Republished with permission from John Pavlovitz

Fascism is here.

At this point, it’s too late to prevent its arrival, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a great deal you and I can do to slow its spread, dilute its power, and derail its mission.

Here are a few suggestions on reaffirming your agency and flipping off the fascists.

1) Practice empathy loudly.

With a President whose tenure has been marked by such malice and in an Administration so filled with cruelty, compassion and kindness are bold acts of resistance. Step out into your local community, alone or with other like-hearted people, and perform acts of service, especially for those who are often overlooked, excluded, or silenced. These are the same communities ignored or targeted by this regime, and we will need to make sure that no one is rendered invisible and that everyone is cared for.

2) Engage in financial activism.

Money does indeed talk. It advocates. It protests. It champions. It says, “to hell with this shit.” Our economic resources can and should make our values tangible. Do some research and contribute to entities you believe are doing great work fighting the kind of discrimination, bigotry, and injustice already evident in this predatory Administration. Stop supporting businesses and organizations that are caving to or supporting it. Give generously to sustain and encourage those already pushing upstream.

3) Stop waiting.

Your procrastination is the fascist’s best friend. When it comes to activism and caregiving, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel right now. There are countless opportunities to come alongside people already in the trenches fighting for equality and diversity locally, statewide, and across the country. Today, make a commitment to an organization, political entity, faith-based group, or grassroots movement. Leverage the powerful resource of your presence and participate in work that moves you. Resist the apathy around you by caring enough to move—now.

4) Cultivate gratitude.

With the heavy deluge of bad news and the seemingly limitless capacity for cruelty we’re being exposed to, it can be easy to lose sight of all that is good and beautiful and right in our lives and this nation. There will be plenty of time to lament all that is terribly wrong and to work in opposition to it, but as a willing act of defiance today, perhaps look around and find reason to be grateful for what is, even if nothing changes.

5) Stay f*cking joyful.

The battle we are fighting is against a misery movement made up of perpetually bitter human beings, whose only posture is one of grievance. They are people whose religion and politics cannot exist without hurting someone else. The mission of its leadership is to dishearten and demoralize people, to slowly suffocate the joy out of them until they lose the light inside them that makes them a threat. One of the largest, loudest middle fingers you can give this hateful cult is to hold on to your joy at any cost.

Bonus: Generate Beauty.

Fascism starves the world of art because art is regenerative, communal, subversive, and dangerous. Spend time today doing something that gives you life: paint, play music, write, dance, cook, whatever. Use the gifts you have been given as a direct, creative response to what is happening. Remind yourself that even though there is real ugliness grabbing the spotlight and the headlines, that things of great beauty are being born too. Follow your muse and let the artwork of your life be your defiant resistance.

Now, go today and with compassion, courage, gratitude, and joy—give fascism a strident middle finger.