11 Comments
User's avatar
Kristin's avatar

Omg these are such good ideas!

Meg's avatar

Thank you!

Robin's avatar

Would love to see democratic led states band together to fight this. And we need a clean sweep of all democrats that continuously assist the regime. Start with Schumer and Jeffries. Agree with you 100 percent- the democrats rolled over completely after the election. Thank you for posting this. Love all the creative ideas.

Nicole's avatar

We also need to take our money out of the banks, file exempt from federal taxes, and be very choosy where you spend any of your money. Give tips directly to Ubers, DoorDash, and waiters/waitresses. Know your rights and laws in your state for self defense. Take a self defense class, purchase a firearm and learn how to use it if you’re into that. Also growing food and sharing it with the community is really going to be needed in the next couple of years.

Robin's avatar

Great ideas! And don’t use Waymo or AI - we are handing over our jobs as well as our money to all of the greedy tech companies.

Kristie Starr's avatar

Thank you for these suggestions!

Julie's avatar

Thank you so much much for taking the time to write this, to make it free for people who are not subscribers. It is mind boggling how many people I know are not freaked out by all of this.

Heather McCloud's avatar

Love all these ideas!! I was even able to laugh--rare thing these days: redacted voter lists :)

Sharon's avatar

That was a good one!!! He should do that!!

Kunlun, PhD | Playful Brains's avatar

This piece radiates urgency without paralysis, which is no small feat. Thank you Gabrielle for refusing both numbing and nihilism.

What resonated most was your framing of action not just as resistance, but as regulation — a way for people to reclaim agency when systems feel overwhelming. That connection between nervous systems and civic engagement feels deeply true.

One reflection your essay raised for me is how “messing things up” may also be about interrupting psychological inevitability. Authoritarianism feeds on the sense that outcomes are fixed. Even small disruptions — questions, delays, refusals — reintroduce uncertainty. And uncertainty, paradoxically, is where freedom still has room to breathe.