Here’s my pep talk after studying authoritarianism:
1). They never truly expect a long-term resistance movement bc they think people are a collection of trauma triggers who are easily controlled thru terror
2). If they can’t terrorize you 24/7 in your mind, they have already lost the war
3). The single best way you can resist fascism is to not let them terrorize you constantly. Protect your mental health to ensure you are not constantly in a terrorized state
4). Keep connecting to who you are at your core. Your values, preferences, ethics, and beliefs. Build up capacity to resist
5). Remember they are like abusive parents: they only see us extensions of them. They have no clue how powerful joy and community and self-expression can be. We can use this to our advantage — we can be the strong-willed child they never saw coming.
Spending time connecting to your true self is not selfish in these times — it’s intricately connected to a resistance movement that is tied to honoring our bodies, our communities, and to the land. We have to build capacity to resist by being exactly who we are!