I haven't posted on LinkedIn since the general election in the US back in November and I have been wrestling for months with what to say and when to say it.
In existentialism, authenticity is the degree to which a person's actions are congruent with their values despite external pressure to socially conform. Right now, in the US and around the world, there are strong external pressures pushing hate and misinformation as the social norm.
For me, authenticity and integrity are my most cherished values. I hesitated to write anything at all. It felt strange to just continue with my regular programming, so I stayed quiet for a while. I was then reminded of the acronym T.H.I.N.K. that my son learned in school. Is what I am about to say True, Helpful, Important, Necessary, and Kind? I believe it is.
There are many people who are unable to speak up right now, for various reasons. And so, I decided to use my privilege to say out loud that the US's rapid descent into fascism must be resisted. Fascist leaders cannot do anything alone. They need “good” people to perpetrate their horrors. Silence only benefits the oppressor.
I have always stood up for what is right, even if that meant I stood alone. For me, it is the only way.
Whether it was insisting on joining the boys’ soccer team in high school because there was no girls’ soccer team. Whether it was screaming at the top of my lungs when I saw a man assaulting a woman in a car. It startled him long enough for her to get out of the car and run past me, only for me to look up and see two grown men leaning up against the local convenience store smoking cigarettes. They continued to look on as the man in the car threatened to kill me and followed me in his car as I walked home.
Whether it was calling out scientific misconduct in my PhD program, only to have my colleagues go silent and leave me to fight it alone. Then to have the administration try to bury the issue and me rather than dealing with the problem. Or, whether it was testifying before the NH legislature numerous times over the last several years to fight for my son's right to exist.
I refuse to stay silent, and I invite you to do what you can each day, however small, to preserve your peace and your strength and to speak up and push back in whatever way makes sense to you.
Every day, more abuses surface and as an attorney I feel it is imperative to uphold the rule of law. When someone, no matter how high up the food chain, acts outside their authority we need to call them on it. I have been heartened by some companies and organizations taking a stand. I have been equally sickened by those that have caved to preserve their privilege at the expense of others less fortunate.
I am holding on to hope that with pressure those in power will be forced to stop the degradation of education, human rights, the rule of law, and so many other things I hold dear.
An authentic life requires us to avoid the herd mentality that is spreading like cancer. To stand alone is to be strong and original enough to push back against these external pressures. As individuals we need to take an active part in shaping our beliefs by critically thinking and independently verifying information, and then we must be willing to act on those beliefs.
Together we can make a difference.
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