An incomplete list of what is and what isn't resistance.
We can all do our part, big or small.
Ignoring the news at large is not resistance.
Carefully and consciously curating what news you consume instead of taking what mass media feeds you is resistance.
Doomscrolling is not resistance.
Questioning authority and finding a second, third, or even fourth source is resistance.
Believing what you hear at face value is not resistance.
Loving yourself is resistance because we live in a society that profits off self-doubt.
Realizing there is very little “ethical consumerism” and consuming rampantly anyway is not resistance.
Realizing there is very little “ethical consumerism” and doing your research to make conscious choices to vote with your dollar ethically is resistance.
Using the library is resistance.
Buying books from Amazon is manifestly not resistance. Get the fuck off of Amazon already.
Buying hard copies of books is resistance.
Quick aside: Some people don’t have space to buy a lot of books so they use an e-reader or you use the library. That’s excellent and it’s always better to read by whatever means available to you than not. Lately, I fear for the archive of the internet and how it can be changed by the whim and will of these elected leaders who wish to erase history and facts. I have started to buy hard copies of important books, both history and banned books. So if you have the space, I would suggest doing so.
Reading diverse literature is resistance.
Creating and consuming art is resistance.
Growing food is resistance.
Baking bread is resistance.
Sharing and donating food is resistance.
Finding community in any form is resistance; Dungeons & Dragons, a writing group, a local volunteer group, a committee about something you care about, a book club, a group you game with, a car community, a community garden. Every interest has a community that surrounds it.
Isolating is not resistance.
Getting enough sleep, resting, and taking breaks is resistance.
Losing sleep and stressing over a job that does not care about you is not resistance.
Boycotting is resistance.
Buying from a corporation that has values you disagree with “because I don’t make a difference” is not resistance.
Buying within your means and buying secondhand is resistance.
Arguing with Nazis is not resistance.
Punching them is.
Thinking it’s not your problem because it doesn’t affect you is not resistance.
Thinking “What can I do to help just one person?” is.
Paying attention to and being involved with what is happening at the local and state level is resistance. You can have a direct impact in your direct vicinity.
Setting up a recurring fund to donate to a cause you believe in is resistance.
If you can’t donate your money, donate your time. Volunteering and mutual aid are resistance.
Being a bystander while something unethical, racist, sexist, bigoted, etc. happens in your proximity is not resistance.
Standing up for someone and/or yourself is resistance.
Doing what you know to be right even if you don’t know if it will succeed is resistance.
Time theft is resistance.
Small acts of resistance that you can make within your ability and means are still and always will be resistance.
Remembering history is resistance.
Compliance is not resistance.
Giving up is not resistance.
Staying alive is.
Want to add a comment for those with large Kindle libraries and/or audiobook libraries that are looking to move away from Amazon. If you have a PC/laptop, there’s 2 programs, Calibre for ebooks, Libation for audiobooks. Calibre lets you add your ebooks and manage them like you would music in iTunes, it also lets you strip the DRM from Kindle books, the process is a bit tedious, but it works, took me about 2 hours this past Sunday to move over about 250 books. Libation is a program that lets you sign into your Audible account, it downloads the books and strips the DRM from them and produces files you can play in any media player.
"Arguing with Nazis is not resistance.
Punching them is."
Love this and love your words always.