Ma(’)s Espacio

Resistance

(Image: Straphangers by John Wilson, 1947)

So I ended up voting for Kamala Harris, even though I previously wrote that I would not vote for Joe Biden, not because I particularly believe in her (though I was willing to give the lady a shot) but because I felt there are more effective ways to protest the government.

I honestly planned to write about this if she had won the election, because I feel a sense of duty around ethical protest/resistance/critique of my government regardless of who holds office. Now, I feel an even greater responsibility for general resistance, and for finding ways to combat a bankrupt ethical stance, a shameful representation of manhood, and an allergy to wisdom and accountability. 

I understand why people would support Donald Trump. I understand his appeal. After the shock of 2016, 2024 is more saddening than surprising. His election says to me that too many people in this country are tired, lonely, depressed, frustrated, cynical, hopeless, mean, and without a firm ethical foundation. This is not a judgment, it’s a feeling and an observation. Because we live in a functioning democracy (despite what people say) where the people decide their leaders, the people themselves have said, with this decision, that they are unwell.

You know the joke about fixing the U.S. economy by telling people to start making their coffee at home rather than worry about taxing rich people? Well, to fix our democracy, not only do we actually need broad institutional and systemic change, we also need to start making our own coffee.

Lucky for you, I found this recipe for an at-home brew:

  1. Education is resistance. I will continue to educate myself and to seek the guidance of people more educated than I am, so as to be less susceptible to the government’s misinformation. 
  2. Kindness is resistance. I will not ostracize family or friends for supporting Donald Trump. On the contrary, since I aspire to be everything that Trump is not, ethically speaking, I will try to be compassionate and understanding. I will not assume negative intentions based on someone’s identity, I will not stoop to personal attacks in an argument, and I will not steal your voice.
  3. Health is resistance. I will care for my body in such a way that allows me to consume poisonous words and come out sterile. There is a right amount of fear, of suspicion, of outrage that you should carry for your overall mental health, and I will not let the government overheat my mind.
  4. Talking is resistance. I’ll never shy away from an earnest political conversation (right time, right place, of course). I’ll speak honestly and I’ll admit when I’m wrong (unlike Donald Trump). I’ll ask important and revealing questions, and I’ll entertain earnest opinions from all kinds of people.
  5. Reading is resistance. I won’t tune in for the Trump show or the “give Trump the stage” show, but I’ll follow what he says and read what educated people say about what he says. I won’t be detached from politics, and I’ll engage by being a careful news consumer. I generally won’t read X, as I’ll be trying to be a careful news consumer.
  6. Forgiveness is resistance. I’m not, like our government, prioritizing punishment. I’m happy to move on swiftly after the reckoning. I’m ready to get to work after we have accountability and understanding. 
  7. Teaching is resistance. If I were to ever come into the instruction of a single young man, be him my son or a random boy, on the many virtues of masculinity in the 21st century, I would only ever briefly mention Donald Trump in that conversation to teach this young man “Never speak to or about a woman in that way, in public or in private.”