voicing their concern in the midterms…
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Sorry about that. 🤗
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During the last Trump fiasco, I spent a good deal of time reading and commenting on Raw Story along with a few other similar sites. My initial reaction to Fiasco v2 was to just unplug. Sounds like a lot of others did that too. But now, I am so horrified by what is happening that I just can’t sit by and watch. Now, I spend my time going out on the Fox app and I comment on the stories where the comments are the most egregious and the commenters are so clearly misinformed, or informed but evil. Here’s why: if you’re going to spend time typing about this stuff, it doesn’t do much good to preach to the choir. I don’t really expect to change many minds over there in Fox World, but if I can give just a small percentage a different perspective, I think it is time better spent.
Good luck with that. I did just that for the same reason. For 8 years I commented and replied. I tried using facts, evidence, reason, sarcasm, mockery. A few other anti-Trumpers agreed with me but it’s mostly brainwashed MAGAs in the comments. All they care about is owning and trolling the libs. I finally gave up when he won again in November. I just can’t stomach any more Fox MAGA bullshit and I refuse to give them any more of my time. I don’t even bother trying to argue with MAGAs now, I go straight to sarcasm and mockery and insults. Doesn’t change their minds but it makes me feel a little better.
i can barely bring myself to share info with friends/family on social media without getting into an argument. i sure don’t have the heart to argue with random idiots.
Indeed. If one actually believes that free speech is the antiseptic it is claimed to be then it must be practiced. Thank you for being hopeful and attentive to the small possible success possible via the vox populi.
this is no mere accident of history, but a rerun. Nothing new under the sun…
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This ^^^ is bullshit normalization and demoralization intended to encourage others to shrug off and ignore a massive attack on society.
It’s like other bullshit comments we’ve received here like “we survived Reagan, we’ll survive Trump.” Hundreds of thousands didn’t survive Reagan’s policy toward HIV/AIDS alone; ignoring that history as just a rerun is an expression of privilege.
Trump’s policies during his first term resulted in mass death and disability of more than a million inside the US alone. Blowing that off as just a rerun is an even larger expression of privilege.
Don’t drop your privileged crap here, especially not in what appears to be your first comment in a post that is supposed to be about sharing coping methods.
OT? Rayne, what are you doing, or recommending? Being an early casualty in a four year time frame is not best, but what is?
DOD is rearranging the media chairs at DOD, which is petty, but the kind of thing that might rile news outlets; denial of privilege and access. But hate on Mexico? https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/pete-hegseth-tells-former-fox-friends-colleagues-military-strikes-against-mexican-cartels-are-on-the-table/ar-AA1yc2lv
That could backfire, but for now, a hypothetical we have to wait on. Firing people requires them to fight, we can help, if they set up funding conduits. Otherwise, boxing managers always say, “Protect your head.” What’s an opportune time to speak up, and what’s premature?
I’ve gone back to school. It sucks up a lot of my wattage, but it helps me build a path to a different future. I help some of the younger folks in my cohort when the opportunity presents itself.
I can’t recommend this approach for everyone, but it works for me.
“Error Prone”, you are indeed off topic for this post by Mr. Ed. Walker. Please take your doom script elsewhere.
not intended to be a point of privilege, just a perspective…
i sit in the same state of anguish and overwhelming foreboding.
this cycle of shit will hopefully get flushed away by better minded people. The clown car will crash, but into what? (cut down on coffee, jumping my shit is not constructive)
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Emotional dumping is unconstructive. This thread is about coping, not complaints.
As for “jumping [your] shit,” look at it from moderation perspective intended to protect the site, contributors, and community members. Using another community member’s name and having no previous comment history here, you emo dumped in a thread asking commenters to share coping methods. It looks like concern trolling/demoralization, not constructive participation. Don’t expect this site to welcome a turd dropped in the punch bowl. Your two unapproved attitude-loaded comments also haven’t helped your cred.
We have a low tolerance for bullshit here. If that’s not your cup of tea, you’re welcome to find another site better suited to your tastes.
Thank you Rayne. It is deep poo.
From my bonus offspring in Nov 2024: “To borrow from my group counselor, what is terrifying about this presidency is that the number of people who survive this forest fire will likely be fewer than the last one”. That is not normal.
The rallying/coping part – from the same text:
“ What I’m going to do next: bring baked goods to where I volunteer with transgender and gender non-conforming youth; schedule a time to give a talk on sexuality education for adults; emphasize trauma-informed care to my clients; teach clients how to advocate for themselves; work locally to abolish racist policies, attend school board meetings to advocate for curricula that support transgender, GNC, and BIPOC youth, continue to participate in the LGBTQIA+ Chamber of Commerce
I also have counseling today and group counseling on Monday
[snip = forest fire dquote above]
I know we’re all in different states and my experience from multi-state volunteering agencies in that there are opportunities to create pockets of community and examples of care under a system that is actively seeking to harm”
This is about as social as I can stand, where politics is involved. (The rest of my social media is mostly non-political, or I don’t comment.)
Finally just cancelled my WaPo and NYT subscriptions (keeping NYT cooking and games). Been meaning to do it, but just hadn’t yet. Never did social media so nothing to miss there. Knee issues keep me from walking as much as I’d like, but listen to fiction audiobooks when I do. Spanish radio station in car. British detective shows on TV. Get news from various Substacks, understanding that there are issues there too (Bari Weiss and Michael Shellenberger immediately come to mind), the Guardian, and of course this fine site.
