I was very active during the 2016 cycle phone banking, canvassing, and texting. Took a break after Trump won but picked back up in 2018 and sent several thousand texts for progressives running all over the country. Some of those who I texted for won their race by extremely small margins, so I like to think the work we did had some positive impact.
So far this cycle I have donated and talked to people I know. My parents, especially my dad, pay a lot of attention to politics and thankfully are both quite liberal. They have donated to a bunch of campaigns, including people like the guy running against Nunes. My parents live in NJ but understand how important elections all over the country are.
As the primary voting gets closer I will likely pick up more responsibility for my preferred candidate. In the general I will definitely work in some fashion to increase voter turnout for the Dem, but will be doing so begrudgingly if it ends up being Biden, Pete, or some other shit candidate.
Reading and posting here is cathartic for me. I get a lot of political news from this site, and it’s a good place to rant. But at the end of the day it is important that we try to have a real world impact as well. Thank you for working to achieve similar goals in the UK. It can be a thankless effort for sure, but it matters.
I ain’t doing shit. I donated a bunch last cycle and in 2016 and protested a little. I’m working 55 hours a week and don’t have the energy for it. I live in stone lock blue territory, so I don’t feel too bad about it, although I could obviously send texts. I’ll definitely donate in 2020.
I give what I think is good advice into facts from reliable sources that mainly include. GOV websites… And for the general public to always check the source.
I can’t change people’s minds but can help them make an Informed choice.
We also help the homeless and vulnerable in our city and help at a rehab centre out of town.
I donate small amounts pretty regularly. Last cycle I did a lot of text banking, and I’ll probably do more of that or phone banking this cycle. I’ve attended a few protests. I tweet at local politicians who I know will actually see and respond to me. I was finally able to get a job working for local government where I feel comfortable that I do good things. I yell at Pete supporters on the internet.
I often feel like I don’t do nearly enough, while at the same time I know that realistically I do not have the energy or the inclination to take the next step and, for example, volunteer for a campaign. If I do anything further next cycle it’s almost certainly going to be for the mayoral race and, depending on polling, possibly some local city council races.
I don’t think people should be so quick to dismiss forum posting as not doing something. The internet is the venue where opinions are formed and positions are hardened. This (meaning all social media, not just here) is not only the most important and influential place for ideas in the 21st century, for many people it is the only one.
The problem is when people believe it is the end, that they don’t need to do leave the house and do anything else. Like if you score a really sick burn on twitter that goes viral you’ve beaten the end boss.
I live in California and don’t know any Trump supporters personally other than my father-in-law who is 83 and well past the point of no return. So there isn’t much campaigning to be done.
So I take a more global view of things I do to make a difference in a world that imo is off the rails in more ways than Trump. Off the top of my head, in no particular order here are the mundane and occasionally meaningful things I do:
Stopped using Amazon. Use local retailers when possible.
Deleted Facebook. Still have instagram.
I regularly talk about what’s going on with both of my children, they are 14 and 11. The 14 year old is an anarchist and would be a bomb-throwing one if they had access to bombs. The 11 year old is a blissfully unaware boy who likes video games and skateboarding, but he listens well. I talk to him about the privilege we enjoy and the responsibility that imparts. Recently have been having pointed conversations about consent and what that means.
I have an IMPEACH sticker on my car.
I don’t eat meat.
I take “navy showers”.
I give blood (at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles where it goes directly to their patients) every 8 weeks.
I keep a case of water in my car to give to homeless people at intersections and off ramps. In the summer one of my kids and I will go to areas where there are lots of homeless and hand it out.
I give money to causes I support. Regular monthly donations to the ACLU. Money to the Human Rights Council on a semi-regular basis. Gave money to Bernie. Gave money to the guy running against Duncan Hunter last cycle. Do it randomly when I see someone do something I think should be supported.
I tended to work out late, so I would walk across every treadmill at planet fitness (they’re right next to each other) and turn off Fox News at each treadmill station when all the deplorables left. I would not use any cardio machine if anyone was watching Fox News in my field of vision. I’m fucking MLK jr I know.
At present the only thing I’m doing is being a regular voter and helping keep this place running, because I am so thoroughly disgusted with my country that I have almost completely given up on it. Not entirely yet, but I’m close. I’ll see how the next year plays out before making the final call.
In the past I have worked on a presidential campaign, been closely involved with local political issues, and attended numerous protests. I also spent considerable time and energy trying to motivate others to engage in meaningful protest actions with me. Those efforts were largely a failure.
In non-political areas, I donate to charities and have volunteered very significant amounts of time to a local community organization. I also do what I can to be an ethical and environmentally conscious consumer, but likely fall a bit short there.
From where I’m sitting it looks like they already won because everybody else gave up long before I did. Or more accurately, never bothered caring to begin with.
Like I said, I haven’t thrown in the towel just yet. But we’re down to the 11th second of the 11th minute of the 11th hour and the hot button topic of the day is an ad for an overpriced bicycle that doesn’t go anywhere. It’s going to take some miracle level shit at this point to keep us from going over the cliff.
I argue relentlessly in real life with unthinking Conservatives who have the potential to change their minds, and mercilessly ridicule the ones who don’t.
I’ve never bought bottled water in my life but this seems worth it, at least in places like L.A. where it’s actually really tough to find water sometimes.
ok, so someone needs to make those whiskey pods, but for water. No waste. I’m sure it’s been done and I am horribly out of touch, but if not, do we have anyone who could invent that?
As for me, pretty sure my efforts are well-documented here. After the primaries are done, I’ll probably be shifting most of my work over to the Ammar Campa-Najjar campaign, because the dem nominee for president doesn’t need my help in CA, with one caveat: I plan to run for DNC delegate for Pete, since I’m reasonably sure he can get at least one out of the four in my district. That might consume my summer if I get a spot.
1000% behind LFS on this. Homeless person share of plastic is miniscule and he’s handing them to people who would often be chased out of the supermarket if they tried to fill a bottle in the water fountain. As far as plastic and LFS goes, I hope he doesn’t mind me revealing this, but he carries around glass or metal straws (can’t remember) and refillable bottles for himself.
You should probably buy bottled water anyway for health reasons. There’s too much hexavalent chromium in our water supply in like a huge percentage of the country now, and to my knowledge consumer-grade filters don’t do anything about it. I avoid drinking tap water as much as possible.
For those who don’t recall, hexavalent chromium is the chemical that was in the water in Erin Brokovich, the movie where a lawyer’s assistant plays a key role in helping a bunch of poor people sue a chemical company when like an entire town gets cancer from the chemical in the water.
Maybe we’re magically in the area where it’s above the recommended safety levels but below the cancer causing levels, but I would rather not find out.
I hate to break it to you but bottled water is just tap water from somewhere else, and there is absolutely zero reason to believe it has any fewer contaminants than what comes out of your tap.