Mark Morford (former columnist for SF Chron) advice... buy a gun long read
Posted by
zeitgeist
Nov 8 '24, 18:10
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Buy a gun.
AKA 27 things I’ve learned from social media in 72 hours
This is not my normal content. Actually, it sort of is, as what you're about to read is more or less exactly the kind of material I used to write about every week, for close to 20 years for the SF Chronicle, in my once semi-famous opinion column, which ran from the depths of 1998 through the latter half of 2017.
But I also discovered a terrible truth during my otherwise thrilling columnist run: turns out writing nearly every day about horrible people doing horrible things for horrible reasons, that can take a toll. Who knew?
Nevertheless, here I am. While the following is the sort of material I used to cover all the time, I’m doing so now with a new, social media-saturated, increasingly terrified tone. I’m not planning to make this a regular thing, but who knows. I don’t really have a readership anymore, or an established media outlet. And Substack is so very 2015. Also: Who reads? But we shall see.
Perhaps another time I can delve into the various spiritual/yogic practices and perspectives I’ve gleaned over my 25 years of teaching that can help us manage the moment, the brutal time to come. But this is not that. This is far uglier, more deliberately headlong, with absolutely zero fucks to give – AKA, meeting the moment as it is right now arriving.
Please note that most of the following tips and perspectives do not come from me (though I've added commentary and emphasis to many of them). This is a batch of responses I’ve been gleaning from some of the more thoughtful, heartbroken, but also supremely fierce humans who have been streaming through my social media feeds in the past 72 hours – mainly young women, largely from TikTok and Reels (and yes, for the record, I much enjoy TikTok – I don’t post anything, just follow – though prior to Tuesday my feed consisted largely of science, humor, spiritual and philosophical esoterica, recipes, home repair, health tips, disinformation deflectors, and old clips of Chris Hitchens and Sam Harris effortlessly eviscerating Christian theology).
But not anymore. The last few days the algorithm has fed me a steady stream of devastated, furious women (and many good men) talking straight to the camera, in intimate but ferocious tones, about the lethal attitudinal shift in American culture that’s about to happen, and their ideas of how to respond. Some of these surprised me, or I hadn’t even fully considered, though sadly much of it I found to make perfect sense.
Please note: While this list mostly comes from/pertains to young, progressive American women, these tips affect, both culturally and morally, everyone. Also, many of these are rough-hewn, harsh, and not easily digestible. I editorialize and re-post them because I think they are of tremendous value to consider as America lurches into its authoritarian era, before the media goes back to “normal” and gross holiday commercialism swamps the culture, and everyone allows themselves be deluded back into a state of numb complacency.
If nothing else, please understand one thing, about which there is no debate: America is about to become an authoritarian state. Full stop.
Ready for the list? Here we go:
27 things I learned from social media in the past 72 hours (by no means comprehensive, and in no particular order).
Buy a gun. I do not recognize myself for saying this, but if you are a progressive young woman living in or around a red state, and/or anywhere near frat bros, tech bros or any kind of bro, buy a gun. Even if you’ve been passionately anti-gun, anti-violence, anti-NRA as I’ve been my entire life and career, it has become blindingly clear that a shocking majority of American men do not give a fuck for your rights, your health, or your bodily autonomy. And they are displaying this gleeful misogyny right now, in full and grotesque force, all across social media.
So I hereby offer the scariest piece of advice I’ve ever been forced to reluctantly support. Women: Get a handgun, and learn to use it. Because this much we know: if a racist rapist felon can become president, then millions of newly emboldened douchebag males will have no problem treating women as property, as meat, as something they can abuse and molest at will, fearing no serious repercussions. Give them one.
Can’t afford a gun, or too anxious to own one? I get it. Here’s an alternate tip: Go to the hardware store and buy a heavy padlock, tie it to a scarf, carry it in your purse. It’s called slocking, and it’s trending (again). I believe it comes from Orange is the New Black, which borrowed it from real-life prison culture, and it’s a form of simple, effective (and affordable) defense weaponry.
Knot the scarf tightly around the U-shaped latch of the lock. Practice swinging it around. When you wander the streets, keep the lock in your bag and your hand on the loose end of the scarf, sticking just enough out of your bag to maintain a good grip, in a perpetual state of readiness. (Obviously, if you can legally carry pepper spray where you live, get that too).
Birth control. Stock up on ALL forms, especially options like Plan B. Do this right now, while you still can, before it’s banned/severely restricted. (FYI Plan B has a four-year shelf life, if not more).
