Revolutionary Optimism..….’Growth’….
by Bernie Bell - 09:01 on 03 February 2025
Revolutionary Optimism..….
I’ve been thinking about America and wondering how the good-hearted, thinking people there might be dealing with the situation.
I saw a piece of writing by someone who lives in America which, with the Author’s permission, I’ll reproduce here……
Strategies for Overcoming Shock Doctrine and Growing Revolutionary Optimism!
Shock Doctrine is a social control strategy that uses recurrent shocks to make people feel overwhelmed & easier to conquer. To inflict suffering, push us into submission, or prompt us to rise up against our oppression in a way the fascist regime can use as an excuse to institute martial law.
GW Bush used the Shock Doctrine a lot. He didn't just "shock and awe" Iraq, he took advantage of people's shock and disorientation to implement economic policies here at home like the Patriot Act, ICE and the Dept of Homeland Security as well as predatory economic policies. Same during Katrina.
We have to stay sane and clear eyed during this time in order to make good decisions and preserve our mental health. When we are swept away by our emotions, we tend to do things that are unstrategic, things we will regret and things that hurt us. Caring for our mental health is part of resisting.
When we suppress or shut off our emotions, those emotions keep building and come out in unhealthy ways. Suppressing our emotions suffocates our empathy, makes us sick and is not sustainable. We must adopt sustainable practices for emotional release during this sustained onslaught.
We've got to give ourselves opportunities and time to feel our feelings without falling into their traps so we can be clearheaded, strategic and strong. We've also got to not get knocked off our feet by the firehose of bad news. We have to build skills and use them if we want to be strategic.
So here are some strategies to deal with the emotional abuse of their shock doctrine:
1. Give the news 3 days to settle out. Often the stuff we're hearing is not true. Also we forget that we've got fierce fighters on our side who were already ready to defend us.
Attorneys like Marc Elias, many states' Attorneys Generals, the ACLU, many democratic governors, civil rights groups and others have been preparing for Project 2025. They've swooped in immediately with challenges. Ethical judges are already making rulings that prevent much of this agenda.
So breathe. Channel your inner Scarlet O'Hara and tell yourself, "I'll think about that" in 3 days. (She got through the whole civil war by saying, "I'll think about that tomorrow" and just doing the work today.)
2. Set a timer on your feelings. Set a timer and give yourself 5 or 10 minutes to freak out. Use this to scream, cry, cuss, call a friend and vent or unleash on BlueSky or some other safe space where venting won't summon an onslaught of fascist demons. (Delete after if you want but mind your time. Don't spend all day on it. This is supposed to release pressure, not be a sea you swim in.)
While that timer is running, feel those feelings fully; when the timer goes off, wrap it up and move on.
This gets easier the more you do it. It's gotten me through the AIDS Crisis, Bush's invasion of Iraq, Katrina and the first Trump administration. It will help you stay strong.
3. Do something physically hard for 1 minute first thing in the morning. I do a plank. You may do jumping jacks, push ups, a sprint, garden work, weight lifting... Something that takes your complete focus and leaves you a little exhausted. This burns off the anxiety hormone cortisol.
We get a big dose of cortisol right before we wake up as part of our circadian rhythm. In normal times, this just helps us wake up but these aren't normal times. Most people are already waking up to a lot of anxiety and worries and stress. The more cortisol we can deplete, the better we'll feel.
4. Follow that by 3 minutes of sitting in silence. Listen to yourself breathe. Count the breaths or focus on the words "in" and "out", trying to make them longer and slower. If thoughts come into your head, focus on that long, slow breathing. Teach your body to stay calm despite intrusive thoughts.
This moment of stillness allows the boiling pot of water that is You to settle into stillness. It slows your heartrate, lowers your blood pressure, builds skills to help you manage stress and helps you focus on the present.
This practice helps us move from a calm place, thinking clearly.
We are the majority in this country! There are more people here who believe in equal rights than don't. We cannot allow this minority to push their agenda. He have to stay focused, pissed off and resilient...but we don't have to do them all at the same time.
They will push as far as we allow. Civil disobedience is the way we stop them. See an ICE raid coming? Holler "Imigra!" Somebody asks you if you saw something? No you fucking didn't! Every act of resistance, no matter how small, matters. Do not be afraid. Do not comply.
No one is built for suffering. We just have no choice. Living is resistance in a world that doesn't care if you live or die. Listen to and learn from those who've had to resist for a long time. Black people, brown people, native people, the people of Palestine, the people of Ukraine, Congo, Sudan...
Rosa Parks did yoga to keep her body and mind strong. Martin Luther King prayed, which is a form of meditation. Gandhi did yoga and meditated. Malcolm X exercised and meditated. (Exercise is also a form of meditation. It gets us out of our heads and into our body.)
Refuse to give up. Refuse learned helplessness. Choose resilience. Embrace resiliency practices. Nothing worth working for is easy. We have to be strong. Start small, be consistent and you'll get stronger! Just like what happens when you lift weights.
We still have each other. We still have legal rights. We still have the internet. We have access to the teachings of people who've been doing the work for a long time. It's okay to be scare but know this ... they're scared too. The fascists are doing this because they're scared.
They lie because they're scared. They comply because they're scared. They grasp because they're scared. They are scared of all the people they marginalize. We have to be braver than them.
Give me liberty or give me death. Believe in the equality and the liberation of all and speak that out loud.
When you give into nihilism, the idea that nothing matters anymore, then you rationalize doing nothing. You don't have to help. You just give up because you think the fight's already lost. Notice this if it comes up in you. Confront it and refuse it. This fight is just beginning!
Choose unrelenting hope. Revolutionary change, even in the face of unrelenting oppression, it not only possible, it is inevitable.
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it… always.” Mahatma Gandhi
It may take a long time but if there is one thing that has always been true of humans throughout the entire course of humanity, it's that humans always eventually take down the oppressors. They may cause a lot of damage but they are not invincible.
We are evolving as a species, even if it's at the rate of the least evolved of us. They may hold us back but they cannot stop us.
Revolutionary optimism is the belief that a better world is possible through political struggle and that participation in that struggle is TRANSFORMATIVE!
Revolutionary optimism is a mindset grounded in recognizing the potential for progress through collective action, resilience and the belief in humanity's capacity to create a better future.
Revolutionary optimism is not a feeling. It's a practice. It's a discipline. Like going to the gym.
Revolutionary optimism is the conviction that history moves forward through struggle and that justice, equality and freedom can prevail over oppression, exploitation and tyranny. You must believe in progress even if you can't see it right now. Farmers trust that seeds in the ground will grow.
You'll feel more confident the more you participate. With what you say, what you do, how you spend your money, how you spend your time. Choosing resiliency practices is investing in you, investing in progress, investing in a better world.
Now scroll back up and read those 4 resiliency practices.”
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Growth…..
Meanwhile, in Britain, apparently all must be subsumed to ‘Growth’ and A.I.
I attempted to copy over something from Mr. Mac's Bluesky…….
”Robert Macfarlane @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social
Rachel Reeves holds newts in contempt, it seems.
So I thought I'd post this glorious painting of a "lion of the duckweed" by Jackie Morris + my paean to these "kings of the pond", both from The Lost Words.
Newt-lovers, unite!”
…..but it wouldn’t include the picture or the poem, so best have a look at ‘The Lost Words’ - which is always worth looking at….
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