List of Actions to Take to Resist
Stuff you can do quickly. At home.
Much of the list below is compiled from two blog posts on Substack. I also added information on my own. One of those posts is by Robert Reich, and the other is by Substacker Don Knight, from his blog Midnight Manuscripts. If you have time, I recommend you read their posts as well, because they include things not in this list. Here are those posts:
Please note: I did my best to fact-check the links and information I added in myself. However, it’s getting harder to fact-check these days, with the press capitulating to Trump. If anything is incorrect, please point it out. I did, however, use sources I believe to be reliable, or at the very least, I cross-referenced articles.
FIRST THINGS FIRST: START WITH A SOLID FOUNDATION
To be effective fighters and resisters, we need to put our own oxygen mask on first, as the old saying goes. Yes people, that means self-care. I know that’s challenging for many, but it’s an absolute must if we are to maintain optimal focus, endurance, and impact. If you’re interested in some self-care tips that don’t feel overwhelming, check out my earlier post called Prepping for the Fight, here:
https://holdingontogether.substack.com/p/prepping-for-the-fight
(I promise, that’s the only part of this post in which I self-promote.)
MINDSET TIPS
Don’t give up before you start.
With all the damage the Oligarchy of Fools has already done, all the money they have to burn, and our absolutely worthless GOP Congress, it’s easy to fall into helpless despair. But that’s what those greedy bastards want! Our job is to resist what they want.
Remember, we’re a large country. We have great power in numbers. We’re much bigger than Germany or Hungary, for instance, so it’ll be a lot harder for a small group of ridiculously loaded, completely bonkers a-holes with the emotional maturity levels of 3-year-olds to take over our huge country just like that, especially if we put up a good fight.
Right now, the bad guys have power, speed, and momentum. But nothing lasts forever. I like comparing Musk/Trump 2.0 to an untrained racehorse in his first test race. He darts out of the gate full force, starting out ahead, expending every ounce of energy he’s got. He’s in the lead until halfway through, when he’s suddenly exhausted. He ends up finishing last. Since he hadn’t been taught technique nor how to regulate his energy, he burnt out quickly.
These oligarchs + the Trump Clowns are delusional, cocky, lack long term strategy (with the exception of Putin), and have an extremely dysfunctional relationship with reality. Sure, they’re winning right now at this very moment, but in time our group efforts, thoughtful organizing, and strategizing will defeat their self-destructive cocktail of delusional thinking, blaring incompetence, unchecked impulsivity, and unjustified arrogance.
View your efforts in terms of “every little bit counts.”
Instead of feeling like you’re falling short if you don’t put huge amounts of time and effort into resistance efforts, simply take one small action. Don’t measure it, just do it. Even one email or call to a Congress member is significant. For every email you send, there’s someone else who didn’t. We’re all connected, at least on a quantum level, so one little movement in a positive direction—even if it’s just a simple shift from a fearful thought to one of how-can-I-help?—expands outward with a ripple effect, energetically speaking.
KNOW WHO TO SUPPORT…AND WHO NOT TO
Here are some groups who protect rights and/or are litigating against Trump.
If you don’t have much money to donate, considering making a $1-$5 donation per month to one of the following organizations. Even a one-time $5 or $10 donation helps a lot! Small donations add up, and they help you feel empowered, too. (From opensecrets.org: “Sanders raised nearly $180 million for his presidential bid, over 54 percent of which came from small individual donors — higher than other Democratic candidates including Biden, who got 38 percent from small donors.”)
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU):
State Democracy Defenders Fund (SDDF):
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC):
Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC):
RAICES (Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services):
And of course Planned Parenthood could always use some support!
https://www.plannedparenthood.org/
Hit them where it hurts. Spend less money on corporate-owned, Trump-supporting businesses.
The idea of boycotting all Trump supporting corporations is lovely in theory, but in real life it’s often not that simple, or even possible. Also, if completely boycotting a business is too time-consuming, or too much of a lifestyle compromise for you, (both of which would create more life stress), then simply do your best to cut down your spending at those businesses.
Support local businesses instead.
If there’s a local pet food store, pharmacy, bookstore (there are many online), or art supply store that’s not a Trump supporting business, support that local store instead of going through Amazon. Take that extra 1-5 minutes to do a search for this kind of local store. If you don’t have time to do that, don’t beat yourself up. Just do your best.
