A Rundown of Timely Action Steps
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Before I get started, I want to thank everyone who has upgraded to PAID status.
Your support helps me continue to show up for everyone. Here are several ways I reinvest these funds to bring YOU more value:
Paying honorariums to book live speakers like Anne Applebaum.
She directed her fee to the Ukrainian charity Come Back Alive (in case you’d like to support them, too.)
Paying other independent creators whose work helps me make better information for you.
While I earn a lot of free access via sharing and recommending other Substacks, I still pay creators whose work better helps me do my own. Good information cannot exist without money. I try very hard to practice what I preach and support multiple Substackers with money.
Creating a non-US-based online system for us to stay connected in the event Substack is compromised.
Substack is one of the only places Americans can get news that isn’t tainted by regime propaganda. Because Substack is currently a haven for independent media, I expect it to be a regime target in the near-future.
Substack could change through a fascist buyout. (The unelected billionaire immigrant co-president from South Africa already tried this once.)
Substack could also fall by suppression of free speech and expression. Basically, they could institute algorithms and censorship like most other social media platforms (Meta, Twitter/X) have done, thereby making it impossible to find this and other pro-democracy information.
As a precaution, I have been building a non-US-based backup system for this Substack. If something happens to Substack or free speech more generally, I will be able to quickly communicate with subscribers on systems hosted outside US borders, using non-US-based companies.
While I hope I don’t ever need this system, creating it has been a big endeavor. Your investments have helped me make this for YOU.
By upgrading to PAID status, you support this pro-democracy effort. If you can afford to be a paid subscriber, I would appreciate your financial support.
Keep calling your Senators and your House Rep DAILY.
As Americans who care about democracy, we must make the most-called-about topic the illegal commandeering of the federal treasury by an unelected billionaire tech bro immigrant from South Africa and demand that they initiate impeachment proceedings and the arrest of anyone involved in the illegal takeover of taxpayer funds.
You can also call your state attorney general’s office. I think it would worth your time to call or visit your state representatives as well. If they start feeling more heat, they may apply it upward.
Here’s your script:
Hi. I’m (state your name), and I am a constituent of the Senator/Representative. My zip code is (state it.)
I am calling to protest the illegal commandeering of the federal treasury by an unelected billionaire tech bro immigrant from South Africa and demand that the Senator/Representative initiate impeachment proceedings and the arrest of anyone involved in the unconstitutional, illegal takeover of my taxpayer funds.
If there is a specific staffer assigned to this matter, please transfer me. Otherwise, please pass along my strong concerns as a constituent.
Thank you.
File your taxes.
I’ve been seeing a lot of online chatter about refusing to file federal income taxes this year. At this point, we are required to file income tax returns. Don’t invite future trouble by refusing to follow the law.
(Though I really hope to see Blue states band together and refuse to submit federal taxes. If Republicans refuse to disburse funds to Blue states, Blue states could, in my view, refuse to submit funds to the federal government.)
Order copies of your birth certificate.
If the SAVE Act passes, it will require women to show a birth certificate or passport that MATCHES THEIR LEGAL NAME to register to vote.
The state of Florida also requires a birth certificate to obtain a drivers license. Any states that require Real ID also require a birth certificate. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more laws like this nationwide.
HERE IS A LINK TO ORDER COPIES OF YOUR BIRTH CERTIFICATE. It contains information on how to obtain one’s birth certificate by state.
Freeze your credit.
Given that we don’t know what personal, private information the DOGE terrorists have, locking down our credit is vital to protect ourselves from identity theft.
This newsletter contains all the tools you need to freeze your credit.
Get a US passport.
I know I sound like a broken record, but in the coming months, a passport may be one of the most valuable assets you possess. If this US government decides to make it harder for citizens to leave the country, it could make passports difficult-to-impossible-to-obtain while still claiming to have “open borders.”
It is reasonable to think this government could institute movement restrictions. Fascist/authoritarian/illiberal governments always restrict free movement. Limiting a citizen’s ability to move about within their borders and/or leave their country is a key tactic for authoritarian control.
Read more about how various governments currently restrict free movement worldwide in this 2024 Freedom House report HERE. It may help us predict what a US fascist government might do and take necessary steps to protect ourselves as much as we can.
HERE’S a link to the State Department website with instructions for obtaining a passport.
Open a WISE Account
Many people use WISE to transfer funds to other countries. For example, I have used it to pay for European residency programs.
But WISE also allows users to hold funds in multiple currencies. Given that current government actions seem near-certain to crash the US economy, holding other currencies may be, ahem, wise.
Here’s a link to WISE.
Give yourself what you need to cope.
Here’s what that looked like for me this week:
Got together for a long, laughter-filled lunch with a couple of girlfriends.
Hosted a couple from school for a quiet dinner at home.
Got good news from my eye doctor.
Attended a small dinner with a local group and made a couple of new friends.
Hugged my husband multiple times daily.
Took a nap.
Your list will likely look very different from mine. I hope you’ll share a few of your coping mechanisms in today’s comments.
Reading books like Anne Applebaum’s Autocracy Inc. helps me cope! Although some of what she says is scary, I would rather be informed and have my eyes fully open than bury my head in the sand, another coping skill. Thank you for bringing Anne to our bookclub discussion, looking forward to it.
I'm a married woman, but when I got married almost 34 years ago, I decided not to change my name. Little did I know that might come in handy in a future dystopian USA. I will advise my daughter to do the same. I find it ironic that the people least disenfranchised by this particular change would be more independent women - married but didn't change their names (usually professional and often lean left) and single women (whether by choice or not, such women must stand on their own two feet).