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What does the author mean, “The moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow?” Can you think of Americans, past or present, who have helped break the spell of the status quo? How can each of us follow their examples?
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Congressman John Lewis said, “Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America”. He was a Civil Rights leader and used “good trouble” as a battle cry. In 1965 John Lewis led the first of three marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama, along with other boycotts and marches. Martin Luther King Jr. is infamous for his Civil Rights activities in the 60’s as well. He championed a peaceful bus boycott that lasted 382 days. He led the march on Washington DC where he made his famous speech. King is also know for his fights to secure voting rights for black Americans.
Today I would add Liz Chaney to my list of people who broke the spell of the status quo. She stood up to her Republican party, put her political career on the line, publicly spoke out against tRump, and led the investigation into the January 6 assault on the Capital. Liz embodies what I think a political leader should be: a person who swears an oath to the constitution of the country not her political party, a person who does what’s best for her constituents, and a person who does what’s best for her country. For me she is an example of what a person with courage and integrity acts like. Adam Kingsinger also stood against his party and worked tirelessly on the investigation into the January 6 events. While he knew he was not going to run for office again he is still in the cross hairs of the current administration.
I will keep on boycotting, flooding my reps with emails and phone calls, and exercising my right to vote no matter what the election pertains to. I am no longer physically able to march but I will continue to be vigilant and participate however, wherever, I can. I will use my voice whenever I can to help educate those who stick their heads in the sand and say it will never happen or just don’t pay attention. My goal is to help people look at today’s situation as a country’s problem not a democrat or republican party’s problem. Only when we can meet in the middle will we begin to hear each other’s voices and work toward a solution to save our democracy.
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Well said Libby!
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Thank you Jane!
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Bravo, Libby. You are an example for us all and I applaud your goal.
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It takes courage to say out loud what others fear to say. But as soon as you do, you set an example for others to speak out too. I think being a voice against the tide can be very challenging and possibly dangerous in these troubled times. Gandhi said, “It’s easy to stand in the crowd, but it takes courage to stand alone.”
For me, there are several Democrats who I like right now because they all have clear messages and cut through the BS. I think they are genuinely living their values—walking the walk and talking the talk. They are AOC, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Adam Schiff. What these folks all have in common is that they are calling out hypocrisy and falsehoods. We need more people who can punch through the BS being served up to Americans right now by a lot of bad self-serving people. But I worry for them, along with Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger and others speaking truth to power because they are in the MAGA crosshairs. These are violent, unpredictable people.
For ourselves, it may feel like our voices are being sucked into a dark black hole because of the forces working against truth-telling, but I believe the kind voice, although it appears weak at first, has the strength to silence the hurtful one. And it is the voice that is ultimately trusted over time.
I genuinely feel that the key thing missing right now is Americans trusting one another. Healing will only begin when Americans can re-establish communication with each other, respect their differences, and trust each other again. Don’t let the extremists (which include the oligarchs as well as the far-right) speak for the majority or speak for you. George Orwell famously said, “In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” Seek out the truth-tellers and keep telling the truth, everyone!
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It struck me that Snyder’s two examples of people who stood out really didn’t, at least not at the time. They surely resisted and did so at great risk. But they did not really call attention to themselves. Churchill mobilized the British people more by giving them credit for their courage than by exhorting them to act. Teresa fed people and saved their lives. Of course, she could not have safely called attention to herself in Nazi Germany. But, like Churchill, she used her later writing to give credit to others. So, “stand out” took on a more nuanced meaning for me. It surely means to resist, to think for oneself and act accordingly.
The U.S. Civil Rights movement provides numerous examples of individuals who resisted the status quo and set an example as Libby notes. There are some with roots in the southwest, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta (a New Mexico native) organized migrant farm workers. The lawyers of the ACLU don’t call attention to themselves while they challenge the current administration to protect Americans’ and immigrants’ civil rights. And some journalists write the truth and resign when they are muzzled.
God help us all if current U.S. politics and governance become the status quo. It seems to me that any action other than acceptance and complacency is an opportunity to set an example.
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Read this after I commented here and thought it reinforced some of what people have said and provided some additional options to “set an example.”
https://contrarian.substack.com/p/15-ways-you-can-fight-for-democracy
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For this topic, I had similar thoughts to Jane’s assessment with respect to standing out. To stand out, to me, doesn’t necessarily equate to calling attention to oneself or being a public figure. I also strongly agree with Jane that “any action other than acceptance and complacency is an opportunity to set an example”.
As history has shown that the majority of people conform to the societal expectations, we may find many different opportunities to resist ourselves, creating our own examples of standing out. For example, an act as simple as initiating thoughtful conversations with friends, family and neighbours about current events would make one stand out, as avoiding awkward situations is what is typically expected. While historical figures are often credited for inspiring change, it just may be the case that millions of possibly awkward, unrecorded moments have also inspired activism and have been just as effective in spreading knowledge and paving the way for change.
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