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ck4829

(34,905 posts)
Tue Jul 11, 2017, 08:39 AM Jul 2017

Multitask! (Just a little bit)

The problem is systemic and so the response needs to be multi-pronged. Voting and getting adequate representation is just one prong, but doing it alone will not fix the problem, we need real bottom-up resistance, things we can do, things we have to do in order to get the ball rolling for a real recovery.

Just some key things that we need to do:

Realize the full implication of Trumpcare, it's to help the people who already have capital at the expense of those who have none. Learn about preventive medicine and teach others what you can about it. Trumpcare will not save you.

On that note, we have to realize that healthcare in the US is less about prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of illnesses, injuries, and disabilities, but more about control; control of the 'wrong' people, excluding them, creating differences in class, race, and gender, and more. Spreading the word about this and finding ways to mitigate this control is vital if we want real healthcare in the US.

We need to fight against endangerment. We need to find ways to actually reduce the harm one encounters when one is unemployed, uninsured, or any other kind of 'un'. Fighting against disparities can start with simply noticing that they exist, this is something we can do too.

Think and act globally for a moment. Liberal Russians who are opposed to Putin and the whistle blowers in the molds of Sergei Magnitsky and Alexander Litvinenko, Filipinos opposed to Duterte, and progressive Muslims like Noor Tagouri, ISPU, and the MPV aren't our allies... no, they are our brothers and sisters. All three face erasure from authoritarians and fundamentalists and not to mention the last group applies to us as well, with the right wing saying "Cold War's over, new Crusade now!" If we're not pulling these people in with us and if we're not fighting alongside them in some way, then we're not fighting at all.

And finally, for the sake of this post, we need to look at the Executive Branch and the power it has. Trump as POTUS has demonstrated that maybe no one man should have all that power, and if the choice is between resisting authoritarianism, standing against bullying, saying no to romanticizing war, protecting the environment, and more on one side and "respect for the office of the President" on the other, we have to side with the former or what are we? We have to crack the bully pulpit.

And so much more.

The challenge is high, but so is the risk, but it can be done, even through just a little bit every day or if you can't then giving some measure of support to those who can. I just hope we are up to the challenge.

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