Wait, I can get NYT games and cooking w/o the news?!?!
Sort of.
WARNING! For those who cancel the New York Times: Whatever payment method you use(d) for your subscription, keep checking it after cancellation. And keep checking it after that, too.
I cancelled the Times in late June 2024, via the usual process online. They kept charging me through November. I called Bank of America, and the customer service rep told me she would cancel it and issue me a new card. Now, three months later, I am not only getting charged–I am getting charged three times over in a single month.
These people are rapacious. I cancelled out of disgust at their “Joe Biden Old + Parkinson’s” (I have Parkinson’s) coverage. Now I would counsel any friend never to subscribe in the first place. Wire Cutter is great, but it’s not worth this.
Yep. I am personally aware of several elders who, over the past few years, have illegally been bilked by some of these rapacious company’s with false subscriptions. A cancellation is a cancellation, not an invitation to keep bilking people of their hard earned dough.
In California, this might actually be classified as elder abuse as well, although I don’t know of any cases where the California AG has successfully prosecuted “fraudulent subscription” cases.
Note that with Federal consumer protections crippled and/or shutdown, this is only going to get much worse under Trump II.
Charge-backs are your friend.
I killed both NYT and WP, but WP got me back with the $.99 deal. I don’t read any of the political stuff. It’s just too slanted. Can’t watch late night either.
If one more person asked me (neurologist) if I thought Joe Biden has PD… speaking of coping, I often recommend the Davis Phinney Foundation to people living with PD (and others too!). It’s all about living well with PD. Davis Phinney was a professional cyclist, and threw his premier athlete training into life with PD – mindfulness, exercise, wellness. I went to one of their “Victory” conferences – there was (this is not a joke or euphemism) laughter yoga in the breaks between sessions.
I do not intend to make light of living with PD or any other neurodegenerative condition – with that acknowledgement, hope you are living as well and fully as feasible.
i am one of those schmoos who wants to live peaceably, modestly, quietly, after an early life with plenty of trauma and few means. i alternate between ostriching, and berating my poor husband (unlucky male stand-in for Our Donald).
i find myself immersed in allegory and allegorical story telling. i get the power of the Star Wars narratives, AEsops Fables, Greek myth, Lord of the Rings.
i get it that schmoos will be called upon to transform into hobbits, braver than they thought they could be. really terrifies me, actually.
during my childhood my mother, a refugee, reluctantly recounted harrowing firsthand experiences, or those she knew of, in ’30s Berlin. i remember one instance when i asked her, “but mummy, why didn’t you go to the police?” she just looked at me pityingly and said something like, you wouldn’t understand….
i find music is good, however, the darker, brooding 19th ad 20th century work is more my choice nowadays.
Yes to this.
“Action is the antidote to anxiety” has been my motto for a few decades. Spiritually-based, sane and peace-centered action, that is. But what happens when the anxiety goes to 11? Same RX for me, just ramp that up accordingly.
Literature, art, music are soul medicine to me, have been all my life. Reading “Middlemarch” with an old college pal 500 miles away right now. A book club for two. Loving it.
Comedy: I’m currently listening to the BBC radio version of “A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” and laughing even louder than when I first heard it in, what? 1982? Whenever it was when it first aired on our local NPR station. “Jack Flanders and the 4th Tower of Inverness” is another radio gem from that era that I’ve been re-listening to.
I’m increasing daily contact with friends, family and loved ones.
Writing more letters (pen & paper), sending fewer emails, spending less time online.
Getting outside and walking every day. Spending time each day with our animals.
Becoming involved with some newer politically-oriented grassroots organizations that are springing up in our amazingly rural township, the political offices of which were taken over by extremists in November. Attending any local township meeting I am able.
Joining some new non-political local groups.
Growing even more food than last year, with plans to give even more of it away, now that Feeding America is no longer stopping in our nearest village.
Blogs/News outlets I follow and support financially: Heather Cox Richardson, Timothy Snyder, Rebecca Solnit, Your Local Epidemiologist
Empty Wheel, contributors & community, you are a lifeline!
Couch/TV time with my long-suffering partner each night. We watch a little TV, I give her foot-rubs. Have for years. I’ll never be able to pay her back for her kindness and support.
I count my blessings. I’m so lucky to be a recovering alcoholic. I get to work and spend time with lots of us, including many in a local state prison. Because I’m one of them, I can be uniquely useful.
All in all, this knucklehead is doing well. Thanks for asking.
Great EW entry. Thanks, Ed, and everybody who commented. You are all very important to me.
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Action is the antidote!
It’s times like this I wish I’d listened to what my mother told me when I was young.
What did she tell you?
I don’t know. I wasn’t listening.
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/54479-you-know-said-arthur-it-s-at-times-like-this-when
Oh, Mr. Adams was a true comic genius, Ed. I do miss him so!
Some news about one of the writers I mentioned in my earlier comment: Rebecca Solnit is leaving Facebook, a platform she loved but feels compelled to move away from, to Ghost.io, a new non-profit, open-source platform for writers, reporters and others. She just posted her first essay there:
https://meditations-in-an-emergency.ghost.io/
This, Ed, made me laugh out loud. Much thanks.
I spend A Lot of time with toddlers. A big box arrived “on” a bed frame and they wanted to make a fire truck. Ai yi yi: a good impulse to encourage.
