In our seemingly endless struggle with the multi faceted Project 2025 and Trump’s often lawless executive orders, we can learn a strategy lesson from the Greek myth of Hercules and the Hydra that a single person can do to battle and defeat a seemingly overwhelming foe.
In his legendary battle with the Hydra, Hercules discovered that slicing off its many heads was futile, as each severed head spawned two more in its place. Only when he identified and destroyed the monster's immortal weakness--its heart--could he defeat it.
This myth illustrates that lasting solutions come not from addressing endless symptoms, but by confronting the root cause itself. As the daily chaos continues we are in a battle with a Hydra of our own and we can prevail if we learn the primary lesson of this fable. While Project 2025’s and Trump’s (mostly unlawful) Executive Orders attack our Constitution and Republic daily, remember that our objective is to attack the heart.
What is the heart of this beast? The money that feeds it. If we dry up the revenue to the donors who feed this beast, we can prevail.
We are seeing that happening now. Organizations are arranging protests, strikes and actions across the country in many formats to start attacking the donor money sources. They are gaining momentum and approval. There have been positive economic impact effects of legal, peaceful protests at Tesla dealerships. Contracts with SpaceX are being canceled. Our allies are canceling orders for fighter jets and going elsewhere. Many of these legal actions are painful to our fellow Americans but the bigger picture is worse—the helpless, disabled, elderly and marginalized citizens are being targeted so the rich can get richer. Every single one of our actions, whether simple or complex is important in this battle. But our superpower is the power of the purse, e.g. drying up the revenue that supports the destruction of our country.
So use sources you trust to join economic protests and boycotts. SWIM posts these actions and boycotts on its website and Facebook page. And Goods Unite Us is an excellent smart device app you can download that helps you direct your purchases toward organizations/corporations/vendors who support democratic and progressive causes.
-Vickie Gutowski, Leelenau Indivisible
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