Resolutions for resistance
Meet the new year, same as the old year
Friends, I’ll just say it. At the dawn of the second quarter of the 21st century, the global situation seems admittedly dire. As Kelly Hayes writes,
A new, intimidating year is upon us. Catastrophes abound and the threat of autocracy looms large. As we prepare ourselves for the struggles ahead, many people are feeling discouraged or confused about how to move forward.
Dejection, despair, or a self-protective, fatalistic nihilism aren’t irrational responses. But I think they’re wrong, nonetheless.
I think hopelessness is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
And look: if the resistance in Palestine continues to fight despite decades of apartheid, oppression, and US-sponosored mass murder, what right do those of us in the imperial core have to pre-emptively throw in the towel? How can citizens resign themselves to the fact of mass deportations before they even begin? If you believe in collective, grassroots resistance… this is literally the moment you’ve been training for.
We should remember that stable empires do not need to resort to promises of ostentatious displays of state violence to maintain themselves. In a poem titled “Patmos,” Friedrich Hölderlin wrote:
Wherein lies the danger
Also grows the saving power
Not only is it darkest before dawn—it’s darkest because it’s about to be dawn. The wild polarization of American politics is a symptom of the global hegemon struggling to address a generational crisis of legitimacy. That is, on the balance, a good thing. There’s no reason for resignation unless we resign ourselves to failure. I want all of us to be connected, supported, grounded, and prepared because a fight is coming. But that fight has been going on for five hundred years. We just gotta bring it all home.
In that spirit, I’m belatedly sharing some resolutions for the coming year. Steal them as you wish; comment your own if you’d like.
2025 Resolutions
To speak and write with unashamed candor
To reject despair as a privilege of the disinterested
To take care of myself and others, to let others care for me
To end the year both safer and more dangerous than when it began
To suspect advocacy, engagement, and recognition: any form of action turns our enemies into mere adversaries, our struggles into a parlor game of representation
To honor those who have invited me into the tradition of resistance, despite my errors and oversights, by repeating the act
To strengthen daily the movements that have made me
To center stability, care, community, and resilience
To complete my projects and foster new openings
To swallow defeat and prepare for victory
To listen fiercely
To fight, always
To live
To end the year both safer and more dangerous than when it began - sobering, but I will take this up this year too, thank you ✨
Beautiful. I really love these resolutions and I hope to replicate some of them in the new year as well. One thing I will add is to read your book which I purchased from Ak shortly before the holidays!