I’ve been helping 3-year olds “put out” fires. Those wee geniuses even figured out a hose (a cardboard tube with a length of blue tulle for the water). Pahshhhhhhhh . . .
We’re making puppet theaters this week out of empty oatmeal cardboards.
It’s one of the only things that makes any sense to me these days.
Reading Die Wise by Stephen Jenkinson.
Thank you All, truly.
Yes, try to find versions of the Hitchhiker’s Guide read by Douglas Adams himself. They’re the best.
I have tapes a friend made for me of the BBC radio version! Thank you all for reminding me of this. Now to work out how to play them. A good project. “Resistance is useless!” “Why do they keep saying that?” “Don’t panic.”
Similarly may now re-watch Buckaroo Banzai, which also finds a way to skewer the supposedly invincible foe (“Where are we going?” “Planet 10!” “When?” “Real soon!”).
Looking for levity and hope, not normalization.
Playing, singing, writing country music. It’s like a coat in the winter. There are no stakes with it, though I had a dream last night my guitar got stolen in the middle of some kind of crazy convention and woke up in a state of nervous breakdown.
Going to church helps me too, for social support and to have a time during the week for prayer and reflection.
I’m grateful that I’m still on cardiac rehab after aorta-replacement surgery. It’s a great release from the world. I’m up to 2.5 miles per day now on the rehab walking track. Also doing the elliptical. Listening to music, i.e. Rusalka, Cunning Little Vixon, Káťa Kabanová, Jenufa, and of course, Bartered Bride (for smiles). Spent a month in Prague a year ago –I really miss that city, i.e., Café Slavia where Masaryk (1918) and Havel (1993) held their first cabinet meetings, the Tyl Theater where Mozart premiered Le Nozze and Cosi (and got to attend performances of both while there). I’m incredibly lucky that my aneurysm didn’t rupture while there!
I’m genuinely trying to learn Czech now. I reorganized all of my digital music by composer/symphony/movement on my MacBook and iPhone (although it takes a TB on an external hard drive too). Now I don’t need Sirius in my car! And we scanned every piece of paper in the whole house & burn-bagged it all afterwards. Now that’s a good feeling! I’m back to working full time, so that helps. But, I’m in a similar place, Ed. I’ve been donating to relevant groups (especially so if Marcy mentions one). I need to actually connect with real work that I can do! Any and all suggestions would be appreciated here!
I love The Song To The Moon from Russalka! I saw it at the Lyric in Chicago a few years ago. We visited Pargue several years ago, it is a beautiful city. I’m glad you are doing so well.
I too am looking for ways to help. This is an all hands situation, and action is the antidote as Rockfarmer said above.
One thing I’ve been encouraging people to do is to talk to their friends and neighbors who work for the federal government. People tend to think that federal workers are in and around DC, but they are far more spread out across the country.
Going to a National Park? Greet the rangers and park staff with more than a “good morning.” These folks are facing the kind of analysis that could end up with parks privatized, or transformed by drilling and mining contracts being issued. A simple “we’re really glad you’re here, doing what you do” goes a long way.
Live in a farming community? The county agricultural extension program is a partnership between the US Dept of Agriculture, the land grant college/university in the state, and local county folks.
Every full-time federal worker, save for the military and a handful of others, received an email offering them what amounts to a buyout, giving them salary through the end of the fiscal year (Sept 30), but they have to accept the offer by sometime near the end of this week. The folks I know who got this feel caught in a quandary of mixed emotions, especially if they are long-term employees. (1) I like my work, and don’t want to leave it; (2) If I leave, someone crazy will take over and ruin what I’ve spent my career building up; (3) If I take it, and it is later determined to be an illegal buyout scheme [not a minor possibility, legally speaking] then I’ve just telegraphed to my boss that I’d rather not be here; (4) If I don’t take it, and my office is later slashed by DOGE, I’m out of a job with nothing.
These folks need support, and that’s something anyone can give them.
The same goes for folks affected by the orders and policies coming out of DC. Trans folks, educators, immigrants and refugees, etc. My congregation is not going to be high on the list of churches that might be raided by ICE, but I know others that are probably at the top of that list, and I reached out to a couple of my clergy friends to thank them for the work they are doing, under increasingly difficult circumstances.
Calls like that matter, and you can make them too.
Thank you, Peter! In October, I had to call Social Security about withholding issues, and the rep who answered was wonderful. Those people are really, really responsive, capable and experienced. Every interaction I’ve had with them has been positive. I told the rep that my experience with SSA was excellent and that I appreciated her work. It brought me to tears when she thanked me and said that they are rarely complimented. (Ouch!) Think of how many thousands of accounts they handle — and people get checks monthly b/c of their work.
The one compelling reason for considering the “deferred resignation” offer is that agencies have been ordered to force everyone, even people hired with remote work agreements or telework, back into “the office”, even if that organizational office is several states away. Exceptions will be allowed, but there is no clarity about how narrow those exceptions will be. If the alternative to the deferred resignation is moving across the country on your own dime, one might take the bait and hope for the best.
From what I have seen, I would modify your #2 slightly. If I accept the deferred resignation, what I’ve spent my career building up will be ruined not by someone crazy taking over, but simply by no one taking over. My job will disappear, and my salary will be removed from the budget of my agency, a “savings” fig leaf for upper income tax cuts. That aligns with both their goal of major slashes, and the law for reduction in force, where the position must disappear and cannot be refilled. There has not been even a hint of thinking or planning about how agencies can accomplish their legally-mandated missions with the contemplated 25-50% cuts in personnel and budgets, nor thought about how non-random the resignations are likely to be across job series.
