I was planning on publishing a new OnionScan report today, but instead I have found myself thinking about the events of the last few days.
This isn't about Donald Trump, he is a symptom of a zeitgeist that has been growing for nearly a decade.
We saw signs many years back in the Greek financial crisis, we see it in the uptick of islamaphobic legislation in France, we see it in the vile language wrapping up the Brexit vote, and now we've seen it's face in this US election.
The nationalist factions inside every border are feeling powerful tonight. They will take the lessons from this campaign and continue to make the media dance to an ever ominous tune.
Fascism is alive, it is strong and, remember, it is always good for the economy.
Progress on trans rights, gay rights, civil rights, human rights will halt, and reverse. The train has been running on borrowed tracks.
What a government is powerful enough to give, it is powerful enough to take. We can no longer afford to have optimism in progress being a one way street.
Climate change, human displacement and the inevitable famine and war that follow them are now almost certain. We are over the edge, through the looking glass and there is no turning back.
Today is not the end for humanity, but it is certainly a fork in the road. One of those forks might see us grow, and love and explore this vast and ancient universe. The other will see our home destroyed, our civilization reduced to ashes before it has a chance to spread it's wings.
I choose to believe that we can grow, and love. I choose to believe that I can live in a world where I don't have to fear holding my partners' hand, where I don't have to fear for my friends around the world.
Where I don't have to fear.
All of that was just words. We need action. We need infrastructure.
Here is what I think I can do, what I am doing, and perhaps what you can do, now, today and over the next few weeks and months - because, this is real life, and there is no next time around.
Start Exercising Compassion - There will be calls for unity. These should be ignored. The liberals will seek to improve the economy while turning a blind eye to the abuses of power to come. Some will fight the traditional political fight, and might even win - but not before huge damage has been done to our families, our friends and our planet.
Fund Crisis Orgs - With your time, and with your money. The next few years are going to be rough for many groups. No government is likely to continue funding their efforts for long. We need to understand that it will get worse before it gets better, and we need to invest effort into bringing as many people as we can along with us.
To start:
- Fund Trans Lifeline - they are going to get many more calls.
- Fund Planned Parenthood - they are going to need to stay open.
- Fund Local Shelters and Food banks - sometimes crisis lasts far too long.
Go Vegan, Be Vegan - I don't care if you do it for the animals, for your health or for the environment - industrial animal agriculture is a major contributor to climate change, and the practices promoted within are deeply unethical and immoral on practically every level. The more we can dent that, the more we increase our species runway. That's the truth.
To start:
- Read 7Day Vegan - for a kickstart.
- Read & Contribute to [/r/vegan] - for support (https://www.reddit.com/r/vegan/) - for
- Eat Beans, Grains, Nuts and other Plants. (In many cases it is that simple)
Start Enforcing Consent - We are all different and I believe that we are all capable of love and compassion. Systems of power are design and structured to remove agency, to divide, and to rule. The only way I can see for all humans on this planet to be free, to have agency is for us to withdraw our consent from these systems, or at least, to start enforcing it.
Use Alternative Information Infrastructures - Rulers can only rule if they have information, about events, about people. Prevent mass spying through encryption and anonymity technologies like Signal and Tor. Without information it is impossible to rule effectively without consent.
To start:
- Use Tor for browsing.
- Use Ricochet for anonymous chatting.
- Use Signal for when chatting when Ricochet doesn't fit (which brings me onto...)
Build and Improve Alternative Information Infrastructures - We need more. We need to decentralize the media, decentralize the news and to decentralize the networks. We need better tools for organizing, ones not controlled by a central corporation, ones that are private by default.
To start:
- Start Talking to Journalists - they are one of the groups that need these tools first, and they are the ones that need to guide their development.
- Build Hidden Services - for news sites, for blogs, for social networks, for instant messaging, for pretty much anything you can send across a computer network.
That's all I've got for now, that's my headspace. I expect this journey to be a long one, and I expect this list will grow and change.
Sarah
