When We Play as a Team, We Win

This past week, my teenage son played several games with his western New York academy soccer team at a big national tournament in Dallas. They compete against some big name teams that are backed by pretty big money and professional league coaching resources. Sometimes they lose to these kinds of teams sometimes, but sometimes they beat them, and a few of them, they have beat again and again.  They can always sense that they have a chance at victory when one of these teams has dissension in its ranks during the game.  As soon as a player on the other team yells angrily at his own teammate within earshot of my son's team, they know their opponent is vulnerable; at least one player is wasting needed energy blaming someone in the same color jersey.

In politics, the same is true.  We don't agree with each other on every strategy or tactic.  We are sometimes disappointed that our teammates are not as hard working, skilled, or high performing as we wish they were, especially when they hold a high office, but we only sabotage ourselves when we spread blame, hopelessness, and negativity.  And the stakes here are not just youth sports--they are life and death, the future of our democracy.  The stakes are high. The journalist Rebecca Solnit describes writes in a recent Facebook post:

"I don't care how people feel about Democrats, their aesthetic choices, fundraising frequency, etc. They are the vehicle to get the things we need, and there is no alternative but letting the destruction run unchecked. Right now if you're interested in winning on behalf of the most vulnerable, from those who can get pregnant to those hit hardest by climate chaos, building campaigns to take the senate and keep the house and keep people motivated and participating is how you do it. And pushing politicians to do better is, yes, a very different thing than disparaging them while not otherwise participating, just as critical analysis is different than complaining. If you truly can't stand them, focus on non-electoral work like supporting abortion access directly.

 All this flouncy complaining in the midst of a crisis discourages turnout and participation. It seems to come from identifying as a consumer rather than a participant-producer. This Yelp review mindset--"I ordered the easy right-away and got the complicated process, and it did not taste like I expected"-- is not a valuable contribution. The perfect remains the enemy of the good, and yeah, making the good better or the not good enough better is a whole different thing than trashing the better option because it's not perfect. That makes it worse. Refusing to understand how the government and laws work is also a kind of sabotage, often a pretense that there is some quick, simple solution that doesn't actually exist, and excoriating those who don't take that nonexistent option.

Republicans famously have long-term strategy, aka do what they need to get where they want to go. They will be defeated only by others with strategy. Refusing to participate and discouraging participation because the options are not exactly what you ordered is whatever the opposite of strategy is. Strategy is understanding that the things you want are where you are headed, not where you start. Strategy is figuring out how to get there and sticking with it until you arrive." (Solnit)

In our conversations, our social media posts, and in our activism, let's keep our eyes on the prize.  We can't afford to discourage anyone from getting involved in the work, especially ourselves.  If we do make anyone feel hopeless or helpless with our blaming or complaining about the people who are on our side, the other team will cheer, because the game just got a whole lot easier for them.  

Keep reading for ways to get involved, and even for some evidence that our work pays off.  Good news, motivation, and signs of hope--all that, we need to spread.   -Jen DeWeerth, editor
 

More Protests: Let's Be Seen & Heard Standing Up for our Values

There are still opportunities to protest SCOTUS and to stand for the things you believe in whether it's reproductive choice, climate protections, gun safety laws, or an end to the filibuster.  Here's what's coming up for peaceful protests in our area:

Friday, July 1st (today) 4-5 pm Clinton Village Green.  Quiet protest with the Kirkland Town Dems--bring your own sign (next one is Friday, July 15th) 
Saturday, July 2nd, 1:00 pm, 112 S James St, Rome.  My Body My Choice Protest, Bring friends and family of all ages, and make your voice heard!
Thursday, July 7th, 4:00-5:30 pm, Protest in front of Tenney's Office, 430 Court Street. (Bring signs about gun safety, my body my choice, climate, democracy, and more). 
 

Climate Crisis Work Group News

Yesterday the Supreme Court of the United States handed down a decision in EPA vs. West Virginia that limits the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate carbon emissions from power plants. In light of this decision, it's more important than ever that states like NY take the lead on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 

July 1st is the final day to comment on the Climate Action Council's draft plan. Even if you have commented before (either online or in person), it's important to send additional comments to the Council because the fossil fuel industry pressure opposing climate action is ongoing and relentless!

Here are 3 simple ways you can comment:

1) Customize & submit this simple comment on buildings from Renewable Heat Now.

2) Here's a toolkit from NY Renews with prepared comments on a variety of topics.

3) Here's a toolkit from New Yorkers for Clean Power to craft your own comment.

We hope that you will also make a call to Governor Hochul TODAY at 877-235-6537 and tell her to "call a special legislative session on climate." She must stand up for our climate, because the federal government isn’t doing it. A special session on climate would allow NY's state legislature to bring critical climate bills to a vote, bills that did not come to the floor for a vote during the regular legislative session despite overwhelming support from Assembly members and Senators. Now is Governor Hochul’s time to act and be the climate champion that New York and the country need. New York must do everything to remain a climate action leader in our nation. Please call!!

Exciting News:  NYSDEC Denied Greenidge Permit! 

The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation has just taken an encouraging first step in this direction; today NYSDEC denied Greenidge Generation’s application to renew Greenidge's Title V air permit as inconsistent with the state’s climate law because burning fossil fuels to power crypto mining tripled facility emissions. 

Our voices DO matter! We must keep writing comments and making calls to encourage our state to take further bold steps on climate!

July 27th NY22 Democratic Candidate Forum in Utica

Breaking News!
Please save the date for IMV's NY22 Democratic Candidate Forum on Wednesday, July 27th, 6-8 pm.  We are meeting on MVCC's Utica Campus, and inviting everyone we know to join us to hear from our Democratic Candidates for our new congressional district that includes all of Oneida, Madison, and Onondaga Counties.  

If you are feeling troubled at celebrating the Fourth of July while Americans are losing their rights before our eyes at the hands of the MAGA extremists  on the Supreme Court, in Congress, and across the country, then join in an action grounded in real patriotism.  Join the CAFE this morning to work on election strategies and actions. show up at a protest or rally or write a letter to the editor.  Join a training like the one on July 21 in the calendar below. 

Just as climate activists from IMV and hundreds of other groups managed to put the brakes on  the pointless and reckless burning of fossil fuel at Greenidge power plant, we can make a difference 

It looks bleak right now, but we are the majority and we are powerful.  We can organize and mobilize. We can be strategic, patient, and then, together, WE WILL WIN.  
 
Follow us on Twitter using @indivisiblemv and of course our Facebook page and IMV Activism Group.