Not a female? Not planning to get pregnant? I don’t care. I’m a 50-something straight white dad with a fantastic partner and a young daughter. We are not having any more children. It is unlikely we will be affected by Trump’s anti-abortion cruelty. Nevertheless, I just ordered a multi-pack of generic Plan B (AKA Levonorgestrel) from Amazon to keep on hand in case any females in my world might need help in the next four years. Translation: we are soon to be playing by Prohibition rules. Shit’s going underground, if need be. Let us not fuck around.
(See also: Plan C, Wisp, Aid Access, and other providers for more and better info).
Hold up. Are you of the belief that there will not, cannot be a national abortion/contraception ban? Perhaps you think blue states are safe, given all the constitutional amendments and such?
You are mistaken. The Trump administration will not need congressional approval to enforce a national ban (though the MAGA Supreme Court will let them do whatever they want). They will only need to enact the Comstock Act of 1873, a panicky old law which prohibits mail delivery of any form of abortifacient, including pills but and also including any type medical/surgical equipment which could be used for abortion procedures (which is why many clinics are stocking up now). Under this law, every state instantly becomes a red state. While perhaps not every form of contraceptive will be 100% banned, it is very likely they will become extremely difficult, if not impossible, to obtain.
More evidence? Sure. Trump can (and will) appoint a new head of the FDA who can immediately direct the agency to withdraw any and all birth control (primarily Mifepristone, which they’ve been targeting for years now) from the market, also quite possibly including basic birth control (aka the Pill) itself. Currently, 2/3 of all women – Trump-supporting Republican hypocrites very much included – use Plan B or similar for at-home DIY pregnancy termination, and most get those pills delivered by mail. Not anymore. Be ready.
Also, no more IVF. What’s that? Trump and the GOP promised to protect it, after that national outcry (even from Republicans) post Dobbs? And you believed that? Sorry, just pre-election bullshit. IVF will be gone. It’s deep in the Project 2025 plan, and every Trump appointee, from AG to his upcoming health appointees, is violently anti-abortion. Remember, these bans and restrictions aren’t going to happen all at once, because there will be too much outcry. But it is going to happen. I will be fucking delighted to be proven wrong.
Speaking of sex, dust off your old DVD player and stock up on old smut, because online porn is going to outlawed (bye, OnlyFans), as will ANY material related to sexual issues/gender orientation. This is not a joke. They are going try to ban porn. Which invites a delightful side note: If porn is made illegal, can you guess what’s going to happen to all that repressed male energy? Can you guess where it’s going to be redirected, who will take the brunt? (See #1).
Let us repeat: Americans are about to live in an authoritarian, fascist state, for the first time in history. While we do not know what that’s like, we do know it will be horrifically antagonistic, constrictive, and saturated with hate resulting in outcomes we cannot predict just yet. Here are a few books, recommended by anti-fascism experts I’ve suddenly seen come across my feed in the past two days, to better understand the ideology, and how to fight back
On Tyranny - Timothy Snyder
Surviving Autocracy - Masha Gessen
Strongmen - Ruth Ben-Ghiat
How to be an Anti-Racist - X Kendi
Of course there are more. But these are a good start.
Other good advice: Specialize. Focus. Choose the issue you are most passionate about/fearful of (institutionalized racism? Reproductive rights? Immigration? Climate change?), and focus your energy, research, and activism there. Leave the other issues to those who are most passionate about them, and trust they will be handled by people more ready to take them on. In other words, there is no way you can tackle everything, even if you understand that it’s all an interwoven nightmare shitshow (which it is). Pick your terror, follow the thought leaders in that space, and go straight at it.
Buy banned books, especially banned kids books, in print form. Once the Department of Education is dismantled, public schools are gutted/defunded and libraries are emptied out nationwide, many of these will likely become unavailable. History is about to be violently re-whitewashed, worse than ever. Don’t believe it? Look up the Trump plan to kill public education, sue public universities, and gleefully distort America’s true history.
Get a divorce. If you have any real doubts about your husband, or the health of your marriage, get a divorce now. As part of its shockingly misogynistic agenda, Project 2025 will take direct aim at the right to “no-fault” divorce (which only came into existence in 1969, firstly in California). Translation: women will soon have to prove, before a judge, why you deserve a divorce, and why your spouse is “at fault.” It will be difficult, and costly, and if your husband has even remotely desperate, abusive tendencies, he could easily block the divorce (MAGA males are in charge, remember) and lock you into that horrible marriage, and you will have little recourse.
