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Message: [QUOTE="Karoline, post: 7938"] [URL='https://lissarankin.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wreckageusa.jpg'][IMG]https://lissarankin.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/wreckageusa.jpg[/IMG][/URL] No Kings protesters march along Farmers Lane in Santa Rosa, Saturday June 14, 2025. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat) I haven’t written about politics for a while, not because people send me hate mail and unsubscribe from my newsletter list every time I do, not because I lose money in my business from losing those customers and readers, but because I, one of the most verbose writers most of you have probably met, do not know what to say. I am speechless. Only I’m not making a speech. I am wordless, I suppose is more accurate. A part of me- many parts of me actually- have no words to describe the horror I feel every day when I religiously read [URL='https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/']Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters From An American. [/URL](Can I just say THANK GOD/GODDESS for her? Can we give her a Noble Prize [I]please[/I]? If you’re not reading her daily update about politics and how it relates to American History, you’re probably inadvertently ostriching right when all Americans who care about democracy, civil liberties, social justice, the economy, health care, world peace, the Constitution, climate crisis, ending genocides, protecting immigrant rights, maintaining due process, environmentalism, and equal rights for all need to be mobilizing.) Every day, I wake up and think about posting something about politics- because I believe silence is violence- and those of us with public platforms- who care- must use our voices to give voice to the voiceless. We must leverage the power and privilege we have to make it very clear that THIS IS NOT OKAY. NONE OF THIS IS OKAY. I wake up every day and I think about my BIPOC sister, and I want to say LISTEN TO HER and STOP LISTENING TO BIGOTED WHITE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO DISEMPOWER HER. But after every Heather Cox Richardson update, I feel inadequate to say anything more meaningful than “Read and listen to Heather Cox Richardson.” So today, I reached out to my BIPOC sister Keli Rankin and asked if she wanted to write something I could share with y’all. Here’s what she said. Ohhhh America’s political fuckery!!! That’s a huge can of worms I’ve been sitting on silently unaware if my opinion matters at all. It has been heartbreaking seeing the praise for Charlatan Kirk spewing hate and division. And like you said there are simply no words after a year of watching the majority of a country applauding actions that cause suffering to undeserving humans simply because of Trump and the 2025 great American dick measuring contest. However I do have a message I think someone may want to hear, so grab a cup of tea, give me an hour or so to put my words down right ,and I’ll assist in bringing your ratings down. Just remember- you asked. Otherwise I would remain silent.” And then my badass sister wrote this: [I]It’s no secret that America is currently in a state of pure fuckery. Right vs. Left, majority vs. minority, Us vs. Them, PseudoChristian vs. everyone else, yada yada yada. So what do we do now? Are we really asking that again? There is a clear historical plan of action in situations like this, and deviation is not in our DNA. So here’s what we do based on learned behavior that most of us are used to. This is not what I’m recommending; this is what I’m witnessing. For the non-marginalized…. Step 1: Regardless of what side of the ideology you align with, we are all granted the right to say WTF. This can be done anywhere and everywhere you see fit. Step 2: Find someone to blame, but NOT yourself. Some easy options to choose from: literally anyone who isn’t you or a family member. Okay, maybe a family member. Just NOT you. And no need to base this on facts. They aren’t necessary at this stage. Step 3: Tell anyone you can what “They”, the current governing body or political figure pissing you off, should be doing or should have done to avoid what’s currently going on. Again, no facts necessary for this step or expertise in anything related to government, politics, human behavior, history, etc. All you need is an opinion, a working voice box, or a Facebook account. Step 4, Part A: Do nothing! Do not research any facts. Do not get involved in local voting. Do not join any activist groups. Stop watching the news unless it’s in the form of a reel or an Instagram story. And for the love of equality, go for lots of hikes, bike rides, and new age spa-like situations- alone or with another friend who’s unhappy in America but knows extensive “self care” (aka pampering) will help to clear your head and center yourself (unless you are an immigrant, Trans, or a young black man- you all should just visualize self care while staying behind locked doors). Step 4, Part B: Make a sign and go to one or two protests. The catchier the sign, the better. After all, historically speaking, protesting isn’t very effective, but the signs provide much-needed entertainment in times of crisis and potential societal genocide. Step 5: Post or repost every stupid political meme, post, story, and photo with non-factual wording across the top so people know your stance on things, just make sure you include that if they disagree with you, then fuck them. Now is not the time to engage in healthy debate or finding common ground. Also while you wait for the next WTF situation to begin and start this process over, do NOT volunteer anywhere. Freely give out love and kindness, but if you do, make sure it’s because of what you get out of it and not what you put into it. There we go. Problem solved. For the marginalized: Do nothing. Do not get involved. Blame the non-marginalized. Remind them that you have been fighting all your life and that you are choosing to bow out of this one. Also remind them of your struggle but take zero personal responsibility for your current situation or actions that contribute to the struggle, Do not uplift or encourage each other. Stay divided based on