Watching Fedi and the world react to the US president go absolutely unhinged in public, threatening war crimes as his cognitive grip disintegrates before our eyes, watching the horror and the outage…there is something I want to tell you from Minneapolis.
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I never quite understood what Carolyn Forché meant when she said “the choice is ourselves or nothing.”
I think maybe I do now.
5/
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You don’t know what’s going to happen. You don’t know what to do. You feel powerless. Nothing you can do seems like it could possibly be enough.
And then the work is there, on your doorstep, in your hands, and you •just do it• because that is what you do.
Nobody is coming to save you. The choice is ourselves or nothing. The moment you believe that, that you •know• it in your bones, is the moment the work truly begins.
6/
My fellow people of the United States, if I have anything to teach from what Minneapolis just lived through, it is this:
Nobody is coming to save us.
Not Congress. Not the courts. Not the ICC or the EU or NATO. Not the generals or the rank and file. Not the press. Not the markets. Not the elections. Not some mythical version of “The People” that materializes out of nowhere as some messianic external force.
We’re it. We’re all we’ve got. If we don’t stop fascism from completely engulfing the US, then nobody stops it.
7/
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My fellow people of the United States, if I have anything to teach from what Minneapolis just lived through, it is this:
Nobody is coming to save us.
Not Congress. Not the courts. Not the ICC or the EU or NATO. Not the generals or the rank and file. Not the press. Not the markets. Not the elections. Not some mythical version of “The People” that materializes out of nowhere as some messianic external force.
We’re it. We’re all we’ve got. If we don’t stop fascism from completely engulfing the US, then nobody stops it.
7/
“OK, but what then?!” you ask me, “What are we supposed to do? What is your grand plan for ending this?? What more am I supposed to do?!”
I want you to know that I spent all of December and January here in Minnesota racking my brains with this very question, and I never found an answer. Nothing could possibly be enough. I had no idea what to do. We had no idea what to do. And we were already doing it.
The whole time, we were lost — and we were already doing it.
8/
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My fellow people of the United States, if I have anything to teach from what Minneapolis just lived through, it is this:
Nobody is coming to save us.
Not Congress. Not the courts. Not the ICC or the EU or NATO. Not the generals or the rank and file. Not the press. Not the markets. Not the elections. Not some mythical version of “The People” that materializes out of nowhere as some messianic external force.
We’re it. We’re all we’ve got. If we don’t stop fascism from completely engulfing the US, then nobody stops it.
7/
@inthehands A labor organizer once told my colleagues & me something along the same lines to what you're saying now, and I've come back to it again and again in the years since, since applies in many contexts:
"If you’re waiting for the cavalry to come over the hill, they’re not coming. It’s just you, but you are enough."It's just us, but we are enough!
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“OK, but what then?!” you ask me, “What are we supposed to do? What is your grand plan for ending this?? What more am I supposed to do?!”
I want you to know that I spent all of December and January here in Minnesota racking my brains with this very question, and I never found an answer. Nothing could possibly be enough. I had no idea what to do. We had no idea what to do. And we were already doing it.
The whole time, we were lost — and we were already doing it.
8/
@inthehands 90% of winning a fight is ... showing up.
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“OK, but what then?!” you ask me, “What are we supposed to do? What is your grand plan for ending this?? What more am I supposed to do?!”
I want you to know that I spent all of December and January here in Minnesota racking my brains with this very question, and I never found an answer. Nothing could possibly be enough. I had no idea what to do. We had no idea what to do. And we were already doing it.
The whole time, we were lost — and we were already doing it.
8/
And because we believed that nobody was coming to save us, miraculously, the world shifted around us. Help came pouring in from everywhere. Suddenly, we were heroes?? That part still doesn’t sit well with me, the whole Nobel Prize thing, all of it. But one thing does sit well, very well: when the work fell to each of us, we all started doing it. All of us.
I’ve felt a lot of things during the ICE siege, but one thing I’ve never felt is alone.
9/
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And because we believed that nobody was coming to save us, miraculously, the world shifted around us. Help came pouring in from everywhere. Suddenly, we were heroes?? That part still doesn’t sit well with me, the whole Nobel Prize thing, all of it. But one thing does sit well, very well: when the work fell to each of us, we all started doing it. All of us.