Here’s perhaps the most intense, difficult bit of advice I’ve been seeing all over the place, from OB/GYNS to abortion activists: Do not get pregnant. Do not try to have a baby, at least not for the next four years. It does not matter where you live (unless you move abroad). It’s about to become far too dangerous for women WRT to prenatal health care, once the nationwide abortion bans are put in effect, and increasing numbers of hospitals refuse to treat any life-threatening reproductive issues that might occur.
Also keep in mind the GOP plans to severely cut Medicaid and further gut Obamacare, so even if you live in a blue city and hospitals might treat you, you might not have the insurance to cover it. Will it really get that bad? Uncertain. But it’s very much in the plan.
Again, state-level constitutional amendments protecting women’s rights might soon mean almost nothing when Trump’s authoritarian regime institutes its national abortion ban (piece by draconian piece) and enforces the Comstock Act. So I offer two important travel notes: last year, Mexico's Supreme Court decriminalized abortion across the country, and Canada has zero laws restricting abortion; the procedure is free for citizens, and runs about $300-800 for non-citizens. Also: Renew your passport. Do it now.
Are you a young female? Are you absolutely certain you do not want kids? Get sterilized. As in, right now. Do not wait. This is the advice I’ve been seeing. Because birth control is about to be severely restricted, and because even IUDs are not 100% effective, and because there will be multiple direct threats to your life if you do accidentally get pregnant and suffer any sort of serious complication.
Download the Signal app and open a free account. Use it to communicate any sensitive/personal/anti-government information to loved ones, especially info related to activism, organizing, and so on. Also, use VPN (I use Express VPN, but there are many others). Protect your personal information, especially health related.
Similarly: Go silent. You are NO LONGER free to talk about friends and loved ones who might be following a, let’s call it “alternative” lifestyle. From now on, if someone asks you if you know anyone who’s trans, or gay, or poly, or pregnant, or a liberal activist, you say: “Gosh, let me see… nope! Not a one.” You just can’t remember! Gosh!
I know, it sounds ridiculous. But the surveillance state is a real thing. Witness what’s already happening in Texas, with their new “bounty laws,” which encourages neighbors to tattle on each other, for cash. Imagine that going nationwide, only much more intense, and openly encouraged.
Women: immediately and right now please delete all period-tracking apps. One suggestion I read was to first load it up with a bunch of false data, then delete it, just in case your old records are in the cloud, and potentially traceable. Yes, there is a plan in place to track your menstrual cycles. There will be active databases. You will likely not be allowed to travel to a blue state or leave the country if they find out you might be pregnant.
Get your vaccines up to date. All of them. If Trump actually appoints anti-vaxx, science-denying psychopath RFK Jr. to run HHS or any other major heath agency, he has hinted he will eliminate, or at least severely curtail, the use of all vaccines (and fluoride, etc), in the name of “public health.” But it's worse than that. He's also a bonkers conspiracy theorist, and one of his favorite targets is basically ALL of established medical science. It’s entirely psychotic. It is also very possible.
Jury is currently out on the potential trend of wearing a blue bracelet to virtue signal that you voted for Kamala and you are therefore a “safe haven” to others. Some are saying such gestures are just a hollow, performative act that only makes the wearer feel better, just as the safety pins worn after 2016 did nothing, or the black squares in your Insta profile. Others argue that only action matters, making your voice heard within your white community itself. Burst your white-women bubble. After all, it was white women who handed Trump this victory. Work to change their bizarre little minds, as shallow and welcoming of authoritarian, abusive men as they may be.
Others say the bracelets are fine, helpful, showing at least a modicum of solidarity and kindness, an indicator that you are not alone, and that you are safe. Some have said they have already been in situations where the blue bracelets have been helpful, because MAGA is going insane right now and it doesn’t even feel safe to drop your non-white kids off at school in a red state. I have no answer for this (but I tend to lean on the side of “anything that helps”). But I do think that infighting about how to show a shred of love or compassion to fellow like-minded humans benefits only those who we are aligning against.
Liberal white men, AKA “the good guys” who voted for Kamala (and Biden, and Obama, etc) can expect, should expect, and really should be fine with the fact that most progressive women (and especially women of color) will shun, avoid and turn away from them/us for the foreseeable future. We are not separate. We do not deserve special treatment. Millions of men, like Joe Rogan and his incel army, gleefully voted for a sexist, rapist felon who cheated on every wife he ever had. Sadly, this means none of us should reasonably expect progressive women to approach any of us with open-hearted trust and respect.
Put another way: We should not demand that progressive women instantly possess the skills to parse the male species’ intentions and navigate such potentially violent waters, just because it’s “not all men.” We have to be OK with this, just as white progressive women cannot expect women of color to fully trust any of them. (If you are fortunate enough to find a relationship that is truly loving, honest and supportive, a true ally-ship, hang on tight). Otherwise, progressive women have every right to shun all white men, period, for as long as they feel it’s necessary.
