Let’s Talk on Tuesday

My friend Occult Librarian says that the Gods favor democracy not because it’s the most efficient form of government but because it’s the form of government that forces us, as humans, to grow. Grassroots activists often say that democracy is not a spectator sport. In other words, you need take action, to get some skin in the game. In her new book, Hit ‘Em Where It Hurts, How to Save Democracy by Beating Republicans at Their Own Game, Rachel Bitecofer has a good discussion of this topic.

“Whatever ‘skin’ looks like is entirely up to you. Maybe you commit to doing something minor and regular, like making it a point to switch any community TV tuned to Fox News (which seems to be omnipresent in gyms, motel lobbies, and waiting rooms across America) to something — anything –else. But I hope you put more skin into this game than just that.

If your state allows it, maybe your involvement is as simple as signing yourself (and your spouse, if you have one) up for absentee voting, so you can vote by mail weeks before Election Day. But I hope you and your spouse commit to doing more than that too.

Maybe your role in defending American democracy is to run for your local school board so you can personally hold public schools accountable for teaching basic civics to our kids, or so you can show Moms for Liberty that other parents have rights too.

Maybe you’d like to see who else shows up at the next meeting of your local Democratic Party? You, even you, probably aren’t a regular! In fact, I’m guessing most of you don’t even belong to your county Democratic Party! I’ll never forget what a political mentor once told me: that in politics the real power belongs to the volunteers who set up the folding chairs and make the coffee before everyone else arrives. Maybe your role, when in this meeting, is to asses the strength of their messaging, or to offer punchier messages; maybe it’s to show ’em how to come up with a good wedgie! Or maybe your role is to help them come up with a specific plan of action for winning Democrats more power on Election Day.

Maybe you commit to reading the political news section of whichever website you log on to before checking your emails at the office, even when the headlines seem dull. Political news coverage may be frustrating, but again, you can’t be outraged about things you don’t know are happening. Does your source of news gloss over political coverage? Find another one. Did your favorite radio reporter just commit bothsidesism by giving the Republican an opportunity to push false propaganda? Let that reporter or his editor know (respectfully) that America can no longer afford that kind of political coverage if they value American democracy.”