I’ve felt a lot of things during the ICE siege, but one thing I’ve never felt is alone.
9/
I used to wonder whether, say, the French resistance or the Underground Railroad could ever form in the modern US today. I don’t wonder that anymore. I watched it happen. I made it happen. •We• made it happen. And my part was so small! And yet…we made it happen.
Because we knew that if we didn’t, nobody, nobody would.
10/
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My fellow people of the United States, if I have anything to teach from what Minneapolis just lived through, it is this:
Nobody is coming to save us.
Not Congress. Not the courts. Not the ICC or the EU or NATO. Not the generals or the rank and file. Not the press. Not the markets. Not the elections. Not some mythical version of “The People” that materializes out of nowhere as some messianic external force.
We’re it. We’re all we’ve got. If we don’t stop fascism from completely engulfing the US, then nobody stops it.
7/
if enough of us wrote/emailed/phoned/screamed outside their office to our congressional reps to IMPEACH or face voter outrage leading to being voted out, and kept it up, we could regain our democracy
citizensimpeachment.com/
Courage For Democracy
Democracy doesn’t defend itself. Support the Courage Candidates in their fighting for democracy. Courage for Democracy backs action-driven leaders ready to defend the Constitution.
Courage For Democracy - Democracy doesn’t defend itself. (couragefordemocracy.com)
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I used to wonder whether, say, the French resistance or the Underground Railroad could ever form in the modern US today. I don’t wonder that anymore. I watched it happen. I made it happen. •We• made it happen. And my part was so small! And yet…we made it happen.
Because we knew that if we didn’t, nobody, nobody would.
10/
I cannot tell you what to do, watching the US president and his horrific regime trying to plunge the world into flame and darkness. I can’t tell you because I have no idea either.
All I can tell you is this:
You have to know, with total and completely clarity, that nobody is coming to save us.
And knowing that, you will feel lost — but strangely clear.
And suddenly the work will be on you.
And you will do it, because that is •just what you do•, because you •know• that nobody else is coming.
And you will still have no idea what to do, even as you are already doing it.
11/
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I cannot tell you what to do, watching the US president and his horrific regime trying to plunge the world into flame and darkness. I can’t tell you because I have no idea either.
All I can tell you is this:
You have to know, with total and completely clarity, that nobody is coming to save us.
And knowing that, you will feel lost — but strangely clear.
And suddenly the work will be on you.
And you will do it, because that is •just what you do•, because you •know• that nobody else is coming.
And you will still have no idea what to do, even as you are already doing it.
11/
And of course there are a thousand practical lessons in fighting authoritarians, and we are passing them on as best we can as so many thousands of thousands have before us — but for now, for today, this is the one thing I can tell you: stop waiting for someone else to save you. This is it. We’re all we’ve got. Either we do this or no one does.
❝
It is either the beginning or the end
of the world, and the choice is ourselves
or nothing.
❞/end
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And of course there are a thousand practical lessons in fighting authoritarians, and we are passing them on as best we can as so many thousands of thousands have before us — but for now, for today, this is the one thing I can tell you: stop waiting for someone else to save you. This is it. We’re all we’ve got. Either we do this or no one does.
❝
It is either the beginning or the end
of the world, and the choice is ourselves
or nothing.
❞/end
@inthehands Thank you very much, Paul, for sharing your insights and clarity with honesty and care.
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And of course there are a thousand practical lessons in fighting authoritarians, and we are passing them on as best we can as so many thousands of thousands have before us — but for now, for today, this is the one thing I can tell you: stop waiting for someone else to save you. This is it. We’re all we’ve got. Either we do this or no one does.
❝
It is either the beginning or the end
of the world, and the choice is ourselves
or nothing.
❞/end
[The quote is from the book _The Country Between Us_ by Carolyn Forché. It is some of the most powerful and gut-wrenching poetry I’ve ever read, and the book still burns like a hot coal in my hands when I hold it. The book is among other things the origin of my handle, “in the hands.” Don’t look up that quote; look up the book. Read it slowly. You’ll know the quotes when you find them.]
