Our institutions were never going to save us; they’ve just expanded the demographics of who they’re failing. I’m seeing a lot of people radicalized for the first time as the scales fall from their eyes. The key is not to become cynical, but to use that energy to liberate one another. - ThreadSky

jacquelyngill.bsky.social • 4 days ago

Our institutions were never going to save us; they’ve just expanded the demographics of who they’re failing.

I’m seeing a lot of people radicalized for the first time as the scales fall from their eyes. The key is not to become cynical, but to use that energy to liberate one another.

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pupservant.bsky.social•4 days ago

this is the way

paula72.bsky.social•4 days ago

As Barack Obama said, “We are the ones we have been waiting for. “

henningt6.bsky.social•4 days ago

📌

ba55fr33k.bsky.social•4 days ago

Well put. Community is key

noodlesstan.bsky.social•3 days ago

Where where were these people during the first trump administration when he mishandled Covid so badly among other horrific things? I will never understand these freshly minted people who are just waking up. 😣

jacquelyngill.bsky.social•3 days ago

I’m not referring to people newly angry at Trump. There are plenty of people who knew he was terrible but still believed institutions would save us from his worst impulses.

jacquelyngill.bsky.social•4 days ago

A lot of people that the system has been working just fine for are coming to the realization that most of our institutions are a facade. If you’re new to feeling this systemically unsafe, it’s really scary; it feels like they’ve taken both the guardrails AND the road. And no one is coming to fix it.

grampyandy.bsky.social•4 days ago

This is how the Vietnam draft functioned as equalizer and catalyst.

jacquelyngill.bsky.social•4 days ago

I get it; I want to believe in the power—or the potential—of institutions to protect people and make things better for everyone. Even though that potential hasn’t ever been realized. So it can be really scary to realize the cavalry isn’t coming. That we can’t just ask someone in charge to fix this.

maireathena.bsky.social•4 days ago

Shocking realization to learn that our institutions are intentionally set up to not help people
https://www.npr.org/2023/03/17/1158230630/poverty-by-america-book-review-matthew-desmond-evicted

jacquelyngill.bsky.social•4 days ago

I had this realization that I’ve been training for this my entire life. I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s as a latchkey kid, knowing the adults were never coming to save me. I went to scrappy alternative colleges with a DIY ethos, where it was made clear that we were ultimately in charge of our growth.

jacquelyngill.bsky.social•4 days ago

This realization came from an essay I read about the role of punk in higher education. Punk is anti-establishment but it’s also resistance. The more we can disentangle ourselves from those systems that were never going to save us, the more we ground ourselves in our values and act with intention.

noisyastronomer.com•4 days ago

Do you happen to have that essay available to share?

jacquelyngill.bsky.social•4 days ago

So if you are newly radicalized; if your feelings of abandonment are fresh and raw; if you feel as though you are dangling over open air after a safety net has been yanked away by people with titles and uniforms they did not earn: I see you. This is not as new as it feels.

But that’s a good thing.

jacquelyngill.bsky.social•4 days ago

It’s not new because for many people, that net never existed. The road was never paved. And we have centuries of natural experiments that show us how we can provide for each other what our institutions should be but are refusing to. Many people and organizations have been doing this for a long time.

itsdavesanders.com•4 days ago

I prefer to think of it as: "The people running these institutions aren't doing so in your best interest."

I'd argue we need more and BETTER institutions. But we need to align them to the rewards that actually make a difference - not just "Make more money".

itsdavesanders.com•4 days ago

If our government was measured on happiness indexes rather than just GDP, then maybe we'd build better institutions.

We also have to rebuild a better sense of "honor" and ethics. People's words need to mean something again.

jacquelyngill.bsky.social•4 days ago

I am very pro institution. I just think we have to acknowledge that our institutions have always let large portions of our community down.

globalecoguy.bsky.social•3 days ago

I never understood why the climate community put so much stock in the federal government and the UN. Even before Trump, both had failed us, and failed badly. And now, both are on life support.

We need to see the larger chessboard, and the other communities, institutions, and systems at play.

nogene4fate.bsky.social•4 days ago

👏Well said!👏 I think having strong leaders with clear calls to action is the key to be able to unite us in a way where we can make a difference on a national scale. So many of us are beyond disgusted and furious with the endless hateful destruction by these corrupt criminals - they must be stopped!

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