Here’s the thing: there are only 24 hours in a day. We have to spend around 8 hours sleeping. Most of us have to spend another 8 hours working a job on most days. Add in family obligations, taking care of the house, and taking care of ourselves, and there’s really not much time left over.

Given the terrible threat our futures all face and the limited time we can spare, it’s essential that we choose our anti-authoritarian efforts wisely.

It’s really easy to do the wrongs things with our time and convince ourselves that we’re making a difference. Social media can make you feel like you’re spreading the word, but in reality most of us don’t have a large audience. We’re likely only spending time preaching to the choir and not convincing the right people to change their minds. Standing on the side of a road with a sign is great, but it’s becoming clear that leaders are ignoring protests, and most protest organizations aren’t organizing for more effective action.

Given how ineffective most current efforts are, it’s easy to get sucked into fear, anger, hatred, and suffering. Agitators and hotheads who watched too much Red Dawn are out there telling us that wanton violence is now the only way forward. But, just as with social media, embracing evil isn’t going to work. Going out and finding people to hurt and kill is far worse because it gives the enemy exactly what they want: martyrs and an enemy to unite their side against.

What the United States needs right now is battles that good people can actually win. These battles don’t happen in Washington, DC or even in your state’s capitol. They don’t even happen at city hall. They happen right in your neighborhood and in your other communities! Working locally and in your other non-geographic communities (ex. the LGBT community) can lead to making your little part of the world immune to the false promises of MAGA and other authoritarian movements.

It might look like these efforts are small and insignificant, but they add up. If enough neighborhoods become immune to fear through resilience and parallel institutions, fear-based messages won’t have enough fertile ground to fall upon and grow.

If you’re interested in joining this effort, be sure to subscribe for updates. Soon, I’ll be doing online workshops and hopefully more in-person efforts to build real-world non-violent resistance to tyranny that actually works.