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I used to wonder whether, say, the French resistance or the Underground Railroad could ever form in the modern US today. I don’t wonder that anymore. I watched it happen. I made it happen. •We• made it happen. And my part was so small! And yet…we made it happen.
Because we knew that if we didn’t, nobody, nobody would.
10/
one of the truly amazing things about human beings is that while there are definitely ordinary folks capable of horrific acts or collaborations, there are ordinary folks capable of true selflessness, love, and heroism. enough folks choosing to do right can move mountains.
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[The quote is from the book _The Country Between Us_ by Carolyn Forché. It is some of the most powerful and gut-wrenching poetry I’ve ever read, and the book still burns like a hot coal in my hands when I hold it. The book is among other things the origin of my handle, “in the hands.” Don’t look up that quote; look up the book. Read it slowly. You’ll know the quotes when you find them.]
@inthehands ordered
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Watching Fedi and the world react to the US president go absolutely unhinged in public, threatening war crimes as his cognitive grip disintegrates before our eyes, watching the horror and the outage…there is something I want to tell you from Minneapolis.
And I’m not sure how, and I’m not sure if I can, but I want to try. People are always thanking us and calling us heroes and asking us for some kind of…something, anything we can offer in the face of the authoritarian march, and well, here it is, here is something, if I can figure out how to say it.
🧵
@inthehands
great speech and great evaluation what you are enduring
"You have to know, with total and completely clarity, that nobody is coming to save us."
in Europe - in other aspects like the war of the rich against the poor (Warren Buffet) we are still waiting for someone to save us ... worst mentalitiy of this kind in Germany...
stay brave ! -
Watching Fedi and the world react to the US president go absolutely unhinged in public, threatening war crimes as his cognitive grip disintegrates before our eyes, watching the horror and the outage…there is something I want to tell you from Minneapolis.
And I’m not sure how, and I’m not sure if I can, but I want to try. People are always thanking us and calling us heroes and asking us for some kind of…something, anything we can offer in the face of the authoritarian march, and well, here it is, here is something, if I can figure out how to say it.
🧵
Excellent thread. Thanks.
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[The quote is from the book _The Country Between Us_ by Carolyn Forché. It is some of the most powerful and gut-wrenching poetry I’ve ever read, and the book still burns like a hot coal in my hands when I hold it. The book is among other things the origin of my handle, “in the hands.” Don’t look up that quote; look up the book. Read it slowly. You’ll know the quotes when you find them.]
@inthehands I bought the book when it first came out. I think I still have it but I haven't read it years. I remember the poem with the colonel with the bag of ears.
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It was clarifying. We knew, with complete certainty, that nobody was coming to save us.
If we don’t stand in their way when they come to kidnap our neighbors, nobody will stand in their way.
If we don’t try to help people who need to hide, nobody will help them hide.
If we don’t try to feed people who can’t work, can’t even go outside to get food, nobody will feed them.
It put things into focus really fast.
3/
Reminds me very much of New Orleans in the months after the Hurricane Katrina Federal Flood and continuing disaster.
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Reminds me very much of New Orleans in the months after the Hurricane Katrina Federal Flood and continuing disaster.
"Sinn Fein, which means ourselves alone. That's probably how we're gonna get outta this mess, by ourselves. I'm not banking on anyone to do anything, because that's part of the White House stragetizeing: wait us out until we're bankrupt from mortgages and rent and no jobs, and then buy us out and create vinyl-sided McMansions. I think that they're forgetting how hard-headed we are, and how we won't bow down. They ain't gettin' nuttin' from us." - Ashley Morris, 2006
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And of course there are a thousand practical lessons in fighting authoritarians, and we are passing them on as best we can as so many thousands of thousands have before us — but for now, for today, this is the one thing I can tell you: stop waiting for someone else to save you. This is it. We’re all we’ve got. Either we do this or no one does.
❝
It is either the beginning or the end
of the world, and the choice is ourselves
or nothing.
❞/end
@inthehands Thank you for this thread, Paul. Your words give me courage here in Oklahoma City.
