Excerpts from Anand and Anat, commentary and a proposal by Jim Heffernan
If you don’t know anything of Anand Giridharadas and Anat Shenker-Osorio, perhaps you should. He is the author of the excellent book, “The Pesuaders” and also write for The Ink and podcasts.
Anat Shenker-Osorio is a woman comedian and a superb political messager who figured prominently in “The Persuaders.”
I’ve copied some of what they had to say that resonated with me and would like to share it with whoever has the patience to deal with the written word. I do think there are links to take elsewhere in one of the paragraphs.
At the end, I will make a simple suggestion how we might might make things better for ourselves and our community.
Here are the excerpts.
“For those who’ve been looking for leadership from above, she made it very clear that nicely asking Democrats to do something has never brought about real change. So stop doing that. Stop trying to get Chuck Schumer to do something.
This conversation is an incredibly practical guide to what you need to — and can — do. Anyone and everyone can lead: we make the future, and it’s time to do it by stepping up. If you want to, you are a leader!
Congrats! Sorry. But congrats!
You can start by creating social proof locally — which is to say, create a perception in your community that lots of people feel the way you feel. You might start with signs, hats, talking to people, or, as she put it, the painting of a barn. Just pick something, and get started. And soon enough you’ll be leading.
A masterclass from political sage Anat Shenker-Osorio on how you can fight back against Trump II, create "social proof," mobilize your community, stop waiting for Democrats, and start getting it DONE”
Here’s another,
“Week five: Stop waiting for leaders. You’re a leader
We’ve gotten through another week of Trump II, and we hope everyone’s keeping it together, holding up, and finding a way forward, or at least a warm blanket. It’s Saturday, and you deserve some rest, relaxation, and time for reading (which we’re happy to provide).
We won’t kid you: it’s been a tough week for America. The ever-more-unitary executive branch tried to assign even more power to Trump. Kash Patel and his enemies list were confirmed to lead the FBI. A fresh round of firings put more federal workers and veterans on the street. DOGE’s junior programmers found their way into more critical systems, threatening everyone’s data while creating “efficiencies” like forcing federal employees to use a full requisition process if they spend more than $1.
The CPAC conference provided opportunities for Nazi salutes and gift exchanges between oligarchs of that new symbol of authentic populism: a golden chainsaw. And in a new twist on peacemaking, U.S. negotiators met with their Russian counterparts to talk about a Ukraine deal — leaving out the Ukrainians. And that’s just some of what happened over the decade-or-so of the week that was.
I propose we all start wearing “Vote” buttons whenever we leave the house. You don’t have to wear a “clown-size” 4 inch button like me. It’s an excellent way to start a conversation with untargeted people and maybe change outlooks and increase voter turnout in the upcoming election.
Two of Timothy Snyder’s 20 chapters of “On Tyranny” urge us to “Stand out” and to “Make Small Talk and Eye Contact”. I’ve been doing this for some time now, even before wearing the “Vote” button and find the positive encounters far out-number the negative.
I forgot the chapter “Be As Courageous As You Can”. In these times we need to be.