Never thought I'd be here making a post about how to get involved in local government, but here we are.
If you're anything like me, you're overwhelmed, exhausted, and anxious beyond all reason about America. The question I've been trying to ask myself is: what can I, a full-time engineer, actually get done with the minimal time and spoons I have to offer?
First - Set up a specific email for ALL traffic on the state of the world. I have a dedicated inbox that I only open when I have carved out time to deal with the circumstances.
Second - The absolute single biggest thing I recommend is subscribing to GovTrack.us (direct link).
Once logged in, I subscribed to all of their analysis items (i.e. legislative recap, commentary, etc) as well as (more importantly) setting up the tracker lists to follow my House and Senate representatives.
The reason I commend this so highly is that, rather than having to figure out what the hell is going on, these guys just tell me exactly how my representatives are voting on everything, so if I disagree with something, I know WHAT to call ABOUT.
Here's an example of what I get in my inbox (my reps blacked out for privacy). All of the red text are links to GOV webpages that have the details of the bill/motion/event so you can read more.
This ALONE has made me so much more informed about what's going on. Subscribing to these representatives too, and their mailing lists, has also been helpful.
Third - I cancelled my Amazon Prime subscription and routed that same $10 a month I was already spending to the ACLU. Why? They're the folks that are actively suing the administration to do something about this, and they need funding to do that. We've all seen that the courts are the most effective, if only way to take action right now.
Since I started supporting my local chapter, I get emails every few days with direct links to pre-written messages I can send to my representatives, like the one below.
The "act now" isn't a petition - it's an automated system that emails your representatives (and I know it works, because I've gotten emails back from their offices).
There's a lot more I want to do. I'm trying to get involved in local environmental advocacy programs, and want to reach out to the federal lands most urgently impacted by layoffs and lease cancellations. But this is a start.
