Paul Cantrell
OK, so. As if the Trump regime hadn’t already dumped enough of their shit on us here in Minneapolis…there’s now talk about them sending •active duty military• to invade (“protect”) our city.
Maybe this is bluster. Maybe this is testing the waters. We have no idea how real these plans are, or if or when this would actually happen. I don’t think the regime does either. Regardless, we take this threat seriously: they’re stupid enough they just must do it. This nightmare could get worse.
1/
Paul Cantrell
A •lot• of people have asked what you can do to help us from afar, and I have one thing for you. You can do it from home, from wherever you’re sitting, but it’s not necessarily easy.
First, I want to think about where your red lines are. Everything is so outrage-induction, so outrageous, it’s kind of numbing. It becomes easy to just start letting it all happen.
So, that thing you can do to help: picture a red line for you that the regime hasn’t already crossed, so that you can have a reaction that is actually •action• if and when they cross it.
2/
Paul Cantrell
Maybe your red line is putting National Guard troops under federal control in Minnesota. They already did that in California, Oregon and Illinois — and courts smacked it down •hard•. Maybe your red line is them trying it again, despite a clear court order. That’s a good red line.
3/
Paul Cantrell
Maybe the red line for you is deploying •active duty military• to Minnesota, and not just National Guard. They did that in LA with marines — and that too got smacked down hard.
That one’s a pretty bright red line. Domestic deployment of the military is in fact the origin of the phrase “crossing the Rubicon:” when Julius Caesar lead troops across the Rubicon river, leading the troops to invade his own country, that marked the beginning of civil war in Rome, and a death knell for democracy.
4/
Paul Cantrell
Maybe that’s alarming to you, but you think we can still coast through it, wait it out. OK. Fine.
Maybe your red line is US troops gunning down civilians. Like Tiananmen Square. Like Iran this past week. That has not happened under the Trump regime yet. That is a horrifying red line — but maybe it is •your• red line.
Wherever it is, I am asking you now, from my home in Minneapolis, to think: what is •your• red line, the place where you think, “This is too much. Normal is gone. Life as I knew it has to stop until this ends.”
5/
Paul Cantrell
Whatever it is for you, please fix it in your mind now. When events are unfolding fast, it’s easy for red lines to slide.
Fix your red line in your mind. •Picture it• now, so that you’ll know it when you see it. Remember it. Write it down. Put it in my replies if it helps you remember and commit to it.
Got it? OK…
6/
Paul Cantrell
Now picture what it looks like for you to shut down your normal life when that red line is crossed. Remember, this is not a “now I’ll •really• be angry at my Senator” red line. This is a red line past which normal life cannot continue until the situation ends.
What would it look like for your normal life to stop?
7/
Paul Cantrell
Would you stop work? Just tell them you’re not coming in until this is over? What would that look like? Would you get fired? Would you still get fired if your whole team or half your division refused to work? If your union was ready to strike over it?
Maybe you can’t stop work. Maybe you’re unemployed. Maybe you’re retired. Maybe you still have people to take care of — from your income, or as part of the job you do. •Think• about it. What would it look like to stop working? How could you prepare for it?
8/
Paul Cantrell
Maybe it’s not work but something else in your life that stops. I don’t know…but you do. What in your life allows the country to continue to function normally? What’s a plug that you can personally pull?
Look for that. Think about it. And get yourself ready. Build up your savings now. Build up your psychological readiness now.
And then…
9/
Paul Cantrell
My last request for this thread is to talk to people about it. Talk to your family: what can we endure? Talk to your coworkers: what would it take for us to walk out together? Talk to your friends: what’s •your• red line? What •could• each one of us stop when that red line is crossed?
10/
Paul Cantrell
Here in Minneapolis, in some ways it’s already happening: people are putting so many hours into community work, and are so exhausted and distracted when they’re at their jobs, now normal life is…well, not shut down, but severely compromised. But that’s necessity. Life continues even in war zones.
I am talking about something else: shutting down normal life not out of necessity but by choice, in righteous anger.
11/
Paul Cantrell
We need to start contemplating this. It’s not easy to picture; if it is easy, you’re doing it wrong. But we need to do it. We need to imagine this while we still have the capacity to imagine.
We need to make sure that there is, somewhere in this authoritarian noise, a red line who crossing actually matters because we •make• it matter.
/end
Luke Kanies
@inthehands I know you’re not doing it for this, but thank you. I know it costs a lot to both be in the world and to express yourself in this world. We see you, and we appreciate it.
Paul Cantrell
@jawarajabbi
Keep doing what you’re doing!
This thread is asking you to think about what it would look like for normal life to stop while some crisis continues. If the country grinds to a halt for 10 days, what’s your part of that? It’s a tough one, at least for me.
CaliCarol
So what's the action? My most recent is that I wrote my two Democratic Senators and told them I'm changing my registration to Independent if Schumer is still Leader after the California midterms. Which means I'll be an Independent for the general, of course. Which is fine. They own a big part of how we got here as becomes more clear every day. I'm grinding every single day: protests, donations, everything I can do. It's a grind. This is going to be a grind. #uspol
Paul Cantrell
@geonz
Thx, fixed a lot of typos in that thread on the edit pass
cognitively accessible math
@inthehands
led
troops
not lead troops :P but yes.
OUr rep spoke today at our MLK event about .... this.
okanogen VerminEnemyFromWithin
@inthehands
It is important to point out the recent history of "malicious compliance" by the US military in recent similar deployments.
In LA, they merely stayed on federal property and looked the part, the National Guard in DC did the same and picked up trash.
Trump wanted them to shoot the legs of protestors in his first term and their officers said clear nope.
My expectation if they are deployed here is they will be stationed within the fence of the Wipple building property and others.
Paul Cantrell
@Okanogen
I make no assumptions and take nothing for granted, but I do very much agree that if Trump’s looking to find instant support in the military, he’s going to be sorely disappointed.
Now if it comes down to the point where it’s a choice between a dictatorship and a military coup against the dictator, well.
Paul Cantrell
@markwyner
We would not have been able to do what we’re doing without the lessons and direct advice of folks in Portland and Chicago — and I assume (though I didn’t personally hear about it) DC, LA, others. We are building on each other’s work and carrying it forward. No person stands alone, no city stands alone.
Good luck in those conversations with people you know, and thank you for the work you’re doing there!
Mark Wyner Won’t Comply :vm:
@inthehands thank you for this thread, Paul. This is the essay for the masses. Having fought a battle in Portland, we know what you’re going through. Except they hit you harder. I also have family at ground zero so I’m doing what I can for them as well.
I haven’t been able to put my thoughts into meaningful words. This “red line” concept is spot on. I’m going to reflect on it more to see how I can move this forward with people I know.
Thanks again, rockstar.
GNU social JP is a social network, courtesy of GNU social JP管理人. It runs on GNU social, version 2.0.2-dev, available under the GNU Affero General Public License.
All GNU social JP content and data are available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.