Sand in the Gears

You do not have to do everything. Pick one thing. Then do it. Be sand in the gears.

“Be troublesome. Be sand, not oil, in the gears of the world.”

The German poet Günter Eich wrote that in 1951, trying to jolt people out of complacency after the catastrophe of the Nazi era.

I think about his words a lot these days.

As authoritarianism advances in America, many ask: What can I possibly do?

The answer: Throw sand in the gears.

Film abuses when you witness them. Show up at public meetings. File public records requests. Subscribe to independent journalism. Support whistleblowers and legal defense funds.

Learn your rights. Protect your digital privacy. Use Signal.

Join a protest. Know your neighbors. Build networks of mutual aid.

Boycott companies that enable abuses. Stop giving propaganda your attention.

And visibly stand with people who are being targeted, especially immigrants, people of color, and trans people.

None of these things by itself will stop the slide into authoritarianism, but each makes it harder on the autocracy that uses: secrecy, intimidation, isolation, propaganda, and compliance to grind away our democracy.

There are hundreds of ways to do this, large and small. Some involve risk. Many do not.

You do not have to do everything.

Pick one thing. Then do it.

Be sand in the gears.