I don’t see your #3 as being about a supervisor or boss holding it against you: they seem to be under at least as much stress on this decision as non-supervisory rank & file (as supervisors they don’t have union representation), plus it is not clear how far down the “schedule F” will extend. Rather, the fear is whether replying to the fork in the road offer and having it fall through may identify you for targeting by the hidden unofficial forces in the forthcoming involuntary reduction in staff. And again, no replacement after RIF: again my career accomplishments quickly erode away.
Thanks for the shout out to National Park Rangers & staff as an example of fed employees one might interact with. But anything much beyond “thanks for what you do for us, and for the enjoyment of future generations” puts them at risk, possibly even if they say nothing in reply. Everyone is under repeated explicit orders to say nothing about any of this when in or near a park. For us the Hatch Act is still a thing, and probably a good thing, as parks belong to everyone, and have broad support from the public. Between the Hatch Act and simply fear about mass terminations outside of any lawful process, I suspect all rank and file federal employees (and contractors!) need to keep quiet, and be cautious of even people seeming to make political statements supporting them.
Thanks for the mention of the other people who are being hurt much more than federal employees (at least until the takeover of the complete personnel and financials systems Friday). Asylum seekers, migrants, non-binary people (especially transgender), minorities, women, disabled, poor people, people in many nations (and non-nations) around the world, are being hurt more.
People who provide services to those groups are being hurt more too, or at least faster. State & local governments and non-profits with grants or agreements don’t get a big shiny check up front, just a contract stating they will be reimbursed up to $X for accomplishing a set of objectives. They do the work and pay their people, then every few months submit reports of expenditures for reimbursement (NIH & NSF & USDA grants are like this, too). Those payments are considered “assistance”. With assistance payments frozen or just unofficially not happening, smaller nonprofits can’t keep funding payroll with the hope of eventual reimbursement specified in their legally binding grants or agreements. A few non-profits have cash crunches and have already furloughed employees who worked for the government as contractors.
I’m coping by trying to carve out time to carefully read Rebecca Solnit’s “A Paradise Built in Hell” to learn, and “Hope in the Dark” for inspiration. Both books will then circulate to selected colleagues and friends.
Excellent reminder that many of us through the years have been in and around so many Federal workers that may need some contact from the outside world. I’m adding this to my list of to-dos—good suggestion!
After we get our strength back — great advice — we need to write members of the Democratic Party Leadership to get them off the sidelines and into ACTION. They need to meet, pick a date for a NATION-WIDE GENERAL STRIKE, pick several of “high crimes and misdemeanors” already committed by Presdient Trump ( not to mention failure to “faithfully execute the laws”) and, IMPEACH and REMOVE
Fifteen or so years ago my wife and I had a wonderful 3 week vacation in Budapest, Prague, and Vienna. Lots of great music in each. My favorite was way out in the Budapest suburbs past the end of the bus line. A plain meeting hall where young people played traditional Hungarian music on violin, cymbalom, clarinet, and bass and couples learned dance steps. It reminded me of the Cat’s Corner swing dance club that I sometimes play for in SF. (I’m a 77 year old posauner). Music is my chief refuge these days.
One way to cope: for those who embrace in any way the politics of destruction, the “flooding of the zone …” simply remind them of what may be in store. Put them on notice of just who it is that will (not) be accountable. Perhaps that will begin to give them pause. A preemptive “I told ya”.
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Good thought.
Thanks Ed, for this reminder. My problem is how to find a balance? Part of me wants to shut down somewhat for self care, and the other part of me feels like that is exactly what they want us to do! I am sincerely torn, between what I believe is my civic and moral duty to be informed, and, my desire to preserve my mental health. I hear about so many people just tuning out, which scares me. I also wonder, why is it that other nations rally and march in the streets, and that there is seemingly nothing that would happen here that’d be enough to get folks to get off the couch? Aren’t they counting on us just being overwhelmed? Grappling with an appropriate response to this madness and cruelty is exhausting.
This is the problem we all face. For me, the firehose of garbage from the criminal and his billionaire henchmen was debilitating. So I turned it off. I get the bits and pieces I need from other sources, here, some substacks including the invaluable Heather Cox Richardson, and rare check-ins on BlueSky.
that preserves my precious time for the things I can do. Write, Read, Think. And look for opportunities to help. Self-care doesn’t have to be separate from action. We just have to be secure in order to act.
This
I read the onion.
Being from the era of tune in, turn on, and drop out, I know that response only leads to Four Dead in Ohio, so I try to pretend Donald (Dumbass Tariff) Trump isn’t my president and that way I can freely wish him and his ilk ill will.
My news detox was going well until the tariff hammer fell. Unsurprisingly, that’s been dominating the news cycle up here in the great white north, and the incoming trade war hangs heavy over all our heads. But the hard times persist, and so do we. I started reading “Late Fascism” by Alberto Toscano, which has been super interesting even if it’s one of those books that I have to read with a dictionary open in my other monitor. I’ve also been reading “The Essential Thucydides,” edited by Paul Woodruff, because I want to shore up my understanding of ancient philosophy, and Emily Wilson’s translation of the Odyssey for the same reason. There’s some other books/authors I’ve been wanting to re-visit, like Ardent, my Voegelin reader, and some Rorty, but there’s only so much time in a day (and I spend a little too much of it online).
