Amongst all the hot takes, the disbelief and the angst the question many of us are asking is what to actually do. I don’t have answers to that question, or rather I have lots of answers and no clarity as to which to choose. An inventory of resources reveals this blog, a substantial, if not massive, social media following on Twitter and some degree of influence associated with that. And money and the network of influence that goes with being moderately affluent and middle class. Not the 1% but definitely the 10%.
This is a list of concrete actions so far and immediate next steps:
Web presence and online:
- This site now has a LetsEncrypt certificate so https:// should work and I believe I’ve ironed out the kinks
- I’ve turned off and removed all Google Analytics scripts
- What I write here will become more political, what I retweet and post more so
- TODO: Should I move off Disqus as the commenting platform? Do I need more robust hosting? Should I be using a US host at all?
Support
- Made donations to ACLU, Planned Parenthood and the Southern Policy Law Center
- TODO: Identify other organisations, particularly in France. Figure out and budget for regular donations
- Joined the Guardian, subscribed to New York Times
- TODO: Is there a conservative leaning, continental European, English language media organisation with its own reporting team? Review NYT based on its breadth of reporting and prioritisation.
As per the weekend post, none of this is to claim credit. It’s a return to the original purpose of this blog, which was to think out loud, with the recognition that it is only because I am privileged that that even makes sense. Each of the above represents a first step towards redressing the failure to do things I should have done in the past.