There’s a meme going around the socials that lays out some pseudo-rules of engagement for navigating the world in which we find ourselves today. While I don’t agree with all of them completely, I do think they provide some good general guidelines for engagement, both in writing and in person.

I’ve got opinions[1] on most of these, some more than others. I’ll be writing in more detail on some of them, but wanted to share and get other opinions about this.

Note: I don’t know the original source of this material. If you know where this came from, please let me know so I can provide proper attribution.

The guidelines:

1. Don’t use his name.

2. Remember this is a regime and he’s not acting alone.

3. Do not argue with those who support him – it doesn’t work and it makes them feel important. It makes them feel they’ve won something.

4. Focus on his policies. Do not focus on his personality traits, his physical appearance, or his mental state.

5. Keep your message positive; they want the country to be angry and fearful because this is the soil from which their darkest policies will grow.

6. No more helpless/hopeless talk. The numbers don’t lie, there are more of “us” than there are of them. Feel that support.

7. Support artists and the arts.

8. Be careful not to spread fake news. Fact check it.

9. Take care of yourselves.

10. Resist! Keep demonstrations peaceful. In the words of John Lennon, “When it gets down to having to use violence, then you are playing the system’s game. The establishment will irritate you – pull your beard, flick your face – to make you fight! Because once they’ve got you violent, then they know how to handle you. The only thing they don’t know how to handle is non-violence and humor.”[2]

11. When you post or talk about him, don’t assign his actions to him, assign them to “The Republican Administration.” This will have several effects: the legislators will either have to take responsibility for their association with him or stand up for what some of them don’t like; he will not get the focus of attention he craves. His representatives will become very concerned about their re-elections.

[1] To those who know me, big surprise, huh?

[2] While this quote is widely attributed to John Lennon, I cannot definitively say he spoke these words

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