Taken to its logical conclusion, the above means young women of reasonable intelligence and sexual activity might want to consider joining the 4B movement. Look it up. Just don’t talk about it. (see #16)
Move abroad. I know. It’s difficult, expensive, completely impossible for many. But if you have the means, there are a surprisingly large number of countries that make it very easy to obtain a long-term visa or even official residency, especially if you can work remotely. Spain, Thailand, Croatia, Peru, Vietnam, Portugal, Greece… the list is long. The countries are friendly. The barriers to entry are relatively low. My TikTok feed is being flooded with these how-to-move videos, maybe because I’m an expat myself, but also because Trump. (FYI: I’m currently living in Guatemala with my family. We were tentatively planning to move back to the States – we’re still officially based in SF – in a year or two. Not anymore).
Oh btw, “stop and frisk” is coming back. It’s written into the P2025 plan. Just so you know, police brutality is going to skyrocket, especially (obviously) against people of color and immigrants, who will have even less recourse than before. There is no advice here, except for: Don’t be a black male in America.
Do we reconsider marching openly in protests? Trump’s statement that the “enemy is within” refers to, well, you. Want to march in protest of the genocide in Gaza? Abortion rights? Climate change? Be advised that it’s no longer the case that you might simply get arrested, charged with a misdemeanor, and released. Trump will bring out the U.S. military and National Guard, he will empower the police. Think tear gas, beatings, military equipment in the streets, real bullets, long-term jail with no legal recourse. Remember, this is authoritarianism, pure and simple. You are no longer allowed to disagree with the government, or with Trump policy. Not in public, anyway. (BTW thanks for your protest vote, Kamala-haters! Think Biden’s policy on Israel/Palestine was terrible? Trump’s is going to be far worse).
Gay marriage is very likely going to be rescinded. The scowling meat-sloth known as Clarence Thomas himself indicated he wanted to revisit the Hodges decision, and all it takes is one lawsuit to reach the newly MAGA Supreme Court to overturn it. Roe was just the beginning.
Let it be known that Republicans are “very excited” to begin putting Project 2025 into action. They have said as much; Republican senators have actually tweeted that it really was the plan all along, ha ha ha tricked you. Did you actually believe Trump when he said he knew nothing about it? Literally dozens of its authors served in his previous administration. He has already announced that one of its lead authors will have a major role in his new one.
Translation: These people are fucking giddy to bring tremendous pain and suffering to women, immigrants, people of color, the poor. It’s already underway, right now, and unless you are exceedingly rich and white (and male) and possess zero compassion or human empathy, you’re going to be affected, if not destroyed.
Give to the ACLU. Give to reproductive health groups like Planned Parenthood and Aid Access. Go watch the video of NY AG Leticia James’ badass response to the election results, along with other AGs and governors (like Gavin Newsom, who just called for an emergency special session of CA lawmakers to address what’s coming), on your platform of choice, and have a modicum of faith that, while Trump’s army has a truly dystopian plan in place, many blue-state governors and AGs have also been preparing for the worst, for awhile. Read those books about fascism and educate yourself about how these people operate.
There are many, many more items to post. I can’t keep up with them all, and I’m sorry I can’t link to all the creators directly; there are just too many, coming too fast. (But you can easily find them on TikTok or other platforms; just search by topic/keyword). BTW, the horrible headlines are already happening, too, across the major media, just like after the 2016 election, when we all woke up EVERY SINGLE DAY, for four solid years to a new horror, a disbelief, a this-can’t-be-real news headline, something bizarre and repellant that Trump had said or done, so relentless as to be totally annihilating to the spirit. This time, it will be much worse.
But from what I can see right now, the Resistance is already forming, and it’s going to be of a very different flavor and tone than last time. It’s going to be more intense, gnarly, fierce, fueled by a kind of deep and disgusted rage that doesn’t quite have a name just yet. I can’t say that’s a good thing (because it’s all so goddamned heartbreaking), nor can I can’t say I know how to be a good ally to it right now. I've aged out of being a fiery columnist of note, writing at the forefront of the culture. What's more, journalism is also about to get ferociously attacked, all over again. And besides, who reads?
But it’s out there, which gives me… if not hope per se, then some form of reassurance that, if nothing else, we will not go down without a fight, and a fucking fierce one at that.
If you made it this far, you’re my hero. And if you want to move to Guatemala, I know some good realtors.
Hold your loved ones tight, find community, take it one action at a time. We are not OK, but we are also not alone.
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