We are compromised, but not powerless to prevent the Trump campaign promises from destroying our ideals.
Friends:
After a two plus year absence from social media, I find myself forced to make myself public again. Silence in the face of tyranny is complicity and I cannot make myself complicit in the unfolding of an agenda that I find personally repulsive and reprehensible.
Over the past few days I have been asked countless times, "What can we do now?" and I have begun organizing my thoughts. My initial impression was dour. With all three branches of government effectively under Trump's control, our first recourse to political solutions is two years away in the mid-term elections. By that time untold damage could be done to our communities and our institutions. We must act outside of the political arena if we are to frustrate the evil wind that has caught our nation's sails.
Here is a brief list of initial ideas that could have influence:
- Identify and damage the businesses that supported Trump. There are companies and businesses whose CEOs vocally supported Mr. Trump despite his rhetoric. Stop doing business with them. Your plumber vocally supported Trump? Find a new plumber. Identify the businesses that fell in line behind Trump and stop patronizing them. Loud Trump supporters at your favorite bar? Find a new favorite bar. Do this vocally. "I will no longer be shopping here because of your support for Mr. Trump," or "I feel that I am in danger in this bar." Review your investment portfolio and find the political leanings of the CEOs of the companies in which you hold stock. Sell your stock in any company where the CEO supported Trump. Do the same for your cell service, your cable provider, and your credit cards. I will do my best to research and publish those that I have identified. As a personal endeavor, I am going to try to identify those businesses in my community and publish them here and via other media. Small businesses are the easiest targets. Don't forget, Clinton won the popular vote. Most Americans are with us.
- Boost the businesses that did not support Trump. If you own a business, put a sign in your window that states, "We welcome all persons regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, gender, and political opinion. You are safe here." I am thinking about printing signs like this and attempting to have them posted in businesses in my community.
- Do not cooperate. Anticipating the "deportation force" proposed by Mr. Trump, it is a prime time to reinforce the fact that no one can be compelled to talk to law enforcement. Everyone reading should simply state, "I have a lawyer and I have been advised to make no statements and provide no documents to you without my lawyer present." I want CITIZENS saying this too, not just the targets. If we, the citizens of this country also refuse to cooperate with the deportation force, we can delay their agenda. "I am Spartacus". They cannot arrest us all and the more time they spend sorting out the targets from the rest of us the less they can accomplish.
Please feel free to contribute ideas to add to this list.
