Where Do We Find Power?

Trump's election, and the Republican sweep of Congress have left many of us feeling stunned, sick, and powerless. I find myself going through all the stages of grief--or at least the beginning stages: Denial--this can't be real!  Searching-- mostly for an explanation. How did this happen? What does it mean? Who do we blame? Rage, anger, frustration and tremendous sadness, coupled with a deep underlying sense of dread. I don’t expect to come through to the later stages of acceptance and restitution for a long time, maybe another four years, and that’s if we’re lucky.  We are all familiar these days with the concept of post-traumatic stress. I fnd myself feeling what I can only call pre-traumatic stress:  fear anxiety, and despair over what may happen, even though it has not happened yet.

As someone who has often done trauma support, I know the most damaging aspect of trauma is not the blow itself, but the powerlessness that goes with it.  We are in for some hard times, but we do not have to succumb to helplessness and despair. To protect our own mental health, and to continue to protect as many vulnerable communities, species and life-sustaining systems as we can, to continue to build toward a world of greater justice, it is vital that we do not abandon our sense of agency, and take power wherever we can find it.

And there are many sources of that power that we have available, if we choose to use them.

First, power means more than one thing. Power-over is perhaps the variety we’re most familiar with: the power one group or individual has to determine the resources or choices of another, to impose sanctions or punishments, to use force or violence. We encounter that power every day, sometimes in benign forms, sometimes in systems of oppression and repression. We are about to see that power wielded in ever more cruel and ruthless ways.

But there is another kind of power, that kind of power I call power from within: spiritual power, moral courage, creativity, skill and ability. The word ‘power’ comes from the Latin potere, related to potency and potential, to our ability to do, to think, to envision and imagine, to speak our truth. That kind of power is unlimited. If I have the power to write, that doesn’t take away your power to do the same, or to create in some other way.  It might even inspire you.  No one can take this kind of power away from us, and we always have it available.

When we find our power from within, we can combine it with others’ power to create power-together, or solidarity, That’s the type of power that results when we make connections, work together, and act together. Again, that type of power is always available, and we will need it more than ever in the time to come.

There's one more form of power, that we might call social power, or influence. Progressives may have lost political power in this election, but all of us still have a sphere of influence and tools of communication available that can expand those spheres. We can use that influence in what we say, write, create, and in every way we communicate to others.

So, how do we wield these various forms of power?

We start by doing those things we need to do to take care of ourselves, to maintain our health, our homes, and our communities, whether that's doing the laundry, planting the garden, going to the dentist, or fixing something that's broken. Self-care is not just bubble baths—it’s about pulling off the road and stopping the car when you need to send a text. And sleeping, It's very difficult to sleep when you are flooded with rage, frustration and anxiety, but there's nothing that you will be able to do at 4:00 AM that will make the world better. Getting a good night's sleep will help protect your health and ability to function. So I have a rule: no thinking about Trump and politics after 11:00 PM.  I love the late night comics, and laughter is important to get us through these terrible times, but I watch them the next day on YouTube and put myself to bed with something more soothing. These things won't change the world, but they can help maintain our equilibrium so that we're in a better state to do those things that may change the world.

We can nurture our power-from-within by having some kind of ongoing spiritual practice that keeps us grounded and centered and helps us connect to those deeper powers of creativity and compassion that move the universe. For me, this means spending some time each day in nature, whether that's out in the wild or simply observing what's growing in the cracks in the parking lot. Nature reminds me that death and decay are the basis of fertility and regeneration.  And even if you’re an atheist and don’t think of yourself as spiritual, nature can still offer healing.  Whatever practice you prefer, now is the time we need that regularity and discipline more than ever.

We can connect with others.  That’s how we build power-together.  This could mean forming an affinity group—a small group of trusted friends to study the situation, take action together and organize. The Feminist movement of the ‘70s and ‘80s built our agenda and our strategy from our revelations in consciousness-raising groups, small groups of women who came together to share their own lived experiences under patriarchy.  The Civil Rights movement of the ‘60s organized Freedom Schools in the South to teach Black history and empowerment. We can form self-help groups, mutual aid groups, permaculture guilds, and community organizations to help mitigate bad policies and initiate positive programs. 

