Letter: Pushing back against authoritarianism
Most Americans are not on board with disappearing neighbors into El Salvador prisons, the surveillance state and tax breaks for billionaires over Social Security. What is the next step beyond protests?
On Sunday, I attended a national Zoom workshop titled The Resistance Lab. These trainings are intended to give people the framework and tools to grow protests into sustained, non-violent movements. I admit, as an American, I never thought that I would turn to this sort of training to maintain my sanity. My unexamined reality has been “we in America are blessed and above these sorts of things.” We are not. Moving beyond my shock demands that I embrace this new reality and also the possibility it offers me to live from a place of deeper strength.
The first thing to understand is this: authoritarians feed on fear. Our fear. Fear, shame, confusion … isolate us. We can feel fragmented, powerless and numb. This is where they want us. Psycho-emotional-spiritual resilience requires that we understand this dynamic.
Other countries have successfully pushed back against authoritarian movements. Our Civil Rights movement also did this. We do not have to invent this wheel — we need to focus on adapting existing tools to our current situation.
Most Americans are not on board with the current momentum of our country. However, we lack visibility to each other. We do not agree on everything. That is unrealistic. But most of us do aspire to a government that is serious about recognizing our humanity.
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Sustained, non-violent movements have a far better success rate than those that rely upon and organize around violence.
I encourage readers to look into “The Resistance Lab” and to attend an April 19 protest.
I also encourage the Vail Daily to provide more coverage of local momentum.
Pamela Gibbs
Avon
