On a political level, identifying abuse is easy. It shows in violence, in malicious and targeted social murder.
But something much darker than abuse is tearing down our society.
Neglect.
Neglect is poorly understood, even on an interpersonal level. People understand assault. They don't understand what it means to not be loved. It's something most people don't notice unless they lose it- and it's hard for them to comprehend that for some people it is never lost, it just wasn't ever there in the first place.
The health consequences are horrific. On a political level, it looks exactly like what we have in the United States today. Almost no one knows how government works. Even less run for office; government is a playground for machiavelians because they are amoung the only that care. People who organize protests in response to atrocious events might only get three attendees. We don't have enough mutual aid networks to cover people who want to join, and there's a lot of networks that go against the motto "solidarity, not charity" and are, in fact, just another charity. The left does not exist. There are no serious left-wing political parties- the Democratic Party is conservative, by global standards. Want to do community organizing? You'll probably hear people suggest to move to another country- in the US, individualism means it takes hard work to keep people together, and the second you stop the group falls apart.
That's not to say there's not hope. Progressive candidate group Run for Something has a record number of people planning to run for office in 2024. If people saw voting as a useful harm reduction measure and went to the polls, who knows- maybe the Democrats could sweep the next election. If that happened there might be enough people to build up a socialist party the election after. This is all speculation, a political scientist might disagree with a number of alternate hypotheticals. Ultimately, if we do nothing, the Handmaids tale will be our reality.
Back to negelct. Love is something that takes time. Neglect is easy, it means to do nothing.
People love to doomscroll, say nothing will work, and that it's useless because the rich control everything.
Here's the truth. 70% of the work that matters, rich people could not care less that you do. Activists and journalists do get shut down or killed on occasion, but the people that happens to do really specific type of work- exposes and the extremes of radical action. It's absolutely needed, and there is still an extensive variety of work you can do that no one is going to go out of their way to try and control. It's your responsibility to do everyday societal maintance to support those who do choose radical action.
Saying there's no point in doing or working on anything is like giving up on your kid. Maybe your kid was struggling, maybe your kid was fine, but now they sure aren't. Even if your kid is going to die, that doesn't mean you should yell at them saying nothing matters and there's no point in loving them.
On a political level, that kid is the entire generation that comes after you.
On a political level, what would it mean to take responsibility?
One hour a week to do political work.
One hour a week to do community work.
Political work- you are doing research. Writing public comments, volunteering for ballot measures, political campaigns, and civic-duty projects. If you don't like the current system, you are analyzing what you don't like, identifying a tangible alternative, and strategizing to make it happen.
Community work- you are doing something to help the community. You are caregiving for your neighbor. You are involved in the life of a child or adult that has no family. You are helping someone who is running a community organization. You are helping someone with or making your own mutual aid group.
For some of you, two hours a week might be too much. That's okay- do 20 minutes instead. If you're in a really bad place that might still feel like too much. Do stuff in the moment instead. Be an active bystander. If you're doing something for the holidays, be very intentional about who you invite.
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