I was introduced to the Holocaust as a middle schooler. As any child would, I had a hard time fathoming the mass murder of so many people. I am not sure I was taught of the slippage of democratic norms, the years of capitulation and fear. I remember asking my mother why no one tried to stop it.  She had vague answers, about it being far away, with it being hard to tell what was going on. Needless to say, the question lingered.

I kept that question with me while touring our nation’s Holocaust Memorial Museum in D.C. more than two decades ago. I stood for many minutes in the room dedicated to America's response, reading New York Times articles from the late 1930s, finding vague information, a lack of clarity,  and what I perceived as a lack of alarm.

I worry we Americans are now in the same place of inaction and vague, unfocused alarm, even though hate, racism, and an authoritarian regime are plainly amongst us. No ocean separates us from this horror. Not one location in the USA has been spared the change in our method of governance.You and I — all the American people, no matter who we voted for, or even if we voted (a third of the electorate didn’t) — have been gut-punched and rolled.

We no longer live in a democracy. The administration is on a path to an autocratic regime in which dissent, rule of law, peaceable, and non-corrupt behavior is replaced by lies, intimidation, corruption, violent destruction of institutions, and disregard for the courts — replaced by the whims of the new leaders.

The new administration has fundamentally altered the way our country is governed. This is not a time to pretend this will solve itself, or go away. It won’t. We, the American people, are the ones who’ll change what’s happening. We are now at war, and we, the American people are the troops. (According to the Oxford Dictionary, war is “any active hostility or struggle between living beings; a conflict between opposing forces and principles.”)

Now’s the time to fight. These are your weapons:

• your emotionally regulated self that does not quiver in fear or dive back under the covers (or get lost in doom-scrolling);
  
  
• your attention and understanding of context and big picture — this is not a singular shift, it’s part of a global trend — read Autocracy, Inc.; On Tyranny; How Democracies Die;
  
  
• your voice—it’s time to be loud, and get used to speaking up for democracy;
  
  
• your words — talk to others about what you’re seeing and feeling. Write. There is certain to be several negative comments made at the bottom of this essay. Our best work is to ignore them. Your energy is precious. Instead of taking the bait from those who are gullible enough to believe that they’re actually safer, or that their eviscerated autocratic government is now more efficient, use your words and energy to chat with your neighbors, call a friend, gather at one of the many democracy meetings being held (visit indivisible.org  or jointheunion.us to search for a group near you);
  
  
• your imagination—spend some time considering where this is all heading. The administrations’s power grab and the moves of Project 2025, plus the capitulation of the Congress, is a sign that those currently in power desire to move this country permanently to an autocratic state. These aren’t the moves of an administration that intends to allow free and fair elections or to cede control even if elections are held. Once you’ve gone down that deep hole, consider the country you’d like to live in. Consider how you want to be governed. What role can you play in the next USA? Use your imagination to paint those pictures of the after time, when we rebuild from this destruction. There will be a resurgence of democracy.
  
  
• your creativity: it’s well known that autocrats don’t like to be ridiculed. So write the script of an absurdist play about where these leaders wind up in their dotage; or get out your paints and depict the way you want this war to end; or channel your rage into a bakeathon whose goods you share with neighbors; or create the best protest signs; or write the next anthem (creative endeavors also bring joy, which nourishes us during the struggle);
  
  
• your ability to show up and protest (March 29 was national take down Tesla day teslatakedown.com; April 5 is a day of national protest about all of the administration action—Hands Off; see indivisible.org);
  
  
• your pocketbook—the current administration is motivated by greed, using corruption and dealmaking to line their pockets. Circumvent their money grabs: boycott large corporations, shop local, reduce your consumption overall. Consider delaying paying taxes until you’re convinced those dollars are being legally spent. 
  
  
• your trust in yourself—your voice matters, your behavior makes a difference;
  
  
• your trust in an inclusive, USA of the future — keep up your practices that promote diversity, many voices, the role of women; refuse to diminish people to “other;” 
  
  
• your community and your trust in your neighbors—do what you can to tighten those bonds; 
  
  
• your local government—get involved, inquire about your community’s plans for emergency notifications, mutual aid, and formation of neighborhood teams to help when crises strike;
  
  
• your belief in our democracy, and our ability to come together to win it back.

We’ll overturn this administration and win this war — non-violently, with the world’s strongest force: human hearts and minds pulling together to serve the future of our one planet.I’ll see you out there. 

Molly Mulhern lives in Camden