Here’s my brief daily post chronicling my effort to do at least one thing every day, no matter how small, to fight the authoritarian sociopath in the White House. Today’s entry: We gave a donation to Social Security Works, an organization whose mission has been to promote expansion of Social Security as a vital part of our social safety net. Now, sadly, they’re likely to spend a lot of their time battling Elon Musk’s apparent plan to kill Social Security. They have my support.
(SSW is promoting a national day of action entitled “Hands Off Social Security” tomorrow, Tuesday April 15, but the nearest protests are in the Boston area and the southern Hudson River Valley, so I won’t be attending.)
The Vermont Political Observer. 
Hello John Walters,
I don’t know if you subscribe to “Medium”. There was a recent post by
Will Lockett that was quite good and fits in with the “do something” thing.
I thought you might like it so I’ve excerpted some of it here:
/Over the past decade, … I have often contemplated Gandhi. This frail
man drove out an empire, and not just any empire — the British Empire, a
globe-dominating tyrannical force that put Genghis Khan and the Romans
to shame. Yet, he used neither swords nor firearms and never even so
much as drew a drop of blood. … His story shows us that no matter how
formidable, exploitative, tyrannical, or despotic the powers that be
get, the human spirit will always prevail. It seems his legacy has not
been forgotten either, as America is gearing up to break free of its own
fetters./
/On the 5th of April, 2025, over three million Americans peacefully took
to the streets in protest against the pillaging of their rights, the
desecration of their democracy, the debasement of essential government
services, and the destruction of the American economy at the hands of
Trump and Musk. … And, while no capitols were stormed, no weapons were
used, and no threats were dished out, this protest was more potent than
an insurrection./
/Why? Because violence is a tool of the tyrannical; they are the
ultimate bullies, and when we meet them on their terms, the people never
win. But peaceful solidarity,that is the tool of the masses. We are
forcing them to meet on our terms of reasonableness and reality, where
all their tricks and manipulations are impotent. The very foundation of
their power, their lies, falsehoods, and illusions, evaporates. And,
without their power, revolution is unavoidable./
/This is not the whimsical delusion of a utopianist either; there is
hard evidence to support this fact. After years of analyzing political
change and revolutions, Erica Chenoweth found that civil disobedience
was the most effective way to induce widespread political change and
that nonviolent movements are twice as likely to meet their goals. On
top of that, she discovered a tipping point. Major political change is
inevitable once 3.5% of the population starts actively engaging in
peaceful protests./
/Even the most conservative of estimates place the percentage of
Americans who actively engaged in these “Hands Off!” protests at 1%. If
you include American expats who demonstrated in Europe and analyse more
optimistic attendee figures, that percentage figure could go as high as
1.3%./
/In short, America is about a third of the way to an inevitable
upturning of the plutocratic status quo — far closer than many might
think…./
/So, keep going, America. You are doing a remarkable job. Just remember
Gandhi, and stay peaceful; only then can we truly banish tyranny from
the land.
/
-ooOoo-
I wasn’t able to make the last protest but I think I’ll do the next one.
Best,
Norm Etkind/
/
Thank you.
Good idea, thanks. I’ll make a small donation to SSW. I’m also giving to ACLU, Public Citizen and Democracy Forward as they fight Trump and Musk in court.
“Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world.”