past-down generational in-house hatred. Act like you don’t care because hard is your birthright instead of abundance and continue to take silent pleasure in watching white people cry for a change (don’t deny it, we all do it.) I am shaming no one, including myself. Hell, as a biracial woman, I do both plans and choose option B in step four. I am however posing a question better suited for who we are not, who we want people to think we are. Stop playing the game. Stop feeling angry, frustrated, or defeated and asking “What do we do now?” Honestly, I think its too late as far as politics are concerned. We all fucked around and found out privilege and blinders allowed evil a place at the table. Others found out acceptance and in-house division silences their power. So back to “What do we do?” We start by checking our expectations. When was the last time you were at a protest and at the end someone came out of the building and said “Great job. We changed the thing you have been yelling at us to change.” Exactly half past never has that happened. So that tells us there has to be something more effective. Violence, that’s an option. But again, when was the last time someone was shot and the outcome was “Okay, we will listen to you now”. The shooting of Charlatan Kirk did not do anything to change opinions, immigration laws, ignorance or evil. Violence is as equally non-effective as protesting. While it lets people know how you feel, it creates little change as a whole. Okay, I’ll get to my point now. We stop asking “What can we do?” and start asking “How much do I really care?” Change will come when people choose to be honest and practice love. Fuck politics. Corruption will continue- let it. We are more than our politics. We are the human family. Imagine if we acted like it. Don’t hold a sign in the sun for hours saying “Equality For Everyone” but all your friends share the same status economically and culturally as you. If we are equal why are you afraid to befriend a homeless person and invite them over for dinner? Stop saying “We need to take care of each other” and then drive right by the same person holding a “Help me” sign, day in and day out, keeping your window up as though he won’t notice you ignoring him or reminding him you don’t have time to be bothered. Go ahead and think voting in the right politician is the answer. Or that once Trump is out of office, we will be fine. NO WE WON’T. America has never been great. Some are privileged enough to not notice that America, for a shit ton of people, has been silently accepting of hate. It’s encouraged classism, racism, and sexism. It’s been selfish, “it’s been a not my problem,” “stay on your side of the tracks,” volunteer once a year to look good, and donate to charity as a tax write off. Or it’s abuse welfare because someone owes me something, look the other way, sucks to be you, competitive and back stabbing at the expense of others. So again, ask yourself “Do I really care? Or do I think I should care because what’s happening is awful, but since it’s not happening to me, I don’t care enough to act in a way everyday that creates the change my picket sign talks about. It’s okay if the answer is “I don’t actually care enough to really change the culture of America.” Because that’s what I think the problem is. No one wants to admit that what’s going on in America is exposure of the truth. Truth that the fuckery being displayed in the government is actually the same fuckery that exists in all things American- and always has. And no one can do anything about it, because at the end of the day, no one really cares enough to break the cycle. For example: Abortion laws. So you are mad as fuck that they made abortions illegal. Well, I know what will show them- vote in someone who stands for abortion and hope they can sway everyone else. Or mentor young girls in your community not on safe sex but on how to raise your own kid when no one is there to help. Be who they need so they don’t choose abortion and let’s lower the numbers a little. Then maybe it won’t be such a hot topic for right wing Christians. Maybe they can find something else to destroy. Change doesn’t happen by depending on someone else to do it for us. Change happens when we genuinely mean we want to see change, and we take responsibility for contributing our gifts. But what do I know? I’m just a chick with a cool sister who has followers, so maybe you will listen to Ghandi who said it best- “We must be the change we wish to see in the world”. Just imagine if little Trump had been wrapped in community love, shown a trade other than greed, and told he is enough- without orange skin and mail order brides. Just saying.[/I] [HEADING=1][B]Speak it, Sister!!![/B][/HEADING] Well, doesn’t that just take the piss out of you? I, for one, DO care. I am not willing to watch my country become a banana republic that gets swallowed up by Christian patriarchy and corrupt authoritarianism without doing something to stop it. Like my sister pointed out, I do go to every activist protest, carrying my “THIS IS MY RESISTING BITCH FACE” sign. My resisting bitch face was on the front page of the local paper The Press Democrat carrying that sign, right next to my partner Jeffrey Rediger, who carried the sign with the Paul Farmer quote, “The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that’s wrong with the world.” And yes, my sis is right. Carrying a cool sign is not enough. I also feel the need to protest here, with you all, on social media and the internet. Because this is one of the spaces where I have power and privilege, and I refuse to leverage that power and privilege by staying silent, even though it would personally benefit me to shut the fuck up, just like so many other boot-licking people with power and privilege are doing right about now. Yes, I’m talking to you Ivy League university presidents, and universities beyond the Ivies — Stanford, MIT, state flagships- that commodify DEI branding while silencing faculty or student activism under donor or political pressure. I’m talking to you, ABC, CNN, Facebook, Instagram, bystanding senators, and every other power broker who knows damn well what’s happening but won’t risk their funding, ratings, next election, or