Do not despair in advance

The title of this post is taken from the comments under a photo by rblemberg, in which Lemberg documents their letterpress project — a quote from Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny. (I strongly recommend Snyder's own writing in this regard: clear-eyed and realistic about the dangers posed by various fascist authoritarians around the world, practical in its suggestions to resist it.) Preemptive despair has been causing me increasing frustration over the past months and years, and in some ways my own shifts in political thinking have been in direct reaction to these frustrations — sparked as well by numerous global examples of people (as individuals and grassroots communities) with far less agency than I reacting to far worse situations than the political turmoil of flawed democracies with determined, persistent concrete action. It was this, more than anything, that convinced me that the antidote to despair (preemptive or otherwise) is action, no matter how small and no matter how many doubts one may privately be harbouring about its effectiveness. Look with clear eyes at the situation, recognise the limits of your own power, and then ask yourself: okay, but what can I do next?

(I also think it's a good idea to look beyond the borders of one's own country of residence, because it reinforces the fact that there is a continuum of difficulty when it comes to overcoming the threat posed by authoritarianism, and the easiest way to do it is at the ballot box, after which point it becomes increasingly dangerous and difficult.)

I'm fortunate to live in a country that has experienced something of a reprieve, but that doesn't mean we in Britain can just sit back and let the grown-ups take over. Voting every three-five years at an election is like the minimum 'rent' we pay for the privilege to live in a democracy, but democracy is like a muscle, which should be exercised more regularly than that with ongoing political engagement. thissterlingcrew is a good Dreamwidth comm to gather resources and outline specific concrete actions which citizens and/or residents of the UK can undertake in response to political developments in that country. Although we now have a Labour government, the comm will remain active, as this government is a starting point, and will no doubt need to be pushed in the right direction on many occasions.

thisfinecrew is the US politics sister comm to the above. I particularly appreciated this recent post there by petra, 'Things to do other than vote,' which takes a realistic and concrete approach to the risks currently facing the US, and offers practical suggestions in the face of those risks.

I have numerous posts about Russia's ongoing fullscale invasion of Ukraine, most with their own practical suggestions of concrete ways to help Ukraine survive and fight back until the victory. This is the most recent one.

On a smaller, and less global political scale, the recent allegations of rape and sexual coercion against Neil Gaiman (summarised in recent posts by snickfic here and muccamukk here and here) have left many people here on Dreamwidth and the wider fandom community appalled and outraged. One practical direction in which people may wish to channel their anger is by donating to any of the New Zealand-based non-profits providing resources for survivors of sexual assault gathered by chestnut_pod.

Please feel free to list in the comments any suggested concrete actions in relation to the political situation in your own country, or in response to other enraging or upsetting events. Do not despair in advance, and remember that the antidote to despair is action.