I’ve got other hobbies, digital collage and writing to name two, but it can be hard to feel creative when you’ve got so much shit hanging over your head. I often find myself wishing I could just totally detox from the net, ditch my phone and laptop and hole up somewhere for a couple months with a typewriter and go wild. That’s not really an option for me right now, so I make do. One of these days I’ll get my turntable set up and I can spend an evening ignoring the clamour of the news and listening to the smooth, sultry sounds of The Downward Spiral instead.
Nice reading list! I bought Wilson’s translation shortly before my eyes went bad so I haven’t read it. I see it’s on Kindle, which I can read! I do love Richard Rorty. I occasionally cite Philosophy And Social Hope here. I do hope you can find some time to write. Writing is how I clarify my thinking, and I’d feel stupid without it.
Umberto Eco wrote several good pieces on Fascism. Here’s one of them.
https://www.openculture.com/2024/11/umberto-ecos-list-of-the-14-common-features-of-fascism.html
I’d like to thank you deeply for this link! Although an admirer of Eco, this was new to me.
No. 14, the last one in Eco’s list, reminds me of the great work by the German linguist Victor Klemperer (1881-1960) on LTI = Lingua Tertii Imperii = Language of the ‘Third Reich’ which should be read by everyone thinking about Trump’s vocabulary. Klemperer was persecuted by the Nazis, but luckily survived. His diaries, published posthumously, became bestsellers in Germany. Both his vita and the “LTI” have entries on Wikipedia.
An English translation of “LTI” is available on https://archive.org/details/klemperer-victor-j-auth-language-of-the-third-reich-lti-lingua.
Hi Konny, I just read that book! What a scholar! I’ve read his diaries as well. It’s really a good read and allows one to appreciate the day-by-day growth of fascism and oppression of the 3rd Reich. Even mundane, miscellaneous rules, i.e., roof colors, sidewalk dimensions, outdoor (and indoor!) plant species on private property. But his post-war Language work is essential reading now.
Thank you, Earl. great link!
I should probably cut back on my news consumption, but I’m finding myself with the same compulsion to stay on top of events that I experienced during the first Trump term. I’m trying to pick up some new hobbies to give myself something else to do. I’m DMing an ongoing D&D campaign (two, in fact!) for the first time, in a world of my own design, which was good for a bunch of design hours during the holiday break. I’m keeping up my Duolingo exercises for Kreyòl, and considering adding another language from my list of learn-this-someday (Latin, Yoruba, Icelandic…). I’m focusing on Black thought and art for Black History Month, so this weekend I’ve been spelunking on Bandcamp for new artists and lining up some deliveries from other libraries in my system. My workout plan is more or less set through May, though I may swap out a couple of pure weightlifting days for club-and-mace instead, but not this mesocycle.
Thanks for the Philosophize This suggestion, Ed! I don’t do a lot of podcasts, but I’m painfully aware that my philosophical knowledge could use *a lot* of backfill, so I’ll check that one out.
When I work with couples who come to me to be married, we go through a series of pre-marital counseling sessions. One element of these sessions involves how individuals and couples deal with stress.
From the worksheet (from Prepare/Enrich), they lay out some very basic ways of thinking about how we handle stress:
The worksheet then asks couples to think about a couple of issues causing stress in their lives (money, wedding planning, health concerns, etc.) and then answer two questions: (1) Is this a high priority for you to address, or a low priority? (2) Is this something you are able to change or is it difficult for you to change it?
If the issues causing you stress are one of your high priorities and you have the ability to change it, great – go for it, and celebrate the change you’ve made. Life is better for you, in a way that you value highly. Check that one off, and move on to the next.
On the other hand, if something causing stress is a high priority for you but you don’t have much ability to change it, that’s going to be tough. I might think peace in Gaza is a high priority in my life, but it is immensely difficult for me to do things to make that happen — especially acting on my own. This is the kind of stress this post is talking about.
If you — or we — are determined to go after this high priority/difficult to change piece of our lives, we have to strategize about doing it in a healthy way.
First, embrace the reality. There are no magic bullets, and this is going to be a long, tough slog through a lot of crap.
Second, embrace partnerships. You are not alone, though it may feel this way.
Third, embrace creativity. Old solutions may no longer work, but don’t let that stop you. This is where the good kind of “what-about-ism” can really make a difference. “OK, I can’t really expect that calling my senators (here in MO, that’s the lovely pair of Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt) will change their minds, but can I talk with their local staffers in a face to face way, that begins to shift their thinking?” On that webinar I mentioned upthread, one GR worker told of approaching his local congregation to step up their work with refugees in specific, local ways, and he was overwhelmed by the support he got from Cambodian members of the church. “We remember,” they told him “how we were welcomed and embraced in the 70s. We remember, and now we can give back.” Now imagine if a couple of these folks, now established in the community, went and chatted with the local staff of even a hardcore GOP member of Congress.
Fourth, embrace the margins. You don’t have to solve everything, all at once, tomorrow. Seriously. You really don’t have to do that. Can you break down the major stress issue into smaller chunks, more easy to address? Perhaps I can’t change things for every refugee family in need of food that has now been cut off, but I *can* work with local food pantries and local refugee groups to make a difference in the lives of the folks where I live.
Fifth, embrace what gives you hope. Harvey Milk was right: You gotta give them hope. Stress can be paralyzing, but having reminders of hope can break through that paralysis and enable life-giving action to happen once more.
