I saw the following note from Alyssa Milano, where she writes [image below]:
S**t, you guys. I’m so tired of just going about my life like this isn’t all nuts. NONE OF THIS IS NORMAL. I AM SO TIRED.
Squirrel, me too. Me too. I think a lot of us are feeling similar sentiments.
But there’s good news: We don’t have to just go about life like this isn’t all nuts. This is nuts. But there’s also something every single one of us can do to topple a budding dictatorship.
We can build hyper-local parallel systems of support.
This is crucial work, because it prevents fascists from being able to control the population. Fascists destroy food systems, economic systems, housing, healthcare, arts, access to basic safety because they need us in panic to remain in control. The chaos they create isn’t about incompetence: it’s about keeping you frozen and in trauma. Domestic abusers do this, too. (Survivors know.)
But we don’t have to cede ground to fascists. When we build parallel systems of support, at the neighborhood level, we deny fascists the disordered panic they need to stay in control. The cool part, though, is that parallel systems of support actually disintegrate power right from under the fascists; it crumbles the pillars of support they need to prop them up. It helps elected officials, military, institutions, and law enforcement to find their spines and re-calibrate their moral compasses.
This video explains why parallel systems of support aren’t just practical but actually the cornerstone of kicking fascists to the curb. Watch it. Share it. And, if your neighborhood needs encouragement to get started, give this weirdo a call.
