There’s a difference between negative denial and positive denial. Negative denial is when you put your head in the sand and pretend something’s not happening. Positive denial is when you say, “Oh I see what’s happening, but I deny its power over me.”
Power doesn’t lie in looking away from a negative phenomenon such as … oh I don’t know, let’s say the authoritarian takeover of the United States. Power lies in looking right through it to the other side, with absolute conviction that this will not stand because you say so. It’s important to remember: the most powerful role in a democracy is the role of citizen. We don’t work for our government; our government works for us.
Over the last few decades, many Americans have been mentally trained into a state of learned powerless. We’ve become mere observers to our own demise, trained to expect too little while the public realm has been raped and pillaged by the most powerful forces among us. Now that has gone from a rolling emergency to a screaming emergency, and millions of Americans are seeing it, processing what’s happening, and trying to figure out what’s demanded of us now.
What we need more than anything else is conviction and courage. If you read or hear a lie, print or say the truth. Read up on things so you’ll know what you’re talking about. And don’t be rolled over.
Settle in for the ride. This is a marathon, not a sprint. I do think there will be a “new birth of freedom” that emerges from all this, but not immediately. Just don’t let yourself spiral down.
Above all, take heart. There are millions and millions and millions of us who absolutely will not stand for this. Know you are not alone.
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