No Fear
You Have Power, You Have Freedom. Use it.
Throughout my writing, I’ve warned against giving in to fear.
We are living under a regime bent on obtaining power and money for a very few Americans.
Throughout history, this playbook has been played out.
Use overwhelming force on a populace and instill fear.
Forced entry into homes. Detaining people without cause. And in more and more places, armed federal power is used for slick social media reels and clicks.
Kill people in plain sight and deny what happened, even when there’s overwhelming video confirmation of the truth.
It works. Not just in foreign countries. We’ve done it here, as I wrote about a few weeks ago.
Yes, it works. Until it doesn’t.
They will fail. They will absolutely fail.
I’ll say it again – fear is their tool.
Our personal choice is how we react to that, which is freedom. And action is our collective power.
We must use our personal power to build friendships across divides, persuade the persuadables, and use every political and legal mechanism we can to overthrow the Trump regime.
But it all starts with us, as individuals, changing our mindsets.
With so much in the world, it’s easy to forget the personal power you have. I’m not talking about those of us with big jobs or big platforms.
I’m talking about what you carry with you every day.
Sometimes we forget the power of inner freedom. It’s what will keep us going.
So, in this capstone on power series, I wanted to share lessons from two places I return to daily, even when things are at their worst, and where we can go from here.
Together.
Lessons from the Stoics
My daily go-to for lessons is the Daily Stoic. I’ve shared it before, but it’s worth bringing up again.
When both of my kids were in high school at the same time and struggling, I’d send them a text from the book. Not every day, but many days.
The other day, one popped up that seemed spot-on, given what we’re seeing in the news.
Marcus Aurelius provided a reminder, a mantra, to use when we feel false impressions and the crush of daily life. The Daily Stoic summarizes it as:
I have the power within me to keep that out. I can see the truth.
And I’d ask my friends who are active in supporting the current regime to really think about another line from Aurelius:
Take a good, hard look at people’s ruling principle, especially of the wise, what they run away from and what they seek out.
It’s clear that those at the top seek out power and money. That’s the ruling principle.
And they will use everything to divide us to keep accumulating.
Learning a lesson from another, who went through the darkest of times, will keep us grounded and in the fight against those kinds of rulers.
Lessons From Viktor Frankl
I’ve read the book that many people claim to have, but haven’t. I’ve read it probably a dozen times. And I need to read it a dozen more times for it to sink in.
Here’s one of his core messages that has sunk in:
Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.
It’s why I’m not afraid.
You can’t take away what I know. You can’t take away who I am.
And you won’t take away my memory from my kids and the people who know me.
So, it gives me the power and the strength to speak out, volunteer, witness, and channel my anger into something productive.
You can do the same.
To my friends on the right
Many of you have known me since I was a kid. You’ve seen my ups and downs, successes and failures.
Do you really think that people like me are, as Steve Bannon said on his podcast, part of some organized effort to “invade the country?”
Or that people I worked for in my life are “fanning the flames of insurrection for the singular purpose of stopping the deportation of illegals who invaded the country?”
That’s what Stephen Miller wrote verbatim on his X account. He’s trying to make any resistance, any accountability, an “insurrection” standing in the way of mass deportation.
He’s been lying about what’s happening on the ground in our cities, about who is being targeted and why.
They are arresting people without warning, and most, despite what Kristi Noem says, are not violent criminals.
Like the certified nursing assistant, Fatima Lucas Henrique, in Maine, who was violently detained – pulled from her car, and taken into custody – as she was following the legal process to become a citizen.
Watch this ProPublica summary of A Year in Trump’s Mass Deportation Campaign. It’s only a few minutes long, but, like most ProPublica pieces, it’s highly researched and powerful.
The takeaway? It’s been brutal and expensive, and it’s done a terrible job of actually finding criminals.
It’s been very effective at terror, stepping on rights (human and American Citizen), and getting Instagram views.
Examples like that are why I chose the career I did and why I speak out now.
I grew up seeing my family treated unfairly. I saw your family screwed over by the powerful.
And then met a lot more people who didn’t look like me who had the deck stacked even more against them, and yet, somehow, made it through.
I’ve spent three decades working. Sometimes paid, often not, trying to make things a little better for more people.
I’m not alone in that effort.
And now you’re seeing more of us stand up against what we perceive as not just policy disagreements, but the taking of freedom and human lives.
Meanwhile, I’m watching this government blow up the amendments you said you held dear, including the cherished 2nd Amendment.
We just saw evidence of that. Multiple video analyses, including a frame-by-frame assessment in the NYT, show that Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old VA ICU nurse holding a phone –not a gun – in the moments before he was taken to the ground, and footage appears to show his weapon being removed before the 10 shots killed him.
That’s why the initial Noem/Bovino/Miller/Vance assertions collapsed under scrutiny, and why the backtracking and blaming this week followed.
