Comments on: Democracy is on fire, so it’s time to get involved. https://catherinefriend.com/democracy-is-not-a-spectator-sport-time-to-get-your-a-off-the-bench-and-contribute-one-small-thing/ Tue, 25 Apr 2023 21:40:53 +0000 hourly 1 By: Catherine https://catherinefriend.com/democracy-is-not-a-spectator-sport-time-to-get-your-a-off-the-bench-and-contribute-one-small-thing/#comment-1986 Tue, 25 Apr 2023 21:40:53 +0000 https://catherinefriend.com/blog/?p=4244#comment-1986 In reply to Sheryl Robertson.

This is an amazing list—great way to take stock of where we are. Thanks for posting!

]]> By: Sheryl Robertson https://catherinefriend.com/democracy-is-not-a-spectator-sport-time-to-get-your-a-off-the-bench-and-contribute-one-small-thing/#comment-1985 Tue, 25 Apr 2023 15:33:42 +0000 https://catherinefriend.com/blog/?p=4244#comment-1985 I am reading this SciFi novel and they have a political party that is causing problems (DOP). Here is one characters analyses of why they are gaining power. Seems to fit what is happening here in the US.
“Given the increasingly visible activities of the DOP over the past year and a half,” she said, “I suppose it was inevitable that they would install plants in our meeting. But I’m not sure what they were trying to accomplish. Their only weapon is fear. They’re terrified of the unknown, just as children are. Children depend on their families and cultures to educate them on which fears are useful and which can be dismissed, but some reach adulthood without ever learning to distinguish. They fear anything they can’t understand, and they don’t want to understand. They revel in their childish terror because it’s a cultural tie—it gives them a strong connection to their chosen tribe. The tribe of fear.”
Excerpt From
Catalyst
Fletcher Fletcher DeLancey

]]> By: Sheryl Robertson https://catherinefriend.com/democracy-is-not-a-spectator-sport-time-to-get-your-a-off-the-bench-and-contribute-one-small-thing/#comment-1984 Tue, 25 Apr 2023 15:09:35 +0000 https://catherinefriend.com/blog/?p=4244#comment-1984 You are so right. All Americans should get involved to help stop this insanity. Staying silent is not working. Something I like is this poster that hangs in the Holocaust Museum:

EARLY WARNING SIGNS OF FASCISM

1. Powerful and continuing nationalism
2. Disdain for human rights
3. Identification of enemies as a unifying cause
4. Rampant sexism
5. Controlled mass media
6. Obsession with national security
7. Religion and government intertwined
8. Corporate power protected
9. Labor power suppressed
10. Disdain for intellectual and the arts
11. Obsession with crime and punishment
12. Rampant cronyism and corruption

Look at the US now and see where we stand on this list. We need to do something. Yell about fascism and what it means tell everyone where we are headed if we don’t turn this around.

]]> By: Catherine https://catherinefriend.com/democracy-is-not-a-spectator-sport-time-to-get-your-a-off-the-bench-and-contribute-one-small-thing/#comment-1983 Tue, 25 Apr 2023 14:05:48 +0000 https://catherinefriend.com/blog/?p=4244#comment-1983 Cory,

Thanks for this. And we love the Tennessee Three up here. Quite the drama that we all watched for a week or so. And you’ve already done one ‘small thing’ by attending the protest!

As for sharing, you could copy the blog link. I can’t tell if there’s a ‘share’ link that other people see. It’s great that you want to share this, no matter how you do it.

Thanks!
C

]]> By: Cory Sue Gatliff https://catherinefriend.com/democracy-is-not-a-spectator-sport-time-to-get-your-a-off-the-bench-and-contribute-one-small-thing/#comment-1982 Tue, 25 Apr 2023 13:05:46 +0000 https://catherinefriend.com/blog/?p=4244#comment-1982 Catherine,
Is there anyway I can share your post on my Facebook page? I think it’s brilliant in that it makes a very motivating and empowering point without raising hackles. (I know my own hackles are exhausted from being raised…in a virtual plank…for the last several years!). And you ARE inspiring. I actually took part in a protest at the Tennessee Capitol against gun violence after the Covenant School shooting. Reading your posts has verified that there isn’t always “someone else” to stand in the gap. Please keep doing what you’re doing. It’s important.

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