What This Country Needs Now: 11.9 Million Grains Of Sand
As the U.S. slowly sinks under the weight of authoritarian rule, we find ourselves just standing there, feeling like individual grains of sand, too small to make a difference. So we carry on, pretending that everything is normal, that this surely can't be happening, that someone — anyone, please! — will finally rise up, rope us into safe ground, and blast the evil techno-fascists into orbit. Well I got news for you, my friends, no one's coming to save us.
Don’t get me wrong, I'm not here to tell you we’re on shaky ground. You already know that. What you may not know is that you’ve been holding the rope in your hands all along. That’s right. Truth is, every seismic shift in humanity began with a single person who simply chose to act. Greta Thunberg. Nelson Mandela. Rosa Parks: All ordinary citizens. None of them set out to launch revolutions. None of them was necessarily exceptional in their circumstances. Yet they all embraced that sweet spot between what pissed them off, what they were decent at, and what would improve the lives of the community they cared about.
Which brings me to my modest proposal: how about we each launch our very own micro-revolutions? I know you're probably thinking, "Sounds cool, but I'm just one sleep-deprived human with bills to pay." Guess what? So was every person who ever changed anything. And maybe that's exactly the point. Maybe the revolution doesn't need martyrs or saints. Maybe all it needs is imperfect, cranky, everyday people who refuse to go quietly into the night.
Hear me out. We don’t need some grand strategy, or some charismatic leader to start. We don’t even need 100% of Americans to agree — as if that would ever happen🙄 All we need, according to political scientist Erica Chenoweth's groundbreaking research, is just 3.5% of the population, actively and persistently engaged, to bring about significant societal change.
Now, let’s put that into perspective: the total population of the U.S. is around 340 million people. Doing some very basic math, we get that 3.5% of 340 million is about 11.9 million people — which is slightly more than the population of Ohio (11.8 million, according to the latest available U.S. Census Bureau data).
Do I think there’s at least 11.9 million people sitting somewhere between "slightly annoyed" and "f*ing pissed off" at the current state of things? You better believe it! Now you may say, wait — how are we getting consensus from 11.9 million people in such a divided country? Great question. That’s none of your business. Your mission — should you accept the challenge — is to do what YOU can personally do in your little neck of the woods.
Look, I’m not saying that if we all did this we’ll end up changing the world like the history-makers before us. But what if we end up with something even better? What if we no longer have to silently consent to what infuriates us? What if we lived a life in which we finally DO SOMETHING instead of just complaining or disassociating? Seriously, what would be a more delicious "f*ck you" to the techno-fascists than to wreak some havoc in their undemocratic apparatus?
We don’t need a uniform. We don’t need playbooks, law degrees, political connections or any other special qualifications to participate. All we need is to be that little grain of sand that sets change into motion. Because, you know what they call 11.9 million annoyingly persistent grains of sand? You guessed it, babe: It’s called an avalanche.
Here are some ways you can become that ever-annoying little grain of sand:
Pump Up The (Bureaucracy) Jam: We’re dealing with chaos agents here. Help them along by jamming up the system with even more chaos!
Complain in writing: Master the lost art of the detailed complaint letter (bonus if you use fax!). Send them consistently. Use their systems against them.
Participate in every public comment period. Frequent the Federal Register and Regulations.gov websites to leave comments on proposed legislation.
Become a regular at city council meetings. Bring your friends. Take turns speaking. Reference each other's points. They hate that.
If your reps refuse to hold town halls, call them out publicly and on social media. Do it often.
Drive Some Wedges: As we are witnessing in real time, united fascists are dangerous, but fascists fighting each other are too busy to oppress us effectively.
Identify places where authoritarian interests conflict with each other. Point them out publicly. Repeatedly. Social media is your friend, just use it safely. See the last point in this list.
Find rules the organizations or officials in charge are breaking and insist on enforcement. Make sure you’re loud and petty. That's the whole point.
Become the troll you’d hate to deal with: Practice identifying hidden splits among power players and gently widening them. "I notice Mister X disagrees with Mister Y on this issue..."
Create Friction: Every moment the authorities spend dealing with your persistence is a moment they're not spending expanding their control.
Practice slowing down interactions with authority (i.e. I.C.E. 🧊). Ask clarifying questions. Request written documentation. Take detailed notes or record while they’re around. It’s your right to do so.
Learn to say "I'd like to see the specific policy that requires that" with a pleasant smile.
Use ‘strategic delays’: If an official or law enforcement requests your info, say: "I'll need to talk to my lawyer before I can provide that information."
Build Connections: Isolated = easy-to-control. The community you build now will be key to your survival later.
Start small neighborhood groups that meet regularly. There are guides online that walk you through setting up your own walking groups, tool-sharing circles, book clubs, etc (i.e. Veterans Fighting Fascism’s guide to start your own book club.) The content matters less than building trusted networks.
Create regular "skill swap" events where people teach each other useful things like gardening, basic repairs, first aid, etc.
Become the unofficial community hub for resources and information. Make a list of neighbors’ phone numbers, know who has what skills, and connect people you think should know each other.
Undermine The System: Don’t just prepare for collapse - Build alternatives that make the oppressors irrelevant.
Build tiny mutual-aid alternatives to dependent systems: Organize a community garden, a tool library, childcare co-ops, skill exchanges.
Identify what people in your community need and organize direct ways to provide it outside official channels.
Redirect resources to where they're needed without waiting for permission.
Become a Master Documenter: Systems of control usually rely on nobody keeping receipts of what they actually do.
Film everything: Police interactions, public officials coming-and-goings, sketchy activity. Just become that person with their phone out, looking bored but documenting.
Take up a new hobby: Submitting FOIA requests! You have a right to request records about surveillance cameras, police budgets, corporate subsidies. They're counting on nobody asking.
Create a simple spreadsheet listing things the regime doesn’t want you to track: which officials don't answer constituent calls, which companies donate to problematic campaigns, which judges have suspicious sentencing patterns. Share it everywhere.
Be an Information Fortress: Protecting truth is like keeping oxygen flowing - it determines who survives.
Normalize privacy protection: First and foremost, protect yourself online before posting anything (because, well, you know). I shared a few ways to do it here.
Help vulnerable people around you to secure their digital personas. Make it a coffee date activity.
Go touch some grass: Create offline information networks. Use actual pen and paper and in-person conversations for sensitive topics.
p.s. I’ve written about fighting fascism, navigating the media, and preparing for the death of democracy elsewhere. Please check out the rest of my posts and subscribe.