I’ve seen this leader and his followers say “Back the Blue,” but only the law enforcement that follows his administration’s edicts.
The “Don’t Tread On Me” bumper-sticker and license-plate folks seem to misunderstand its meaning. The government is overreaching everywhere we go. Occupying cities.
While yelling “America First,” Trump is using taxpayer dollars and government resources to secure rights to minerals, oil, and goods in other countries for his family and friends. He’s used our military to do it in Venezuela and is preparing to do it again in the Middle East.
Trump wants a legacy. He wants more power. He wants more money.
The attacks are increasing, going after anyone who is “against” him. And that changes pretty much every day.
If you do believe in our rights. If you believe in giving everyone a fair shot to prosper. If you believe in our founding documents, our institutions, and our common humanity, then it’s time for a change.
For those who are questioning the lines coming from this administration, come join us in the middle.
To my friends on the left
Oh, boy. I get the anger. I feel like I’ve been shouting into the wind for my entire professional career, and now we’re seeing it.
My Black and Brown colleagues have been ringing this alarm, and very few have paid attention.
I’ve read your posts. I know it’s infuriating that people are paying attention now that white people are killed.
You should have seen my first draft today.
But here’s the thing – we need a coalition, not judgment.
And, yes, that includes people like these from SNL’s “Beyond the Headlines” (comedy is my go-to when I’m really pissed off).
I don’t care what someone thought four months ago. We need them now. And we need them in the future.
Rather than yelling at them that they don’t understand, let’s make the obvious obvious.
The American Dream has been unattainable for too many. Our Black and Brown friends, and Asian friends, were intentionally excluded for a very long time.
Poor whites were just pushed aside and told the others were to blame.
That’s been our narrative. The task now isn’t winning an argument. It’s helping people see themselves in a future that actually works for them.
And let’s be clear about the things we care about changing - better schools, more and affordable child care, homes that build neighborhoods and wealth, and meaningful jobs.
These things are within our reach if we work together.
What can you do?
A friend posted this week showing empathy and care for the loss of life in Minnesota.
They want a different way.
They are not overtly political. They are busy with their family, their job, and trying to make it through these times.
But I felt the importance of them speaking out at this time. Others who haven’t spoken out jumped in. Given permission from someone who has a strong code of right and wrong.
That’s how this turns. Person to person.
Over the past few weeks, I provided a lot of steps for people and organizations to focus on strategies and tactics to change the course of international power, political power, and religious power.
Now it’s personal. Inner freedom keeps you steady. But our actions make them lose.
So here are a few things you can do:
Have one conversation you’ve avoided (start with values, not labels).
Correct one false claim directly – but measured tone –with a verified link (group text, comment thread, whatever).
Ask a question: at the city council, the school board, or an elected official’s office. Get on the record when calls and emails get ignored.
Commit monthly (even $5) to legal aid, civic organizing, or voting protection.
And, yes, bring one person with you to vote with you in school board elections this spring and federal elections in November.
We’ve avoided disagreements. We’ve avoided conversations.
We can no longer afford to do so.
I’m on the board of a group that tries to bring opposing sides together to talk. Not for consensus. But to get better at having an argument about the best path forward, with some respect.
That’s not always possible. There are some people whose values are so exclusionary and out of hatred that it’s not a conversation.
But that’s not most of America. It’s not. It’s a virulent, ugly part that’s been there since our founding and never left.
Yet most people do, in fact, want others to be able to feed their families, live their lives, and achieve a portion of the American dream that matters most to them.
We, as individuals, have more power than we often give ourselves credit.
Stand up. Be not afraid. Speak out.
Coming up on B Positive
We must get through this moment.
At the same time, we need to work in the background to create a better future for more people.
I’m using the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence to look back on the best of us and craft a blueprint for our future. Of course, I’ll be highlighting a lot of good work underway by many good people.
Reading Recommendations
I read a lot to learn a lot.
Pick up the Daily Stoic and Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. Use Bookshop.org, a great way to get books and support local bookstores, if you can’t make it out to a local one.
It also helps to read some poetry during these times.
And I highly recommend reading Amanda Gorman’s two poems about the shootings in Minnesota.
If you have 10 Minutes...
Listen to Senator Slotkin’s speech from last fall. Start around minute 9.
It’s a clear explanation of how authoritarian leaders stay in power: they divide the public, they rewrite the rules, and then they escalate.
It’s a warning we need to hear and fight against.
One more thing, for my own team: please don’t do the circular firing squad thing with the senator. I get the impulse. I’m guilty too. But we need coalition over purity.
Her point from a couple of weeks back wasn’t complicated: a country needs law enforcement and enforceable guardrails: clear ID, body cams, warrants, and consequences.
Watch the speech.
Then send it to one person who still thinks this can’t happen here.