Dan DeWalt, a frequent contributor to these pages and one of the founders of this newspaper, writes that if he didn't love his country, he "wouldn't spend so much time trying to get it to live up to its purported principles."
NEWFANE-On April 5, 2,000 people in Brattleboro, 10,000 in Montpelier, thousands in Burlington - in all, 20 or so Vermont towns and cities saw around 20,000 people turn out to say no to the Trump tyranny and the greed of the oligarchy.
Up to 3 million people across the nation showed up in solidarity with one another and with the Constitution. This was truly a pivotal day, where We The People stopped spinning in disarray and chose instead to move forward as one body to begin the long and arduous work of wresting our nation back from the fevered grip of MAGA and the billionaires.
So, that was fun - what do we need to do now?
Rest assured, Trump and his cronies will not go gently into the night. The actions of April 5 will alarm them, but they will react by swearing vengeance against all of us who dare to protest. And we have already seen that they have the penchant and capacity to exercise violent repression when they are shown to be arrogant fools and lawbreakers.
So we continue to move forward with more protests, more boycotts of MAGA-supporting corporations, more strike actions that will be necessary to bring the lawlessness to an end.
And as we do so, we will need to protect ourselves from the inevitable backlash, both from the MAGA machine and from its supporters who will feel compelled to defend it.
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As strange as it may seem to us, there is every reason to imagine that martial law, a state of emergency, or an official deputizing of MAGA zealots or even military occupation may come into play as Trump struggles to consolidate dictatorial powers, driven by his narcissism and his fear of going to prison once power is taken away from him.
I would strongly urge us all to develop affinity groups for our protection and for future actions.
An affinity group is a small group of people - two or more - who have organized themselves to act on behalf of one another, whether to offer mutual aid, to take care of specific community needs, or to plan actions.
Each of us can get the ball rolling simply by connecting with a person we know and trust, speaking with them about their concerns, vulnerabilities, aspirations, skills, and availability, then determining if they are willing to move forward and organize a group around these commonalities.
With that small core of folks, you then reach out to others to seek those who share your goals and who might want to become part of the group. Generally, it works best to not make a group number much more than a dozen folks, for the purposes of logistics, planning, and coherence.
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Find out from each member what their needs and strengths are.
Are there green card holders, or other people who are now being targeted by MAGA who need a protection plan should ICE come swooping in to attempt a kidnapping?
Are there members who depend on a Social Security check and who would be bereft if payments were to suddenly stop coming or be drastically reduced?
Does someone in the group have great IT skills? Does someone have gardening and food storage expertise? Who communicates well? Who are the introverts? The extroverts?
As we face the possibility of civil unrest, no one among us should be left alone. We should all have others who will have our backs as we sail into these turbulent waters.
When your group has fully fleshed out its assets and vulnerabilities, you can plan how to protect your vulnerable individuals, how to promote your aspirations, and how to work as a trusted unit.
If your group wants to focus only on mutual aid but you recognize the future need for civil disobedience, strike/boycott organizing, and similar actions, you could form a second affinity group that is focused on planning active defense, civil disobedience, organization of boycotts or strikes.
What matters is that each affinity group has a solid understanding of what its purpose is and how your concrete plans will ensure that that purpose will be fulfilled.
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In the 1930s and early '40s, citizens of Germany and Italy - to choose just two examples - would have laughed off the idea that they would soon be under the thumb of fascists, let alone that many of them would become collaborators in their own right.
We do not have the luxury of thinking that this could not happen to us. It can - and if we don't act now, it most likely will.
Just as American media and many everyday Americans cheered as they watched footage of people running across bridges to escape America's "smart" bombs during our "shock and awe" in Iraq, so will many support the continued persecution of people of color, trans people, protesters, et al. - until they find themselves on the wrong side of a proverbial gun barrel when they inadvertently fall out of MAGA's good graces.
We cannot allow ourselves to be led down that road.
To reverse this slippery descent into tyranny, poverty, and fear, we need strong communities, tried and tested affinity groups, and commitments that require not just good will but hard work on all of our parts.
The Hands Off actions and numbers should buoy us all. We do have the power. We can bring the MAGA corporations to their knees, de-fund the oligarchy, and begin anew the struggle to live up to the ideals so famously promulgated when our Republic was established.
It will take hard work but, just like the recent marches, we can do it with a spring in our step, joy in our countenances, and love in our hearts.
And the Peoples' Resistance Marching Band will keep showing up to provide a soundtrack.
This Voices Viewpoint was submitted to The Commons.
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