How To Channel Your Post-Election Anxiety/Grief and Make A Difference

This is not a comprehensive list. Consider it a starter pack.

Edit: You don't need to do ALL of these things at once. But you do need to do the bare minimum, and hopefully can add a few more things from the list to your plate as you go. Incremental progress. Celebrate the small wins and keep working toward the big wins.

Edit 2: If you aren't sure how to go about getting involved with one of these things, need help finding your elected officials, want some book recommendations, or need help finding groups to support either in your area or for a specific cause, DM me and I will try to help you if I can.

BARE MINIMUM CIVIC ENGAGEMENT:

  1. Get involved locally. Attend your local town council meetings. Find out what is going on in your town. Go find the local headquarters for your party of preference - I promise you there is one, even if you think you are the lone blue dot in your area. State and local affairs are about to be the whole ballgame people, so get involved in your local community - however you can. Affect change on a small level. Do not let anything slip by you for lack of being informed.
  2. Educate Yourself & Vote ALWAYS. Educate yourself (and hopefully others!) on every single election you are eligible to vote in, and VOTE in every single election you are eligible to vote in.
  3. Comment on Proposed Regulations. People always seem to forget this one. Here's a WH link that explains how you can comment on federal regulations, but you almost certainly can comment on your state regs too. This is important because regulators are obliged to address comments in certain situations. They really do matter, so keep tabs on what they're doing and (ESPECIALLY where you have expertise) comment on them! Regulations touch EVERYTHING - from health and safety standards, to land conservation/habitat protection, securities regulation - there is something here for everyone.

GIVE YOUR TIME:

  1. Volunteer To Help People Vote. Volunteer as a poll worker for any local elections occurring next year. Offer to drive people to the polls, help register people to vote, etc.
  2. Keep tabs on your elected officials and contact them. Call, write, and follow your local, state, and federal representatives. Tell your friends and family what they are up to. Be the squeaky wheel you were born to be.
  3. RUN FOR SOMETHING. Run for a school board. Run for a town council seat. Run for a committee. Apply to a state or a county board of some sort. More info/help on this at places like Run for Something, Emily's List, Democracy for America, Veterans Campaign, New Leaders Council (non-exhaustive list).
    • Millennials: Worried about the fact that you put everything on Facebook as an 17-24 year old? Literally who cares. We were all drunk once or did a drug or crashed a car or slept with a bunch of people - you have a fully cooked frontal lobe now. If you are a good person, with good ideas, who cares about the future of your town/state/country - it will not matter.
  4. Volunteer on Campaigns. Not a camera-facing person? Volunteer on a campaign. You can write letters, you can phone-bank, you can door-knock. You can host a campaign event. You can do SO many things. There are literally activities for every single personality, budget, and schedule imaginable.
  5. Volunteer with Community Groups. Are you a communications person? Can you help a local nonprofit amplify their message? Are you a grant writer? Can you help a conservation or environmental group secure available funding? Are you a plumber? Can you help fix a leak for free at a local community center? What are you good at? I bet more than you think, so find some groups you care about and get to work.

GIVE YOUR MONEY (even a $5 monthly donation can make a difference!):

  1. Pro-Democracy Groups. Donate to and support groups that work to preserve democracy. (The ACLU, Citizens for Responsiblility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Common Cause, etc.)
  2. Human Rights Groups. Donate to and support human rights groups. (Planned Parenthood, National Network of Abortion Funds, The Southern Poverty Law Center, NAACP, Humans Rights Watch).
  3. Environmental Causes. Donate to and support environmental causes. The Environmental Defense Fund, The Wilderness Society, The Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Audobon Society, Earthjustice are great federal ones (and will be very important in the coming years), but you likely have VERY IMPORTANT state and local groups as well. Find them!! Give them your money!

CHANGE YOUR HABITS & PROTECT YOUR PEACE:

  1. Adjust your eating habits. Trump will wreck climate progress. Right now, we cannot stop that. But you can adjust how much beef you eat (far and away the worst protein source on carbon emissions and deforestation). Better yet, give up meat altogether, but don't let perfect be the enemy of good. (This also applies to things like buying less plastic, fewer new clothes, etc.)
  2. Grow nature. Plant native plants. Plant them in your yard, on your balcony, in your kitchen - wherever. Grow a garden. Turn your whole damn yard into a garden. Replace your grass with clover. STOP RAKING YOUR LEAVES. Join a group that tends a community garden. Lobby your work office to put bird stickers on the windows to reduce bird strikes. Volunteer with your state fish and wildlife commission. This will bring you immense joy and help create better bioversity and a healthier environment in your community.
  3. Talk with your money. Stop shopping at places like Amazon. Support your farmers markets, your local shops and services - even if it means spending a few more dollars. Your dollars are speech. Avoid condoning oligarchal bullshit with your speech.
  4. Become Informed. Read Books. Books on democracy. Books on history. Books on fascism. Books on free speech. Books on climate change. Books about human rights. Books, or, alternatively - places like The Guardian and Mother Jones do some pretty decent long-form investigative journalism. And please, for the love of God, buy said books second-hand.
  5. Find your people. Build community. Do something with them that brings you joy. I have three degrees in US politics and law. I wish I did not know what I know. As to how bad things could get - the limit does not really exist. So, I don't know how bad it's going to be, but I do know that we will need our people. We will need to let others lean on us when they are struggling, and in turn we will be able to lean on them when we need it.
  6. Take a break every now and then. This is likely going to be an onslaught of bad. Stay informed. Be a witness, hustle hard - But also take breaks. Take naps. Play music. Paint pictures. Take your dog on a hike.
  7. Do good things. Follow the golden rule. In the words of someone smarter than me - do as much good as you can, for as many people (and as many species!) as you can, for as long as you can.

Godspeed my friends.