A partial list:
- Becoming outraged
- Sharing one’s outrage on social media
- Screaming into the wind
- Being all like, “I KNOW!!!” when someone else expresses outrage
- Reading about all the ways people have become outraged
- Sharing articles about all the ways people have become outraged
- Watching TV until you throw up
- Surfing the internets (which I think are a series of tubes) until you pass out
- Refusing to pay attention
- Going with the flow
- Waiting for somebody else to fix it
Things That May Not Actually Be Working — at least in the short term — But Have The Potential To Work If We Have Faith
A partial list:
- Reading enough news to stay informed, but not so much that you freak out
- Avoiding self-reinforcing social media
- Refusing to see “the humor” in any of this; it is not funny; it is dead serious
- Trying to set aside your presumptions about “the other side,” because both sides will have to come together (or at least work together) to fix this
- Considering the possibility that you could be wrong — or at least not entirely correct — about some things…or about a lot of things
- Cultivating compassion and practicing good citizenship: remembering that you are a “brand ambassador” for your side, and taking pains to represent the brand as well as you can — especially to the other side; do not condescend; do not be a jerk
- Engaging people, but mostly listening to people so we can be ready when the time comes for us to work together
- Practicing what you preach — something many liberals are notoriously bad at; being nice to people who already are your friends doesn’t count
- Contributing positivity; rightly or wrongly, we have a lot to overcome and it doesn’t matter whose damn fault it is; keep your eyes on the prize
- Finding joy where you can, even if you have to manufacture it
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