I’m stuck on the convincing people it exists step—too much of an asshole to be an ambassador I guess. Fight for public schools, and access to healthcare, and the arts. No better tools than health, knowledge, and a shared language of empathy. Embrace every opportunity to put self-sufficiency back in the hands normal people instead of further consolidating under the control of rich white fucks. Even if it costs you something, or if you won’t see the benefits right now. Buy local. Try and keep those profiting from your labor within metaphorical punching distance, should they ever need a metaphorical pop. Show up for local elections, run in local elections if you have a soul. If you care and are willing to learn you will be a godsend to some of your local boards.
The more the ruling elite have, the more they rig the system for themselves, the more the way to squeak up or cling to a rung on the ladder of prosperity is to emulate them, the more a narrative of superiority calcifies, the more stratified and shit people become. Trump tells them that’s fine, the truth is what feels the most comfortable. Not to think critically about how we got here because for his ilk the system is lining the pockets intended. Tells them to stop doing the painful work of looking within and pulling up any pernicious roots they might have grown out of; that it is okay to close their eyes to any consequences and causation if it makes them uneasy. Rural places more vulnerable to Trump’s rhetoric are more than capital poor. There’s nothing there to shake up these narratives before they harden and he’s telling them that’s not a tragedy, but cause for celebration.