Mobilize Mondays return.

Fuck these motherfuckers.

Hello, all.

Here we are, on the bullet train to autocracy. Trump declared himself King. Musk is waving a chainsaw around in an unsurprisingly witless act of metaphor. We’re apparently allies with Russia now, and our food is at risk of rotting in the fields (again) as tariffs loom and agricultural workers are under renewed threat of deportation.

I’ll admit I never thought I’d see this day in America. This, of course, is naïve and privileged and requires the false assumption that, within our borders only, humankind is somehow free of the kind of moral depravity required to wage a war against not just democracy, but the rights of most of us to exist at all. That in the face of our gnawing fears about our bank accounts, our gods, and the perceived value of our identities, we alone are immune to the soothing elixir of greed, cynicism and xenophobia that has toppled countless governments abroad, within our lifetimes and before our eyes. It requires a kind of magical thinking only an American could inhabit, I suppose.

Still, I found myself alarmed to be feeling the intended shock and awe so deeply over the past few weeks, as the executive orders got more disturbing and Musk occupied the Oval Office. While I’m familiar with the history of America’s ills, this felt surreal. Why was this happening? How did we get here? Why hadn’t we done more to stop it?

And when I say we, I mean you and me—the government’s been imploding for a while now, and the time for hoping and wishing that someone (Democrats) will do something (stop relying on progressive messaging and realize that they’ve completely alienated the working class, thereby turning the country over to zealots and snake oil salesmen while diminishing their appeal to young voters and making many of us realize that the idea of relying on the government for anything even remotely related to our best interests is largely farcical) is long over. We are this nation, and we can and must reclaim our power.

This looks like more than just calling our reps (though you should absolutely do that).

And so. We’re bringing back Mobilize Mondays.

WHAT IS IT?

Every Monday, beginning in March, we’ll provide you with one act of community care or resistance. Every Monday, you can join us at Rebel Rebel, participate in a moment of activism, and return to your daily life. Every Monday, you can be consistent, persistent, and in community.

WHY NOT JUST DO IT AT HOME?

That last part—the community part—is extremely important. And if you take nothing else away from this newsletter, please at least take this:

Today, we are the most isolated we have ever been as a society. [That article is behind a paywall, so here’s a PDF of the issue of The Atlantic that featured the article as its cover story (the article begins on page 28) and here’s an episode of Fresh Air with the author.]

This is really, really bad news for our chance to fight what’s happening to us. While digital connection is useful for knowledge and information sharing, without physical connection to our community—and I use this word in its most literal sense to refer to the people living in our neighborhoods—we invariably experience aspects of the world in isolation, particularly when it applies to political engagement. To quote the article above:

“Home-based, phone-based culture has arguably solidified our closest and most distant connections, the inner ring of family and best friends (bound by blood and intimacy) and the outer ring of tribe (linked by shared affinities). But it’s wreaking havoc on the middle ring of ‘familiar but not intimate’ relationships with the people who live around us… We used to know them well; now we don’t. The middle ring is key to social cohesion… Families teach us love, and tribes teach us loyalty. The village teaches us tolerance.”

Our self-isolation, the article argues, contributes to the fracturing of our society, but it also contributes to our apathy.

“Practicing politics alone, on the internet, rather than in community isn’t only making us more likely to demonize and alienate our opponents, though that would be bad enough. It may also be encouraging deep nihilism.”

What’s more appealing to an autocratic regime than an isolated population that no longer believes in the value of saving itself?

Being in physical community with one another—meeting and knowing our neighbors in that middle ring—is key to longterm, sustainable resistance. As we build familiarity with one another, we also build tolerance. In our tolerance is strength. And we need all the strength we can get right now.

WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE TIME?

Make time.

Sorry, but we’re past the point at which we can allow the (very real) challenges of everyday life to prohibit us from engaging. We’re all exhausted, worked to the bone, scraping by, weakened by parenting without support and afraid that if we add one more thing to the pile it’ll all come crashing down. But our everyday lives are under active threat by madmen with deranged motives. We must make time. Our lives depend on it.

Because I, too, am an exhausted parent with no savings and barely enough time to shower every few days, we are making this as easy as possible for you. Most of the opportunities we’ll be providing can be accomplished in 30 minutes, including the time it takes to settle in and chitchat for a bit.

CAN WE REALLY DO THIS?

Yes.

We don’t need to be heroes to preserve our freedom. We just need to acknowledge what’s going on and take practical steps to build coalition. When we consider political action from an isolated, individualistic perspective, we tend to focus on the limits of the self. We could never run for office! We could never chain ourselves to the State House! We could never raise $50,000 for XYZ organization!

You don’t have to. Most political organizing is deeply unsexy. It takes a long time. It’s about small wins in service to the big picture. It can feel draining and monotonous. Know what makes it tolerable/sustainable/possible? Doing it in community. You can joke and high-five and swap photos of your kids while you do it. You can benefit from the skills of many instead of being limited to the capacity of one.

To quote Angela Davis, “You have to act as if it were possible to radically change the world. And you have to do it all the time.”

Tl;dr: Sharing space is imperative to building longterm, sustainable coalition, and building coalition is the only chance we (the people) have at resisting autocratic rule.

And if you’re reading this from a place that’s NOT our neighborhood and you’re thinking to yourself that this sounds like a good idea—please steal it. You have my blessing. Call it Mobilize Mondays! Steal the initiatives we’re planning. Rip it all the way off. The more of us participating in this kind of resistance, the better, and it might just begin with you.

Ok! That’s my pitch. I hope you’ll join us (sign up for free here).

XOXO,

Lauren

AT LEAST THERE’S PIZZA.

Because this is still the newsletter of the businesses I own, I’m now going to awkwardly segue and tell you to come to Dear Annie on Sunday for pizza and red wine. We’re slinging grandma slices and dad wine. Bad Bunny will probably be on the stereo. Cheese is cheaper than therapy, so make a reservation here. (Our regular menu will also be available.)

MEET YOUR MAKER: GIDEON BIENSTOCK OF CLOS SARON @ WILD CHILD TUESDAY 2/25

We are unabashed in our obsession with the wines of Clos Saron; singular, meditative expressions of the wilds of the Sierra Foothills, made by the homesteading philospher-winemaker, Gideon Beinstock. The Clos Saron home vineyard sits high in the Sierra Foothills of California, and its rugged and granitic terroir can be felt at the core of the wines.

Visits with Gideon are rare and treasured, and we're thrilled to invite you to this intimate evening class at Wild Child this Tuesday. Get tickets here.

ONE MORE THING

We’re hiring a maitre’d at Dear Annie. All the info is here, if you or someone you know might like to join our team!

I used to play this a lot at Dear Annie when we first opened, and one of our former team members (hi Nina!) said it made her feel like she was inside a wave. That seems nice, so here you go.