Silver Linings

Why it's always good to celebrate Independence

Garlic keeps the demons away. Plant some this fall. Harvest it next summer.

Last night, I went to bed sad for America. But this morning I woke up with a vengeance. After my morning coffee and meditation, I donned my armor and went out to pick all my black raspberries, which I will cook up and freeze in single servings because I may need the Vitamin C and fiber over the next year. If I’m lucky, it will be over yogurt. If not, I will eat it right from the jar. Then I harvested my 50 heads of heirloom garlic to protect me from colds, vampires, and evil spirits. In its place, I will plant green beans to nourish me through the late summer and freeze them for winter meals. And yes, the zucchini is coming in strong. I make a zucchini, egg, cheese, and bacon “slice” to freeze for quick breakfasts all year long. And zucchini ricotta ravioli to eat for winter dinners (although I need to wait for my tomatoes to ripen to make sauce for it). We have had tons of rain this spring and early summer, so maybe I will fill jars of filtered water to hang out on my basement shelf, just in case. Because who the fuck knows what will happen next in this flat out thievery of our freedoms.

Meanwhile, I’ve got thoughts about the silver linings in all of this, and what we can do to retain our independence.

1. The healthcare system and the insurance business leeches are broken anyway, so maybe this moment will enable a reset so that we can rebuild a universal healthcare system that works for everyone. In the meantime, find your medical and health allies and support them. Are there any independent doctors left? Find them. Support them. Learn how to make medicines from plants and heal yourself and your family.

2. We need to learn to play the long game (like the one that just screwed us over by taking over the supreme court). Start with how we educate our children by teaching them to grow food and question everything. Get on your school board, write curriculum! Visit your local schools. Got food? Feed people. Whatever your talents are, use them to better the world, starting with children.

3. Marching is good, but so are strikes. When we remove our money from businesses that are trying to kill us, we have twice the chance of survival. It won’t hurt them personally because they are so well-padded and protected by the current corrupt system. But where we put our money matters and makes a difference. And people deserve a living wage for fucks sake! Philadelphia, I’m talking to you! (Trash strike ongoing.)

4. Get involved in your local communities. Don’t just plant trees, plant fruit trees! Let’s use our open spaces to feed people for free. Change the zoning laws to create more walkable, integrated communities. Find out what your community needs most and then work with others to make it happen. Most things don’t cost much money, just the effort to work together and cross boundaries.

5. If governments stop funding things, learn how to bypass governments by appealing to your community. For example, many of us pick “tree weeds” in our yards because we don’t want 40 hundred-foot Tulip Poplars shading our vegetable garden. But each of those baby trees will one day become big trees. Just tell me where to deliver them, and soon there will be a forest. There is so much we can do without having to go through the bureaucracy of government, or without needing a “budget.” Now is our chance. If the government doesn’t need to follow the rules anymore, neither do you.

6. The most important things we can do to mitigate environmental destruction are easy: let your yard go wild and stop using chemicals (if it annoys your neighbors, even better). Support your local farmers and food producers. Don’t buy cheap shit you don’t need. Don’t fly unless you have to.

7. Educate yourself. And share your knowledge with others. One of the reasons we are in the situation we are in today is that we have all been lazy about being good citizens. We’ve outsourced responsibility to “god,” “jesus,” or our favorite celebrity or sports hero. Hard changes are never easy. It took women over 100 years to get the right to vote, and it was brutal. It took black people hundreds of years to get civil rights, and that was even more brutal. My favorite thing I heard recently was that anyone who thinks a few alligators can stop people from escaping has never studied the history of slavery. And in fact, if you did study the history of slavery and the holocaust, you would recognize the same tactics, rhetoric, and methods that Republicans are using today. It’s disgusting. It’s shameful. And it is doomed to fail. Because the human spirit of goodness will always prevail. Even though it’s never easy. The American Revolution took 8 years to fight, and winning was never guaranteed and in fact, unlikely. Except that the only revolutions worth fighting and winning are those fought from within a country, by the people who love it. We may be disgusted with our country, but it is still worth loving. In some ways, we deserve this America. The sins of our past are coming back to haunt us. Another silver lining is that thanks to social media, we can all see it, learn about it, and seek forgiveness for it.

I’ve always said that leadership means you have to have the courage to go first. That doesn’t mean it’s not frightening. It is! But right now, we all need to be leaders. And we need to celebrate any shred of independence we have left in our lives and in our communities, using it to help others find their freedom and independence. And, we need to prepare our gardens for the future, get our hands dirty, and plant seeds wherever we go.