Contact your representative
Dear Ms [Rep Last Name],
Please vote no on any budget that includes money for ICE.
This is a top issue for me. While I’m happy with your performance as my representative, I would support a primary challenger if you vote to fund ICE.
ICE must not get another cent. The agency must be disbanded and agents who violated the law must be held to account. There can be no compromise with their lawless violence. Voting against their further funding is a chance to take a stand for the people they have killed, injured and ripped from their homes, families and communities.
Thank you for your time and your service.
Best,
Your Name
You can find your representative with your zip code. You should use the zip code where you are registered to vote. If you are not registered and live in the US, use the zip code where you live. You don’t need to be a voter to contact your representative. Even if you don’t have the right to vote, you still have the right to voice an opinion.
If you live outside the US and are a US citizen, you would use the zip code of the last place in the US in which you lived. You have the right to vote! You can find out how to register via https://www.votefromabroad.org/. If there is some reason that you can’t vote (some states disallow people who have had felony convictions or who have been dishonourably discharged from the military), you can still write a letter.
If you have never lived in the US, but are a citizen, you also have the right to register and to register. To figure out your voting address and zip code etc, go to https://www.votefromabroad.org/.
Contact your senator
While we’re at it, have you written to your senators? Every state has two, so you can send your letter twice.
Dear Honorable Senator,
I am writing to strongly urge you vote against ICE funding. This is a top issue for me.
The US is at a crossroads. ICE in its current form is incompatible with the continuation of democracy. Your vote to cut off their funding is vital to the future of our country and the future of your party. Democrats must live up to their name and protect democracy and put a stop to the terrible, escalating violence ICE is causing on city streets.
Again this is a top issue and – while I’m happy with your performance as my senator – I will support primary challengers against anyone who does not stand up for that is right and necessary at this dangerous moment. I hope we can count on you.
Best,
Charles
Find your two senators via https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm?Class=1
Writing letters is fairly easy and doesn’t take much time. Other ways you can get the attention of your elected representatives is by getting a letter to the editor in a newspaper. Even a very niche, community newspaper will do. Get a copy and send it to the representative’s office.
And, of course, many people in the US are doing amazing street actions.
BDS USA
Outside the US, we can not only write letters to our representatives in the US, but to MPs or elected officials where we live. The US is a bad ally under Trump. We need greater economic distance from the US and to rely less on US technology. Isolating the US economically will help dislodge Trumpism.
Microsoft is a major Trump ally. They also make a lot of software and services. Getting rid of all of them all at once is daunting, so we can do a few at a time.
For instance, you could stop using Microsoft Office and instead use Libre Office, which has a spreadsheet, a presentation program, a text editor and a few other office bits. I have used this for several years. I wrote my PhD thesis in the text editor. I tracked details of the Network Music Festival in the spreadsheet. I used the presentation software for all of my teaching. (Some VLEs like Moodle integrate really well with Libre Office Impress).
You don’t need to do everything all at once. Pick which apps you want to switch first and use Libre Office to make new documents. It will open MS documents and vice versa. You can take this one document at a time.
Did you know that LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft? It also, until recently, had the worst track record for sexual harassment of any of the social network. (It’s no longer worst because X has raced to the bottom.) It’s an unmoderated mess. Nobody likes it. Now you have a righteous reason to delete the account you never liked anyway.
Outlook is also Microsoft (and also very annoying). There are a lot of different ways to get email. Your ISP may offer it. I get mine through my web hosting. There are some associations that offer it, like for artists or anarchists. When I asked for recommendations, some of what people said included: Fast mail is outside the US. Mailbox.org is outside the US and also offers replacements for a lot of MS services. Tuta is outside the US and also offers replacements for other MS services. Cock.li gets you email and a fun domain name for fans of roosters. Posteo is nice.
When I moved away from gmail, I first got a new email address and made sure it was working for me. I could access it reliably from all my devices and it reliably received and sent email. After that point, I sent up a redirect to automatically forward my email to the new address. I’ve gradually been updating accounts and telling people to use my new address. I have not closed the old one, I just quit using it.
This is a process, but it’s an important one. As you get the hang of using non-Trumpist software, tell your friends and colleagues. Try to get your work to switch. Is it a good idea to rely on cloud storage from a company that wants to help invade Greenland? That has turned off people’s accounts at the behest of the Tump administration? It’s time to move.
