As we all work to make sense of our world, Lindsey Adler offers some wise guidance. This is a frightening time, and we are going to experience unsettling emotions—and that’s okay. Feelings like anxiety and depression are natural responses to perceived danger. Adler likens them to other tools that provide us with information, like clocks or weather apps.

Rather than trying to suppress or judge these emotions, she encourages us to acknowledge them and find ways to coexist with them while channeling our energy into meaningful action—whether through labor organizing, artistic expression, or writing. She reminds us that our emotions are not the enemy; far greater challenges demand our attention.

"Let’s be simple about what is happening: Americans are watching the dismantling of our government systems by a lawless president and unelected plutocrat in the precise ways we were indoctrinated to think were impossible in this country.

"Even worse, the methods on display are specific to our time and abundance of technology, but the tactics are not without precedent. We’ve seen this type of seizing of society in other countries and regions. Those scenarios were and are deadly for common citizens. Pick a dictator for reference, it doesn’t really matter which one.

"So, we’re watching the destruction of our government and have an informed hypothesis about what is coming. This is incredibly, incredibly scary."

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