Uploaded February 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
It is institutions that help us to preserve decency.
They need our help as well. Do not speak of “our institutions” unless you MAKE THEM YOURS by acting on their behalf. Institutions do not protect themselves. They fall one after the other unless each is defended from the beginning.
So choose an institution you care about—a court, a newspaper, a law, a labor union—and take its side.
-Timothy Snyder
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One of the worst things we can do after complying in advance is assuming that institutions will automatically maintain themselves or that the avengers will swoop in an stop it from being eroded. You are not blind or crazy. You see it happening with your own eyes. You see the undermining of collective movement, you see deliberate delegitimizing of journalism in favor of pop culture war news, you see the degradation of education coinciding with sending their children to the best of schools. You see the defunding of public education only to turn around and call for privatization to fix the problems caused by defunding. You see the stocks go up with the announcements for prisons being built on quotas. You are not blind.
Choose one institution you care about—whether it’s a local newspaper, a school board, a library. A labor union, a public good under threat of privatization or voting rights—and take action to defend it.
Subscribe to independent media, attend school board or city council meetings, attend court watch blitzes, donate to strike funds, or volunteer with organizations fighting voter suppression. Support teachers.
Educate yourself on media literacy. Speak out against misinformation and support legislation that upholds democracy.
Start small: write letters to elected officials, host community discussions, or organize local efforts to protect these pillars of our society. find your cause, get involved, and inspire others to do the same. If you’re into zine making, stickers, offline comms. Let’s yap.
✨
It is institutions that help us to preserve decency.
They need our help as well. Do not speak of “our institutions” unless you MAKE THEM YOURS by acting on their behalf. Institutions do not protect themselves. They fall one after the other unless each is defended from the beginning.
So choose an institution you care about—a court, a newspaper, a law, a labor union—and take its side.
-Timothy Snyder
———
One of the worst things we can do after complying in advance is assuming that institutions will automatically maintain themselves or that the avengers will swoop in an stop it from being eroded. You are not blind or crazy. You see it happening with your own eyes. You see the undermining of collective movement, you see deliberate delegitimizing of journalism in favor of pop culture war news, you see the degradation of education coinciding with sending their children to the best of schools. You see the defunding of public education only to turn around and call for privatization to fix the problems caused by defunding. You see the stocks go up with the announcements for prisons being built on quotas. You are not blind.
Choose one institution you care about—whether it’s a local newspaper, a school board, a library. A labor union, a public good under threat of privatization or voting rights—and take action to defend it.
Subscribe to independent media, attend school board or city council meetings, attend court watch blitzes, donate to strike funds, or volunteer with organizations fighting voter suppression. Support teachers.
Educate yourself on media literacy. Speak out against misinformation and support legislation that upholds democracy.
Start small: write letters to elected officials, host community discussions, or organize local efforts to protect these pillars of our society. find your cause, get involved, and inspire others to do the same. If you’re into zine making, stickers, offline comms. Let’s yap.
✨
