Pat Taub
I belong to a women’s group that formed in response to the genocide in Gaza. We came together for mutual support after feeling alienated from friends and family, who didn’t share our commitment for ending the genocide. At our gatherings, we exchange resources and share our stories while munching on Peace Pizza.
Members of my peace group enjoying a meal out, January 2025
At our last meeting one of the women described how heart fibrillations sent her to the emergency room. The attending doctor told her he was seeing a record number of cases like hers and other anxiety related conditions. He chalked them up to Trump’s shock and awe entry into the White House.
As we went around the room, others confessed to feeling stressed-out and overwhelmed in our new Trump world. I thought about our group as I read a social media post by Jennifer Walter, a Swiss sociologist, and then again when listening to a podcast featuring Naomi Klein and Mehdi Hasan.
All three, Walter, Klein and Hasan offer the perspective we desperately need right now.
Referencing Naomi Klein, Walter comments: The flood of 200+ executive orders in Trump’s first days exemplifies Naomi Klein’s “shock doctrine” – using chaos and crisis to push through radical changes while people are too disoriented to effectively resist.
Walter goes on to quote Media theorist Marshall McLuhan: When humans face information overload, they become passive and disengaged. Translation: the rapid-fire executive orders create a cognitive bottleneck, making it difficult to thoroughly analyze any single policy.
Marshall McLuhan, 1964, warming about how television can shape public opinion
Once you understand what’s at stake, Walter advises putting into practice her 5 step action plan:
1/Set boundaries
Pick 2-3 key issues you deeply care about and focus your attention there. You can’t track everything – that’s by design. Impact comes from sustained focus, not scattered awareness. For example, my group decided to focus on supporting our migrant community.
2/Find trusted analysts who do the heavy lifting of synthesis.
Look for those explaining patterns, not just events. Check out Democracy Now, The Chris Hedges Report and Counterpunch.
3/Remember: Feeling overwhelmed is the point.
When you recognize this, you regain some power. Take breaks. Process. This is a marathon. For me, this means cutting back on my screen time in favor of reading novels and poetry.
4/ Practice going slow
Wait 48hrs before reacting to new policies. The urgent clouds the important. Initial reporting often misses context. Another reminder not to overreact, to pause and reflect. Time in nature can help you to recalibrate.
5/Build community
Share the cognitive load. Different people track different issues. Network intelligence beats individual overload.
A Portland, Maine group joining together for peace and justice
My take-aways from Naomi:
Trump’s intention is to make people so afraid they become numb and depleted.
Trump’s appeal is that he has a story. He stands for right wing social values where men rule the country and the family, where women are subservient, where the white race dominates the nation and where the US dominates the globe.
The Democrats have been losing elections because they don’t have a story. As far as I can tell their only story for the last three elections was “We’re not Trump.” That’s not a story that puts bread on the table or makes housing and medical bills affordable.
Trump’s extreme cuts to social programs, like ending FEMA, and reversing policies to halt climate change, are in support of his billionaire backers who recognize the earth is on life-support but want to pad their portfolios while they can. These fat cats aren’t worried about their fates because they’re building bunkers in New Zealand and even fantasizing about escaping to Mars, reminiscent of the film, “Don’t Look Up.”.
Trump entertaining uber wealthy donors at Mar-a-Lago
Building resistance in a community of like-minded cohorts is the way forward!
