GET OFFLINE FFS
Please, Americans on Substack:
Stop posting notes about Trump’s unhinged posts.
Stop liking these notes.
Stop reading amateur analyses of what is going on in Iran.
Stop listening to podcasts analyzing the war.
None of these things do anything to change the world. They are not only ineffective - they are harmful. They give the consumers - you, me, anyone scrolling feeds - the illusion of efficacy, a placebo of action, but in reality take up our time and energy in a fruitless endeavor while people with power are using it to wreck the world.
The people producing these pieces are entirely and irredeemably impotent. They are trying to be radio or television hosts or op-ed writers or to win popularity contests - not to change the world.
If you want to change the world, you need to work within the world. You need to get offline and get to work. All of this bellyaching online is fucking destructive; it is destroying our ability to actually do anything useful by channeling our energies into clicks and algorithms.
What can you do? That’s something only you can answer. Here are a few things that anyone can do, though, that will have an impact:
Call your congressperson and senators. Literally - call them. Better yet, show up at their offices or events at which they are speaking.
Call the White House. (Yes, that’s an archive, but the number is the same.)
Volunteer for a campaign, or run for office yourself.
Join a No Kings rally.
Join a protest against the war.
Rally your neighbors.
Going online and getting angry is useless. You need to be part of a real-world group.
Let’s get to work. This world isn’t going to unfuck itself.