Whose Responsibility is it?

In his 1967 article, The Responsibility of Intellectuals, Noam Chomsky wrote, 

"Intellectuals are in a position to expose the lies of governments, to analyze actions according to their causes and motives and often hidden intentions. In the Western world at least, they have the power that comes from political liberty, from access to information and freedom of expression. For a privileged minority, Western democracy provides the leisure, the facilities, and the training to seek the truth lying hidden behind the veil of distortion and misrepresentation, ideology, and class interest through which the events of current history are presented to us." 

Fifty years later, despite our eroding rights, most of us, not just the intellectuals, now have "political liberty, access to information and freedom of expression," but we have not used them responsibly. Sadly, it has taken the rise of the Trump Gleichschaltung to reawaken our sense of obligation.

Here are some easy suggestions from Robert Reich on how to 

1. Get your senators and representatives to pledge to oppose Trump’s agenda.

Reject his nominees, prolong the process of approving them, draw out hearings on legislation. Call your senator and your representative and don’t stop calling.

2. March and demonstrate.

3. Make your city and state sanctuaries—

that won’t cooperate with federal immigration authorities in deporting undocumented immigrants, especially people who have been here since they were very young.

4. Boycott all Trump products, real estate, hotels, resorts, everything.

And then boycott all stores that carry merchandise from Trump family brands.

5. Write letters to the editor of your newspaper and op-eds—

with a steady flow of arguments about the fallacies and dangers of Trump’s First 100 Day policies and initiatives.

6. Contribute to social media with up-to-date daily bulletins—

on what Trump is up to, and actions in your region in opposition.

7. Contribute to the most effective opposition groups.

The American Civil Liberties Union, Common Cause, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Economic Policy Institute, Inequality Media, MoveOn, and others.

8. Make the resistance visible—

with bumper stickers, lapel pins, wrist bands.

9. Push progressive causes at your state and local level—

environmental reform, progressive taxes, a higher minimum wage, ending gerrymandering, stopping mass incarceration. Make your state a model of what the federal government should do.

10. Start a move in your state to abolish the electoral college—

by committing your state’s electors to vote for the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote.

11. Reach out to independents and even Trump supporters who agree with this agenda—

and get them involved.

There are many options available to those with a renewed sense of civic duty:

#makeadifference

#resistance

#grabyourwallet

#nobannowall