Be the Deep State you Wish to See in the World
September 13, 2017 11:07 AM Subscribe
So many of us want to get involved but aren't sure what our roles should be. How do I as a Asian American straight man engage in the reality of Anti-Blackness and struggle? How do I as a white queer woman stand humbly and bravely in the indigenous struggle? How can I as a black woman share safely about the stories I face on a daily basis in the broad movement of all women in our country? How do we understand those working with us -- the people we see marching with and for our communities?
“For Trump, a man who has always defined himself against caricatured enemies, the deep state is a useful boogeyman that allows him to merge several disparate political targets—real, exaggerated and imagined—into a single villain he can use to rally his supporters.”
That’s why, in the tradition of recent conversation about rising millennial leftism, Camp Deep State embraces the role of bogeyman and seeks to expand on it: you don’t need to be part of the government to be a civic activist. An immersive 3-day camp in October for "active citizens and emerging activists," experiences include workshops from The Women's March and Make The Road, a social movement library from the Interference Archive, and an obstacle course on voting rights by Easy Elections NY.
When Alex Jones claims that the Deep State is ‘going to kill the president,’ he may have meant ‘by a thousand leaks.’ But even more potent is a shared sense of social justice, a kind of intersectional civics. The deep state IS real, and bigger than the decreasing share of government workers. It is all of us, around the campfire of democracy.
Deep State previously and previously.
“For Trump, a man who has always defined himself against caricatured enemies, the deep state is a useful boogeyman that allows him to merge several disparate political targets—real, exaggerated and imagined—into a single villain he can use to rally his supporters.”
That’s why, in the tradition of recent conversation about rising millennial leftism, Camp Deep State embraces the role of bogeyman and seeks to expand on it: you don’t need to be part of the government to be a civic activist. An immersive 3-day camp in October for "active citizens and emerging activists," experiences include workshops from The Women's March and Make The Road, a social movement library from the Interference Archive, and an obstacle course on voting rights by Easy Elections NY.
When Alex Jones claims that the Deep State is ‘going to kill the president,’ he may have meant ‘by a thousand leaks.’ But even more potent is a shared sense of social justice, a kind of intersectional civics. The deep state IS real, and bigger than the decreasing share of government workers. It is all of us, around the campfire of democracy.
Deep State previously and previously.
Was a grift ever more ineptly titled? Donate to my subscription T-shirt plan/workshop series on focussed mindfulness in social change, it's called "Concentration Camp"
posted by RogerB at 1:35 PM on September 13, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by RogerB at 1:35 PM on September 13, 2017 [7 favorites]
I can't see any mention of antisemitism or any input from Jewish organisations. Antisemitism isn't the most pressing social issue in the US today, but it's weird that so many social activists seem to be oblivious to it.
There are literal Nazis marching in the streets and chanting about Jews, but from my (distant) perspective the only way non-Jewish activists have engaged with Jewish concerns has been negative: do we tolerate "Zionists" in our rally? Do we reschedule the march that conflicts with Yom Kippur? There's no actual attempt at engagement despite the fact that so many activists are Jews.
Incidentally, they're holding their retreat on an actual Jewish holiday (Simchat Torah) at the old Workmen's Circle summer camp. That seems a bit on the nose, but it's 2017 and irony is dead.
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:24 PM on September 13, 2017 [6 favorites]
There are literal Nazis marching in the streets and chanting about Jews, but from my (distant) perspective the only way non-Jewish activists have engaged with Jewish concerns has been negative: do we tolerate "Zionists" in our rally? Do we reschedule the march that conflicts with Yom Kippur? There's no actual attempt at engagement despite the fact that so many activists are Jews.
Incidentally, they're holding their retreat on an actual Jewish holiday (Simchat Torah) at the old Workmen's Circle summer camp. That seems a bit on the nose, but it's 2017 and irony is dead.
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:24 PM on September 13, 2017 [6 favorites]
Be the buzzword appropriation you want to see in the world. Or not.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:33 PM on September 13, 2017
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:33 PM on September 13, 2017
Can't go to your retreat. I'm attending Mother-Boy that weekend.
posted by es_de_bah at 3:25 PM on September 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by es_de_bah at 3:25 PM on September 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
Some of the people involved are super active in making a difference, so why wouldn't they appropriate a pejorative term used by the right as a catch-all? Especially since the concept of the 'deep state' is mostly meaningless in the sense that there is no coherently organized resistance within the government. A new meaning can have a lot of power.
And why wouldn't disruptors want to disrupt? The system needs more people who care enough to take time out to not only engage with other ways of thinking, but work hard to understand them and empathize.
posted by infinitefloatingbrains at 4:12 PM on September 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
And why wouldn't disruptors want to disrupt? The system needs more people who care enough to take time out to not only engage with other ways of thinking, but work hard to understand them and empathize.
posted by infinitefloatingbrains at 4:12 PM on September 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I'm okay with this. As someone who is relatively new to organizing and activism, I would LOVE for there to be more resources, and ways to help me understand how to plug into the larger movement.
A lot of what I see around me, especially with "Resistance" people is a lack of understanding and conversation with the more established groups. Maybe they don't know how to engage appropriately or effectively, but they're willing. Which seems like the challenge now -- how to keep moving in the same direction and pull in all the new people to fight this horrible BS. That a group of people are working to find ways to develop that by relating to people where they are, and that they seem to be doing it with some intentionality and openness...that seems admirable.
posted by Karmacane at 5:15 PM on September 13, 2017
A lot of what I see around me, especially with "Resistance" people is a lack of understanding and conversation with the more established groups. Maybe they don't know how to engage appropriately or effectively, but they're willing. Which seems like the challenge now -- how to keep moving in the same direction and pull in all the new people to fight this horrible BS. That a group of people are working to find ways to develop that by relating to people where they are, and that they seem to be doing it with some intentionality and openness...that seems admirable.
posted by Karmacane at 5:15 PM on September 13, 2017
Whoa, okay but $285 for a ticket ($125 for a subsidized ticket if you make under $35k/year)? That's... tone deaf.
posted by typify at 9:34 PM on September 13, 2017
posted by typify at 9:34 PM on September 13, 2017
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posted by nixon's meatloaf at 1:01 PM on September 13, 2017 [6 favorites]