As a sociology student and an opinion writer, I tend to draw a certain crowd. Day-to-day, I am surrounded by some of the most civically engaged people one can find. Catch-ups with friends typically entail updates on internships at nonprofits, commentary on legislative outcomes and details on upcoming protests and rallies.
Despite this, many of my recent interactions carry a similar theme. Increasingly, I hear my peers tell me they can no longer bear to watch the news. Across the board, I hear: “I have never been this politically disengaged. I can no longer let myself care.”
I cannot blame those of us who feel this way. It is a terrifying time to live in America, as civil liberties decline and due process falls by the wayside. At times, it feels like everything remotely good about this country is being rapidly dismantled.
I do not judge anyone for taking time to protect their mental health or well-being. This said, we must find it within ourselves to rally afterward. We must keep pushing.
We must remember that progressives losing hope and quitting engagement is exactly what the Trump administration wants. Progressives giving in to nihilism and despair helps them win.
Tides of political thought in this country have changed quickly and dramatically before. They can change again. We are not doomed to far-right conservative power forever.
Progressives must keep fighting and keep speaking out. We must channel our energy towards local, grassroots efforts to make real change.
On hopelessness
This chapter in American history can feel particularly doomed. Climate change bears down on us all. The Trump administration is seemingly unbound by the rule of law. Our local legislators are only adding to this sense of chaos and repression, with jarring moves like banning pride flags in government buildings.
In these times, it is helpful to remember that things have felt hopeless before. Still, activists before us forged on.
Imagine how it must have felt to be a student activist in the wake of the Kent State shooting in 1970, realizing your country was willing to open fire on students for peaceful protest. Or, how it must have felt to watch the number of those drafted to Vietnam increase by the tens of thousands — eventually reaching 2.2 million Americans — despite continued protests and mass civil unrest. To make it local, imagine how it felt when U student protestors had their first and last names and home addresses published in the Salt Lake Tribune after being arrested at an anti-war demonstration in the ’70s.
While we can often feel like the world is ending today, we should remember that those who came before us did, too. In the words of New York Times writer Ezra Klein, “The past was its own parade of horrors.”
It’s true that we did not get to grow up feeling safe in school. However, neither did the generation that grew up under the omnipresent fear of nuclear war. Where the modern day has hard lockdown drills, there was a time when all schoolchildren participated in duck-and-cover drills, instilling fear of an atomic bomb. Day-to-day forms of violence in schools have actually decreased in the recent decade.
This is not to downplay the immediate severity of our political moment. The Trump administration is causing real, widespread and devastating harm. Still, progressive movements have weathered these kinds of setbacks before. See McCarthyism and the Red Scare for instances of declining civil liberties, or the 1980s ultra-conservative Reaganomics and union-busting following the progressivism of the ’60s and ’70s.
Conservative forces in this country have tried to crush dissent and destroy progressive movements before. While they can draft policy and pull off truly horrific political wins, they have never been able to kill ideas. Empathy-driven politics has survived before. It can survive again.
Think global, act local
I recently attended the Our Power, Our Planet rally at the capitol. The event was organized by U students, with about a dozen local environmental organizations tabling. They all provided ample volunteer opportunities.
The Utah chapter of the Sierra Club has several different grassroots volunteer groups, from a Conservation Committee to a legislative team. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance is always in need of volunteers for tabling and submitting comments to land management agencies. The Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah is fighting, with volunteer help, to bring clean air to Salt Lake City. There is always a need to write letters or make calls to our local legislators to urge them to protect the Great Salt Lake.
I have often felt powerless in light of recent political events. Speaking to these organizations was a vivid reminder that there is still an acute need for community organizing, commitment and desire to make change. While no individual can oust Donald Trump from office, we do have power in our communities.
Get involved. Join Planned Parenthood of Utah in their fight to protect reproductive rights, or Salt Lake Community Mutual Aid to help meet community members’ immediate material needs. Do not let yourself feel like there is nothing you can do when there is so much need for you.
Recent wins
There is always success to be found for those who keep fighting.
In the wake of the statewide ban on pride flags in government-funded buildings, Mayor Erin Mendenhall adopted versions of pride flags and a flag commemorating Juneteenth as official Salt Lake City flags. These flags will now be allowed in municipal buildings in Salt Lake City.
Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stopped in Salt Lake City for their Fighting Oligarchy tour, drawing over 20,000 attendees in our deep-red state. Sanders said, “We were in LA yesterday, and we had 36,000 people out. But in many ways, the 20,000 we have out today is more impressive. We’re here in so-called conservative Utah … because we believe that in every state in this country, people are prepared to stand up and fight back.”
HB267, a law banning public employee unions from collective bargaining, has been blocked by Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson. The law will be unable to go into effect until it is voted on by Utahns, since the referendum to get HB267 on the 2026 ballot exceeded its signature goal.
This was only possible because of the tireless organizing, tabling and rallying of everyday Utahns who refused to give in to nihilism and despair. These organizers believed this egregious law could be overturned through collective action. They gathered the necessary signatures in record time. That is what democracy looks like.
Impossible as it may feel, now is precisely the time to not give up. Get involved in your community. Channel your despair, your loss, your heartache, into energy — real, political energy. The fate of the 2024 election does not need to be the fate of our futures forever.
In the words of activist Angela Davis, “You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time.”
s.reagan@dailyutahchronicle.com
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