Organizing in our local communities to prepare for and respond to natural disasters can be a way to connect across political divides.  In my neighborhood, we’ve formed volunteer groups to manage our forests to reduce wildfire danger, for example.  Over the past three years we’ve donated thousands of hours of time to make our access roads safer and reduce the risks we face in case of fire.  After Hurricane Katrina, activists with Common Ground Relief set up a medical clinic, helped distribute supplies and provided bioremediation. After Hurricane Sandy, Occupy New York helped deliver supplies to elders trapped in upper-floor apartments and provided community aid. Work could be done to mitigate drought and flood risks, establish communication networks when the grid goes down, and assure that all community members can be cared for.  Such efforts build agency and solidarity, increase awareness about climate change and the need for a larger response, and create connections we can draw on for greater political change.

Together with others, we can use our solidarity to build the resistance, and refuse to cooperate with repression.  Timothy Snyder, expert on the rise of fascism and authoritarianism, says “Do not obey in advance”. It's easy to be intimidated by the sheer force of power-over, but when we resist, we often find that power is not as absolute as it appears. There are many ways we can slow the onslaught.

No system of power, no matter how extensive, can afford to actually enforce every decree. Authoritarian power works by convincing us to voluntarily obey. For example, if we had to enforce our road regulations by stationing a traffic cop at every stoplight, we could never afford to do so. We obey voluntarily because, in that case, we understand that it's to our benefit to stop on the red and go on the green. If an authoritarian regime imposes rules that are oppressive and unfair, we can choose not to self-police. This might mean anything from not silencing ourselves and continuing to loudly and publicly speak our criticisms, to organized civil resistance and nonviolent civil disobedience.

For example, we could use these two months to organize an emergency response network, to mobilize people to stand between immigrants and mass roundups and deportations. We can pressure our local governments and law enforcement to refuse to participate. Back in the ‘70s, before abortion was legal, feminists organized self-health clinics to learn to do community scale medical support, and established networks for safe transport for women needing emergency care or fleeing abusive situations. We can march, protest, petition, turn some of those postcard-writing groups that supported Harris into groups to pressure politicians, find new, progressive candidates to run for local and state-level office and organize to support them.

And we can find many ways to leverage our social power, our influence.  While the alt-right has an extensive media network and stables of Russian bots, we have one another and access to many forms of communication.  In the long run, we need to find effective forums to counter the onslaughts of propaganda and disinformation, but in the meantime, we can all raise our voices in our own spheres of influence.  We can counter rampant misogyny by speaking out loudly and clearly and saying “No, we do not accept hatred of women!”  How about a Real Men Respect Women campaign?  “My body—your choice: respect women or crawl back to your basement!”.

It's important not just to contest hate speech, but to model support and empowerment for women and all genders.  I often hear young men asking, “Where’s my place in the movement?”  Here’s one thing men can do best—talk to other men and be examples of strong, empowered men secure enough to respect and support women and gender-diverse folks.  They can openly reject toxic masculinity and dominance and make it uncool.  Women can make it clear that we demand and expect respect, that we are not baby-breeding machines but full human beings, nor do we find the rapists and the misogynists to be attractive or sexy. Folks who are queer or gender diverse can be loud and proud, demanding respect for their own humanity and unique perspectives on the world. We can use all the tools in our disposal to create art, stories, memes, songs, theater and videos that show up the moral bankruptcy of the bigots and reflect the beauty and excitement of a diverse, welcoming and empowering culture. 

Finally those of us who identify as progressives can make this an opportunity to reflect on our own movement.  The alt-right has weaponized our flaws and demonized our brands, but the truth is that even self-identified conservatives actually support the policies we stand for. Even in this horrible election, red states voted to keep abortion legal, to raise the minimum wage, to protect unions, and to adopt other progressive policies. Even that sense of grievance that the right wing has so preyed upon, by right should be fuel for movements that challenge authoritarian power, not concede to it. We can take this  opportunity to look at some of our norms and assumptions, to see where we might do things differently and more effectively, and build a more broad, inclusive and powerful movement.

 I will continue to explore these ideas in more depth my online book in progress and its sister podcast, The Movement we Need.

  I encourage you to do your own thinking and self-reflection, avoid lashing out at our friends and allies in anger, and find new, creative ways of thinking and organizing that can help us contend with this grim political environment, mitigate the damage, protect all we can, and gain the power we need to heal and transform.