Pitching a Big Tent in an Emergency

On her newly launched site, Meditations in an Emergency, Rebecca Solnit talks about the importance of coming together with “people who are not exactly like each of us individually” in times of crisis.

In this emergency, I think it likely that we are going to need to pitch a very big tent and invite everyone in who doesn’t want to live in a dictatorship, who wants the rule of law, the checks and balances, the Constitution to still be in effect, everyone’s human and civil rights protected, who wants to protect the vulnerable.

I also appreciated her speaking up about a dynamic I’ve witnessed on social media a lot:

I want to take an unscenic detour to talk about what I’ve noticed on social media lately, and doing so is a reminder that being on social media is forever derided and dismissed, but it’s where a lot of us connect with each other, gather (reliable or corrupt) information, connect, and express ourselves. I’ve often found it useful as a sort of laboratory for opinion. And what I’ve seen lately — and really all along — is a focus on morality and taste rather than strategy and possibility.

She continued:

It was a snarky week on social media. Someone I otherwise respect re-posted a guy proposing that all Tesla vehicles should be vandalized (though obviously many people bought them well before this crisis, even before Musk went so far into right-wing rage, racism, and conspiracy theory, and many bought them out of concern for the climate). People lashed out at those who didn’t vote for Harris, and apparently some people were sneering at those impacted in a measles outbreak in Texas, though this meant kids suffering the consequences for their parents’ anti-vaccination ideology. Going after each other is not going after the Trump Administration; fighting each other produces division when we need unity or at least a broad coalition. I’m not arguing here for having nothing but lofty thoughts; I have plenty of not very nice thoughts, but I try to save them for conversations in private and statements about actual enemies.

In these comments, people weren’t looking for strategy or possibility or the building of coalitions and the reaching out to new potential allies. They were looking for people to scorn.

Like Solnit, I just don’t find it helpful to wage rhetorical war on potential allies — although it may be understandable, give how scared and helpless people feel.

• Rebecca Solnit
• social media