It's National Shutdown Day

Let's get out there and do nothing

Photo by Daniel Born on Unsplash

“The imperial need for control is so desperate because it’s so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks. It leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear.” — Karis Nemik, Andor

Today is National Shutdown Day. No work, no school, no spending money, as a form of protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

There’s a whole website about it here. But if you’re been living under a rock, and not seen the ways ICE is hunting down, harassing, egregiously harming, and killing our friends and neighbors—then, please, I beg you, start reading the news.

Things reached a fever pitch in Minneapolis with the murders (yup, that’s what they were) of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. And while it’s good that the needle is moving, it’s important to note that ICE has killed or injured a LOT of other (non-white) people, too, prior to this.

The American Prospect is keeping a running list.

ICE is ripping apart families. They’re torturing detainees. They’re doing it with both unrestrained glee, and the full support of the U.S. government.

Unconscionable isn’t a strong enough word.

This strike isn’t going to change anything. For Trump and the Republican Party, cruelty is the point. To them this is a big joke. To the Democrats… they’re just a joke. The Titanic is sinking and they’re writing a strongly-worded letter to the iceberg.

But actions like this are important. The second we stop fighting back, the second we surrender an inch, fascism and authoritarianism gain ground.

We can’t let that happen.

It feels like a small thing, joining the strike, considering I’m my own boss and therefore don’t have to suffer any kind of repercussion for sitting around all day and ignoring my to-do list.

So I just donated some money to the Immigrant Law Center, which is offering legal support to people detained by ICE in Minneapolis. Here’s a great roundup of places you can donate to, information you can arm yourself with, etc.

If me writing this comes as any surprise to you, then you probably don’t read my books. And while I’ve said this a million times, I will continue to say that I won’t hide my politics because it might risk a few sales.

Or, to quote Kurt Cobain:

"If any of you in any way hate homosexuals, people of different color, or women, please do this one favor for us: leave us the fuck alone! Don't come to our shows and don't buy our records."

If you really think what ICE is doing is about safety, then you fell hook, line, and sinker for the ruse. I’m sorry, but you did. This is about white nationalism. It’s about making money for the private industries building the detention centers. It’s about hurting people.

For a movement that loves to wrap itself in religion and the flag, conservatives sure forget basic tenets, like taking in poor and huddled masses, and loving thy neighbor. You can’t tell me you love this country and you love god and then support ICE, and the actions of this administration.

I mean, you can. You just look extremely silly doing it.

Anyway, small actions build upon themselves. Take the day off, if you can. Don’t buy anything. Maybe consider donating some money, if you have the means. And if what you’re doing feels like too small a gesture, remember what David Mitchell wrote in Cloud Atlas:

What is an ocean but a multitude of drops?

Stay safe out there, friends.

And, fuck ICE.