stock prices to tell the truth. I’m talking to you, online influencers, authors, therapists, doctors, healers, spiritual teachers, and coaches who preach love, light, and IFS but won’t take a goddamn stand for anything that needs a strong, unequivocal stand right now. You know who you are because parts of you feel ashamed just reading this at this moment in history, because you know I’m right and you’re still not willing to risk money, power, fame, popularity, or looking like a “good” or “spiritual” or “non-divisive” person right now. I’m talking to you, big-name foundations that claim to advance equity or climate solutions, but stay silent when speaking truth to power might jeopardize your board members’ corporate interests. I’m talking to you humanitarian NGOs that carefully avoid “political” stances so you don’t lose donors, even when people’s lives are on the line. I’m talking to you, Fortune 500 companies that post rainbow logos during Pride Month or black squares after George Floyd, but donate millions to politicians gutting LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive rights, voting rights, BIPOC rights, and climate policy. I’m talking to you, tech companies like Google, Amazon, and Apple who position yourselves as progressive employers while union-busting, lobbying against taxes, interrupting DEI initiatives, and enabling surveillance. I’m talking to you, legacy newspapers that run “both sides” coverage of authoritarian threats while platforming fascist voices in the name of “balance.” I’m talking to you, publishing houses and Hollywood studios that talk about inclusion, but silence or cancel projects that would risk political backlash or corporate sponsors. I’m talking to you, medical associations and elite hospitals that profess “health equity,” but won’t speak up about stripping away health care coverage rights, gun control, environmental racism, or systemic injustices that literally kill people- because it risks their political capital. I’m talking to you, mainline Protestant denominations, Catholic universities, and interfaith organizations that preach compassion and justice, but tiptoe around condemning Christian patriarchy, misogyny, or white supremacy for fear of losing congregants. [HEADING=1][B]When Are We Going To Do Something?[/B][/HEADING] Silence is complicity. Neutrality is a stance. Pretending not to know is a betrayal. I get why these people want to look progressive and say they value democracy, equity, truth, but when the cost of standing up becomes real – lost money, lost donors, lost viewers, lost shareholders, lost elections — they fold. That’s why it’s powerful to name them: to call out hypocrisy, not just silence. Maybe what I most want to say is this: if you are reading this, you too have power. Maybe not the kind of power that makes headlines or controls institutions, but the kind of power that shapes culture every day in conversations with your family, in your workplace, at your child’s school, in the books you choose to read, in the causes you donate to, and in the courage you show when you refuse to look away. We don’t all have to do everything, but we all have to do something. Some of us march. Some of us write. Some of us educate. Some of us make art. Some of us donate. Some of us call our senators every damn week until their staffers know our first names. But none of us gets to do nothing, not if we want to look our children, our neighbors, and ourselves in the eye and say “I did everything I could to stop this.” None of us gets off the hook if we want to retain our bitching rights and sleep soundly at night. I understand why some of you write to me and say “But I can’t. My mental health. I have to look away. I can’t handle it because of my trauma. It’s all too much. I’m overwhelmed. My nervous system can’t take it. I’m going to get sick if I get involved.” I get that. I really do, and I have a lot of compassion for those who say that. I get that some people’s nervous systems are so fragile that they collapse in the face of conflict. But I also have to say that excuses like that are a sign of your privilege. People with a lot of marginalizations may also have nervous systems that easily collapse in the face of conflict. But as Resmaa Menakem says in The Quaking Of America, most marginalized folks have at least had some practice tolerating conflict. Those with fewer marginalizations need to temper our nervous systems so we CAN do more, get more involved, and stay engaged, without collapsing because of our nervous system fragility. Using your mental health or nervous system capacity as an excuse to ignore what’s happening is proof that you think you’ll be better off if you just bypass politics and watch as a bystander from the sidelines. That’s proof right there that YOU are not the one they’re hauling off without due process. YOU are not the one whose rights are getting stripped. YOU are not the one losing your money, your job, your power, your human rights. If you were, you’d do something. You’d HAVE to do something, because the alternative is to practice learned helplessness, to roll over, to blend with parts that get listless and suicidal and dissociated, So if you’ve been waiting for the “right moment” to speak, to act, to resist—this is it. There is no cavalry coming. There is no neutral ground. There is only us, together, and history will remember whether we fought for democracy and justice or let it all slip away while we scrolled Instagram. I may not always know exactly what to say or do, but I know I refuse to be silent. [I]PS. Yes, I know Jimmy Kimmel is back on air in some local stations (and not others) tonight, but I wrote this before all of us canceling our Disney subscriptions actually did something, so I still included ABC in the list of boot-lickers who caved. If you’re one of the people who actually did something and cancelled your Disney subscription in protest, good job![/I] The post [URL='https://lissarankin.com/am-i-the-only-one-feeling-helpless-to-stop-the-wreckage-of-my-country/']Am I The Only One Feeling Helpless To Stop The Wreckage Of My Country?[/URL] first appeared on [URL='https://lissarankin.com']Lissa Rankin[/URL]. [/QUOTE]

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