Sixth, lather, rinse, and repeat. To borrow a cliche, this will be a marathon, not a sprint. Given that, taking care of yourself is absolutely critical.
Thank you; this is very useful for me.
I’ve restricted my news resources severely, and reading opinion columns even more. I continue to read EW regularly, and mostly lurking. I haven’t been on Bluesky in over a week, because I can’t seem to avoid seeing that ugly orange face in my feed.
Instead, I’ve been knitting a lot, reading (literature and nonfiction), and listening to and writing about music regularly. Both are cathartic in different ways.
Swimming. You can’t take your phone in with you. Set aside an hour or so, lock into your stroke, focus on your breathing. It’s my meditation.
Yes!
Waterproof cases for iPhones actually do exist for taking underwater photos and movies…
Don’t ruin this for me.
Did I just read this in the shower or what?
remember the scene in Battlestar Galactica when President Roslin told Captain Adama: “The war is over. We lost.”? That’s where I am right now.
Steve in Manhattan, what are you doing to rebuild and change things? Me, I don’t do much at this point. The conditioned passivity is working, alas, aided and abetted by a DP that is not putting forth any clear direction for individual action…yet?
I got Medicare (before they kill it) to pay for Cataract surgery in both eyes over 30 days. Each eyes tested 20/20! the day after surgery
Tuesday, I am getting fitted for reading glasses for the 1.5 ft between my extended arms and my head.
That will make it much easier to read
Firesign: The Electromagnetic History of Everything as Told on Nine Comedy Albums by Jeremy Braddock.
As a 1976 UMich grad Porgy Tirebiter, Uh Clem, Rocky Rococco (that sleazy weasel) and hamburger all over the highway were required catchphrases in our crowd.
It was during that time that I got my copy of “The Real Book”, It is a collection of lead sheets for hundreds of jazz standards used as the textbook at the Berklee school in Boston
Currently I am trying to incorporate Barry Harris drop six voicing while improvising at tempo.
This has helped me avoid politics while I still keep up with EW here, on Blue sky and with Nicole, I avoid most other stuff.
We have been watching West Wing all 7 seasons are on Max. We are in Season 3. Will probably skip the Santos Years.
We have enjoyed Colin From Accounts, Somebody Somewhere, Bad Sisters season one, Slow Horses among others.
Finally I am counting on the forces working to stall stuff in the courts, stupid shit pissing voters off,, the billionaires on the outside who will get screwed, and R members of Congress worrying about 26 to gum up the works.
But, I have moved my savings to low risk investments.
EW, Rayne et al, thank you for all you do.
I bought my first Real Book from a Berklee student who stuffed the trunk of his car full of them and drove from Boston to California in 1978 and sold them all over the Bay Area.
Also, can’t believe somebody actually wrote a book about the Firesign Theatre. I’m gonna have to get a copy of that one…thanks for the tip!
I’ve gone news refusenik. Did the same on November 8, 2016. Get the gist from the Substack emails from my follows. So I’m aware. I try not to get annoyed at the really wonderful folks who try to appear shocked. But I think the helpless, captive, victims of sadists should be free to express their agony and dread anyway they need to. But by and large I keep my mouth shut so as to allow my family to try to ignore what they too can see clearly. But, I find myself, several times a day, fixed in place staring at my paws. Watching Knick and Rangers (lord save me) games. Listening to the History of Rock. Reading Robert Hughes “Barcelona” again and taking my granddaughter , her mother, aunt, and grandmother there during February break.
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Thanks Rayne. I’d forgotten the rule. I’ve been keeping mum these several years. Don’t really know enough to have a useful opinion about the workings of the law. But about suffering, along with The Old Masters, we are never wrong. Grateful for all that is done at Empty Wheel.
If we fold up our tents they win.
I too needed some time off. I needed to let the grief work it’s way through.
I didn’t pay (much) attention to any news for a period of almost two months. But the ostrich defense is not a way to get through this.
We need to be completely aware.
We need to talk about what is happening.
And we need to take whatever action we can.
Pretending like it isn’t happening only helps them make it happen.
We need to take care of ourselves
But more importantly we need to take care of those around us and our democracy. .
Do not close your eyes.
Thanks to all the folks who took the time to contribute to this thread. It’s a rich lode of things to do, books and substacks to read, and music to listen to.
I have to seriously rearrange my priorities and find opportunities to fight back and help those who will be hurt the most. As someone who depends on Social Security and Medicare, I hope I’m not among the casualties.
This assault on our nation cannot be resisted by retreating to some sort of comfort zone. No one can hide from these fascists by scrubbing their Xitter, Meta or other social media accounts, so why bother?
No one is being forced to “doomscroll”, but all of us have to know what’s going on in order to resist.
A lot of people are doomscrolling, even if it’s not what they think they’re doing.
This thread is for what to do INSTEAD.
Many folks leaving X, Meta, and Substack aren’t doing it to retreat to “some sort of comfort zone.”
They’re leaving the fucking Nazi bars taking their DAUs with them which help fund the Nazi bars (and yes, Substack is a Nazi bar).
That should be Step One on the path of resistance: stop aiding and abetting the Nazis.
My wife is a federal employee, and one who was hired to work remotely, without having any office to return to, so we are literally in the line of fire.
In the last week, every day she got multiple emails (some sent through the illegal OPM server) both threatening she might be terminated and luring her to take Musk’s shady “buyout” offer. When we watch the horror show of Musk taking control over the government, ignoring laws and regulations without repercussions, it is not merely a news story for us. This is out lives and the livelihood of out family.