It does matter.
Instead of thinking, they’re so rich they won’t notice if I decrease my minimal spending there, turn it around to, if even one fifth of their many customers decreased their spending even a tad, it would add up considerably. We won’t put them out of business this way; we just want them to notice. It’s a way to protest. It also allows us to maintain our own self-integrity.
Here are the obvious companies to cut down spending on:
· Musk: Twitter, Tesla, Starlink, and X
· Zuckerberg: Facebook (I refuse to call them Meta), Instagram, and Threads
· Bezos: Amazon, Whole Foods, Audible, IMDB, Zappos, Wapo
· Soon-Shiong: Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union Tribune
Here are some companies that have supported, or still support, Trump.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/trump-inaugural-companies-top-donations
https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/these-are-laura-ingrahams-leading-advertisers
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-these-advertisers-to-stop-funding-fox-news-now
On the flip side, support companies who resist!
Costco
Costco refused to take away their DEI policies when the executive order came out, and they are very dedicated to keeping them. Let’s shop there and make them stronger!
Dick’s Sporting Goods
Some Trump supporters consider Dick’s Sporting Goods to be “woke.” When abortion became illegal, Dick’s wrote a statement saying that they would pay up to $4,000 in travel expense reimbursement for one of their employees if they had to go out of state if she needed an abortion.
Support Dick’s! Get your golf supplies there.
Kohl’s
Kohl’s chose not to donate to the RNC so as to remain non-political. Apparently, this choice pissed off some conservatives who campaigned to boycott the store after. (Article link below) In case you’re not aware, Kohls.com is an excellent and affordable online hub for purchasing most (or maybe all?) of the household and self-care basics that are found on Amazon. They can often be more affordable, too. Why not make it your first go-to instead of Amazon?
Let’s support them for not falling prey to the pressure of the cult!
These articles are from June of 2024
https://www.newsweek.com/kohls-faces-boycott-snubs-republican-convention-1909473
There are some articles saying that Kohl’s “pulled out” their support for the RNC but those claims have been shown to be incorrect.
FLOOD CONGRESS WITH YOUR VOICE!
Call your senators and reps. Demand that they vehemently use every conventional and unconventional power they have to oppose Trump and Musk at every turn. Threaten not to vote for them again if they don’t act. That’s probably the most effective thing you could threaten them with, imo. It takes 2-3 minutes to do this on a daily, or almost daily, basis. Annoy the hell out of their interns!
Here are some links to start you off:
https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
www.resist.bot is a great way to contact reps with VERY little effort. The bot will also contact you with opportunities, so you don’t need to seek them all out yourself. Below is the link to the webpage, and under that is the Wikipedia link so you can read an overview of the service.
https://resist.bot/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistbot
MEDIA
Support independently owned (vs. corporate owned) publications who are not kowtowing to Trump.
The Bulwark
The New Republic
PBS
CBS (However, I don’t know which way they’ll go when their legal issues with Trump are resolved.)
ProPublica
The Contrarian
The Atlantic
Wired (So far Wired has done some great reporting, but they are owned by Conde Nast, which is a huge corporation, so do your research on that and be alert for changes in bias.)
Turn to reliable foreign publications.
To get reliable, detailed health news that Trump 2.0 might be hiding from us (ie, viruses, food and product safety and recalls), read foreign papers from democratic countries, and directly follow experts you already know are reliable on Substack.
Reading these publications also allows you to learn how other countries, particularly our allies (or once-allies?) are viewing what’s happening here in America. It’s a way to stay grounded in truth when so much propaganda is floating around. Here are a few;
The Guardian (but keep an eye on them. Carol Cadwalladr, who reports for them now, warned they she and others might soon be laid off due to capitulation)
The Independent (UK)
Toronto Star
Please add here!
Support groups that aim to protect the media, such as
Committee to Protect Journalists
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Plus, any time you hear about a trusted media personality who quit their media job, often the first place they go seems to be Substack. So be sure to follow them here to help them get started as an independent truth teller. If you can pay to subscribe to their blog, please do so. We need access to as many professionals as possible who are willing to tell us the truth!
I hope that helps, y’all!
Thank you for this post! Lots of workable things we may do.
The Atlantic ran a Nov 2023 issue against single moms, divorce due to domestic violence, and other Republican talking points. PBS takes donations to continue programming, but dropped DEI last week.