air humping, crying, and voting through the fall of democracy
ELECTION DAY IS TOMORROW, OCTOBER 11
check out the nah brah voter guide
ELECTION DAY IS TOMORROW, OCTOBER 11! BE PREPARED! DO YOUR HOMEWORK! GIVE YOUR VOTE AND YOUR COMMUNITY THE RESPECT THEY DESERVE BY TAKING THIS CIVIC DUTY SERIOUSLY! I LOVE YOU!
Online has been a weird place lately. My feed has been simultaneously filled with horrific ICE raids in Chicago and then also people dancing in inflatable animal costumes in Portland, air humping their way through the fascist takeover. It’s either: this is serious, but let’s laugh at it and spread the rumor that Stephen Miller is 4’10” or this is serious, and our country is going down in flames.
I’ve honestly had a hard time figuring out where I land—even though I’ve laughed through many a janky takeover in the past—much less wrap my head around which is the best strategy of resistance. Although maybe we don’t have to choose. Maybe it’s a spectrum? Idk. Can you simultaneously air hump and cry? Is it a yes, and situation? Are we all just improving through the fall of democracy?
The first rule of improv is you do not talk about improv. Instead, you talk about voting.
Tomorrow, October 11, is Election Day. I trust that most of you have early voted—right?! And if not, I trust that you have an iron-clad plan to vote tomorrow that includes corralling friends and family to join you at the polls. Because, even though this moment has been a complete and total mindfuck for me, the one thing I am absolutely sure of is that nobody is coming to save us.
Let me repeat that: nobody is coming to save us.
For real, nobody. Not Gavin. Not Kamala. Not Jane Goodall. Not Beto. Not Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show. Not AOC. Not the fly that landed on Mike Pence’s head. Not Hilary. Not Dolly Parton. Not Stacy Abrams. Not Nancy ripping up the State of the Union speech. Not Beyonce’s third act. Not Michelle and Barack. And CERTAINLY not anyone you may vote for tomorrow, because politicians (no matter which party) are not our saviors. There is not one single person seeking power who is going to right what is wrong in this world. At their best, they ease suffering. At their worst, they amplify it. Which sounds like an anti-voting message, but in actuality, it’s the realest pro-voting message there is because WE are our saviors. And once you understand that, you understand the power of your vote.
The power of your vote lies in the act of intention. It lies in the promise of your presence. It is a commitment you are making to yourself and your community—one that acknowledges your stake in the future we all deserve. It is conditional approval you are bestowing to the current stewards of the system, with the understanding that WE are the stewards of humanity. Sure, we can let them make some rules for a while, but they do not rule us. We are the ones who decide what our world looks like. What our world feels like. We are the ones who alchemize systemic suffering into abundance and kindness—and one of the ways we do that is by carefully selecting who we allow to stand behind the podium for a while.
But we can always make them sit back down.
The act of voting is not the end-all, be-all. It is a single tool in our toolkit. It is a single prong on the fork of our power, but it is powerful. Because your vote doesn’t just put some rando politician in power—it puts YOU in power. YOU are driving this bus.
You are deciding where we go.
