Do Less. Go Deep.
I decided—as did many others I know—not to watch or engage with the inauguration in any way. Since I remain floored that the people of the United States have so little sense that they supported the election of a fascist, and since I know that those of us actually paying attention know what havoc this man and his lackeys will unleash, thus I believe that ignoring him and the spectacle that surrounds him to be prudent.
However, while I will continue to ignore him and his family, I will NOT ignore his actions and policies. Those of us who hold some amount of privilege, whose lives are not in immediate danger, have three choices: 1) we can complain and be upset about what is happening and feel that moaning about it is enough (and we can doom scroll our way through the days, weeks, months, and years), 2) we turn our backs on everything and just assume it’ll be fine and live in our own little worlds, or 3) we can fight back at every turn in whatever ways feel right for us.
If you’re looking for the correct answer, it is option three. It has always been and will always be option three.
Just this past Sunday, I had my friend Juliet as the guest on Tutto Italiano (a show I host about once every six weeks with my daughter, Rafaella on Radio Kingston). Juliet has a notorious great-grandfather Vincenzo Vicarca, famous among Italian socialists and Italian anti-fascists. He ran newspapers in the USA decrying Il Duce and his fascist ways which made Vincenzo a target of Mussolini himself, as well as fascist Italians living in Italy and the US. The reason I bring this up is because while she and I were talking about this important time in history and how people chose to either fight against the oppressive and violent forces or “join in” with the vile party (or parties, since well, Nazi’s were part of the equation too) I couldn’t believe just how short our memories are. And now I’m wondering if it’s not about memory but rather that people in the US today are engaging in the deliberate act of ignoring history. If the latter is the case, we can then also assume that those people (and maybe not all, but it gives me pause) are really okay with The Government stripping people of their Human Rights.
A few months back on this Substack, I shared the statement, “We are all partigiani now” and I’m saying it again. There is no middle ground here. You are either against fascism and authoritarianism and the deporting of immigrants and the violence against Trans and Queer people and the deliberate destruction of the planet for profit, or you are for it. Simply, if you don’t speak out against these things and do what is right to support those being directly harmed, then you are complicit in supporting these policies. So many people have already shown that they are okay with a genocide as long as it is happening to brown people thousands of miles away. Will you act the same way when the mass violence is being done to the brown people who live and work in your community? Do I really have to quote Martin Niemöller?
If you are unsure what to do, or what you are capable of doing, there are many organizations locally and nationally that are inviting folks into membership or training so you can find your voice. And, as a peace educator who is exhausted, I realize that trying to shift the governing forces in our corrupt nation-state won’t happen anytime soon, but we can make change in our own lives, with our own communities, our children, and teachers and local leaders. Start there.
Just last week during my regular Zen Peacemakers Order meeting as we were contemplating how to live into our vow, the phrase “Do Less, Go Deep” came to me. As a person who tries to do all the things, I found this gift of insight to be profound. I will focus on the things I feel really called to do as a peace educator—less is more— and I will go deeply, profoundly into that work.
One of my favorite Dr King quotes is: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
We cannot be silent.
We have rage and sadness…let that motivate us to fight for change.
We see pain and suffering…let that inspire us to protect our most vulnerable.
We feel grief and even despair…let us transform that to build and carry hope.