Writing Problems: Things to do Instead of Cycling Through the Same Fears About Civil Unrest

The Republican Party is the single biggest threat to the future of organized human life. Dystopian movies and TV shows create the impression that life under an autocratic state will resemble 1984 or A Handmaid’s Tale, but the reality is that in many ways this autocratic state is already here, but is only felt by some and not at all equally.

While it may be tempting to find a weapon and go into the woods to train krav maga, there will still be no future if all that remains are “ruff tuff cream puffs” pretending to be soldiers.

Poets have a special responsibility to hold the line against encroaching autocracy because we are the keepers of the language. Language is tantamount to thought, and thus the final space of freedom. Your thinking cannot (so far) be tracked, cataloged, data-mined, or replaced with AI.

The initial impulse to autocracy will be panic, but panicking isn’t sufficient. Being prepared is more productive. This is a list of 40 things to do instead of cycling through the same fears about civil unrest.