And frankly, I don’t really know how to deal with this. We can’t really allow ourselves to take a break from the news. We keep doom scrolling every night, and keep hearing about new emails and new threats and ultimatums during the day.
She’s lucky to have your support. Try watching/reading Heather Cox Richardson. She’s one of the most knowledgeable commentators today, who sees the whole picture and is calm while being incisive. She also good at pointing out rays of light in the darkness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-LBD-zumlQ
I hope you and your wife are able to skillfully navigate the shit being thrown at her. Might it help to write things down, both to help you both organize your thinking around it all, and to create a documentary record (for any number of purposes)? The latter bit is a form of resistance which might also help with your internal processing of the shit storm.
You and your wife are the kind of folks I was thinking about in my earlier comment upthread about federal workers. Your comment “it is not merely a news story for us” sums up what I spent far more words on, and gets right to the point.
Obviously, I don’t know your wife’s department/agency, her rank, or anything but what you’ve shared. For me, the antidote to doom scrolling is to focus on sources I trust to help me understand what I need to understand. Let me mention two of those sources.
One is union leadership of federal employees. Even if your wife is not in a union, these are folks who are digging through the details and looking for how to keep their members safe. If they believe the buyout is nuts and fake, I’d trust them on that.
The other source is Government Execucitve – a media outlet aimed at senior government workers, but helpful for anyone who wants to understand more about how government work gets done. From their “About Us” page
As you might imagine, they’ve been following this all pretty carefully, and seem to me to be as about a neutral source as there is. They understand government better than any other site I’ve seen, and are not part of the MAGA/DOGE world that dropped in a couple of weeks ago.
You and your wife are not alone, so hang in there!
I start my day with a sort of gratitude mantra. I’ve leisurely embarked on small-scale home/garden improvements (I am sometimes a Klutz). I have a hobby project with a like-minded science friend: a small nursery to grow native American and Mexican oaks species identified by a local arboretum as well-adapted to fare well in the coming climate. Potential planting sites include wildfire burn scars. I’ve started to limit my consumption of “news” to focus on a few areas and not consume stuff at night. I would be interested to read what seasoned observers/scholars think about the tools the States have in advancing/thwarting the criminal enterprise “Administration” in DC. When re-configuring post-war Germany, the Allies made sure to create a federal republic to disperse powers.
I’ve been reading books together with a friend of some 60 years. Recently, we’ve read “Man in the High Castle” (Philip K. Dick), “The Sellout” (Paul Beatty) and “Japanese by Spring” (Ishmael Reed). Satire seems to have a salutary effect for me.
“The Sellout” is a wonderful, uproarious, hilarious, and ultimately touching novel that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves.
(Coping? Oh, that old saw… )
I tried the whole disconnect thing after the election, but I think that is a luxury one can no longer afford.
Playing music, reading printed words on paper, inward focus on work, family and friends. Grandparenting. House projects. Planning for retirement. Realizing that although we could move to France, thy have plenty of problems there as well.
Can’t stop wondering how soon dystopia will be upon us.
“I tried the whole disconnect thing after the election, but I think that is a luxury one can no longer afford.”
With you, punaise. My disconnect phase started at midnight November 5, when I went to bed disgusted and depressed. The next morning, confronted by my friends’ fear and anger and disorientation, I knew I had to reconnect–because I knew I could. Unlike my friends, I understood how and why this could happen. My work had been preparing me for the future we confront now.
That is one benefit of living immersed in cultural research. Probably much more, I benefited from three decades of expert therapy; therapy has helped me live with myself, a task I once thought impossible and which now permits me to live with and battle (in my own strange way) these external terrors.
The secret for me has been defining my personal task, my own contribution to our shared goal of combatting these lawless and antisocial forces. That took time and thought, and won’t be easy for anyone (aside, perhaps, from Marc Elias). If you think you can stand to engage the enemy, I recommend starting there.
Yoga, books (reading and editing), and my cats keep me sane on a day to day basis. Wonkette and EW are my news sources.
Thanks for your perspective on this. One has to find some hope, somewhere.
punaise, there are crazy brave folks out there who are always going to carry the fight against the great machines. Yea, they’re not magic and got no light sabers, just a lot of Chirrut Imwe in em.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp82d5k474yo
We over here just gotta believe that trump will self destruct himself. It’s a good bet :) After all, he can’t take the air away. When I get way down low to buck up I listen to this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHlgNSW1S2o
I’m up most mornings before 6:00. I start each day with some stretches, then a very light breakfast while I watch an episode of The Venture Brothers.
Then comes my Substack, where I launch the day’s posts and share them to Wonkette, Facebook, and Bluesky.
I take a quick look-through of Wonkette Tabs. I do not linger long on any social media site, though I do spend a couple minutes at Wonkette, Facebook, Bluesky, emptywheel, and Fednews (that’s on Reddit).
I take a look at my email inboxes and at the Chicago Sun-Times.
I spend my day focused on my work and studies. Lately I’ve been reading Shakespeare, Adam Smith, various court opinions, and information about the English Civil War of the 17th century.
I do not doomscroll anywhere. I stay in touch with those I care about. I contact my elected reps when I have something I must tell them. I know my few words may make no appreciable impact in and of themselves, but I also know that, as a citizen of the republic, I have an obligation to participate.
I eat right and get enough rest. I do not drink much alcohol, and I don’t smoke (I used to be a drunk who smoked like a house afire; that was many years ago, and I am glad I lived to tell the tale).
In the evenings, I touch up old photographs while listening to the back catalogues of select musicians. I just finished Warren Zevon; next up is Camper Van Beethoven. A fellow needs a hobby, you know?
We’re going to be all right. Do I know that? No. But I insist on repeating it to myself and anyone I know who is concerned about what is happening to our nation and our world.
And I don’t pick fights. Not anywhere. Not on the Internet, and not in the physical world. But I will defend myself, in the manner I choose.
We are in this boat together, whether we like it or not. Panic and despair are not viable options. We are going to be all right.
One of my daughters quite succinct advice:
Stay woke, but not awake.
My other daughter and her husband are Department of State employees, serving overseas. They find that advice difficult to follow.
Sleep. Its about the only time I can turn my head off. Oh, and I can sleep a lot 16 hours, no problem, with bathroom breaks of course. Turn on my computer only every other day and then use it unplugged and when the battery runs out, put it away. Don’t watch the news any more, except for 10 min. of local news and some CBC here and there
Coping? Over the past months I’ve been consuming early British detective stories. In January I embarked on a re-read of the complete Sherlock Holmes. However, there seems to be no escape from the current situation. Today at lunch, whilst reading The Hound of the Baskervilles, this (fictional) excerpt from the Times…
‘You may be cajoled into imagining that your own special trade or your own industry will be encouraged by a protective tariff, but it stands to reason that such legislation must in the long run keep away wealth from the country, diminish the value of our imports, and lower the general conditions of life in this island.’
Just finished reading Charles Taylor’s COSMIC CONNECTIONS. The author philosophizes about what the romantic poets were attempting. The section on Baudelaire gave me a whole new language for articulating the depths of our current, distressing moment. And, Taylor makes the point that once experience is represented in language we beging to have leverage for change. His book on language probably ought to be read first. As usual, I get things backward. But I can live with that.
To my friends I define myself as an ALF (like from the show, I come in that form). An alien life force from the cosmic universe. Life’s connection is bigger than you, it includes the tens of thousands other forms that occupy the same space. There are 2B identified Christians in the world. There are 6B others. Figure it out. Learn how to breath and connect with yourself on how you connect with the universe. The answer has always been here. What is Zazen? what does fear do to the person who avoids life’s coping challenges? I agree with Marcy, make yourself stronger, for as Nelson Mandella said- weakness brings little and nothing to any endeavor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG42oMHGYZU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsCfll1hkag
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz0isvW_zZU
https://shambhala.org/community/blog/buddhism-on-fear-how-to-practice-meditation-for-fear-and-anxiety/
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I needed more characters in my name. What scares MAGA is the unknown. Their fear unaddressed creates their anxiety which feeds their anger. Their hate shrinks their world. Don’t let it shrink yours. Ask a MAGA friend to use AI by asking it to answer if there is a GOD. The J6 anger they channeled can’t be pardoned. As noted, many are repeating that same path. A couple men died by the gun of those that were represented by the officers defending that day against their assault. A woman from MO just got 17 years for vehicular manslaughter. Unless they change their path, they will self-destruct. No ill will to them. ALF-Centaurus. J14070b.
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Just finished reading Charles Taylor’s COSMIC CONNECTIONS. The author philosophizes about what the romantic poets were attempting. The section on Baudelaire gave me a whole new language for articulating the depths of our current, distressing moment. And, Taylor makes the point that once experience is represented in language we begin to have leverage for change. His book on language probably ought to be read first. As usual, I get things backward. But I can live with that.
Aside from commiserating with like minded Americans on substack, I’m listening to music, all sorts.
Night Fever (Bee Gees) on board at the mo.
We’ll get through this.
sort of a koan I adopted during my Zen vagabond years:
Always have hope; never have expectations
Perhaps you should revisit that time and that place for the answers you seek. Ever hear someone suggests to another that they go back from where they came from? Answer- I’m already here. There is no such thing as a MAGA world. It is the same world we all occupy. The same universe. Just because someone claims something, it doesn’t make it a mandate of yours. Anyone can claim- I’m a Christian. Fewer can back that up with what it says in the Bible
https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/what-is-a-koan/
As harmless as that link might seem, you do realize Peter Thiel is one of the seven investors in BigThink, yes?
It’s not a good look for contributor like Michio Kaku, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Bill Nye, Brian Klaas; it’s an upscale Substack, funded by Nazi money but without the obvious Nazi content and problematic moderation.
Linguistic comprehension is worth working for.
As for Zen, do your best with D. T. Suzuki.
I have limited news intake and have turned toward “action” in my adopted State of Wyoming. I suggest that not waging some push back in this place is a huge mistake. I testify and write emails all through this season and it is some wild stuff.
I invite everyone to try to participate if you want to watch it happen as Committee Meetings are a hoot and a farce.
https://www.wyoleg.gov/Calendar/20250203/Meeting
With Harriett Hageman becoming Governor of Wyoming in 2026, Public Lands are on the menu. Here is an article published in Cowboy State Daily which is funded by a billionaire and the managing editor is on the board of the Institute that produced the current CEO of Heritage.
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2025/02/03/internal-poll-shows-hageman-with-huge-lead-in-potential-governors-race/
Yes, we must not cede the public spaces where free speech is still happening!