Resistance

Since Trump came to power I have been following a closed group on FB, dedicated to resistance and action in the US. Through this group I can follow all the protest marches around the country, it gives advice how to keep contact with senators and MPs, it publishes practical guides on how to resist the Trump agenda, and, most importantly, one of the members keeps a list of what has changed. Her motivation: “Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you’ll remember.”
The lists are detailed and long and are published weekly. I find them invaluable, since they will absolutely help us all remember. Adjusting to change is one of the most valuable traits in us as humans, but it is not always a blessing.

From many other points of view the group has become increasingly diffcult to follow from a European perspective. It has turned inwards, and as it is very detailed when it comes to what is happening in the US. Although I feel that much the same is happening here in Europe, as well as in other parts of the world, it is difficult to see how our reality would be relevant to anyone in the US right now. And yet I understand and fully support how important it is to resist, in great detail, and how important it is to remember what has changed.

However, I think I now have found something that does unite us. A piece of advice we can all benefit from.

The two recent terrorist attacks, first in the Petersburg underground and then in Stockholm, came as a shock to all of us in the Nordic countries. Since then loads has been written about what this might mean to us all. 

One comment seems to me to be really important. The journalist and author Elisabeth Åsbrink argues in the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter that we can all become activists. That resisting terror is easy, free of charge and does not carry any particular risc. Everyone can do it, she says, it takes very little time and effort. And the method is so simple that any child, any adult or elderly person can do it.

Her advice is simply: Look each other in the eyes. Engage in small talk. Talk to your neighbour, the busdriver, the lady in the supermarket. Say hello. Look at the persons you pass in town or at work, don not just pass them.Start a conversation in the train. By looking someone in the eyes we acknowledge each other. For a few moments we are here, sharing our common space, supporting an open society. This kind of simple humanity is what the terrorists hate most, this is what they want us to stop doing. Instead, they want us to be afraid. Of each other, of them, of everything. But humanity is what keeps societies together. Our ability to trust each other is what makes us human. And without trust, there is no democracy.

For those who do not live in or come from one of the Nordic societies this advice might seem strange. In France for example, simply being polite aqcuires people to talk to each other. But in the Nordics this is not an everyday activity. And, what Elisabeth Åsbrink means with her text is not that we should simply be polite. What she is after is something more profound.

Today societies everywhere are being painted in black and white, and little attention is given to the many shades of grey in between. People are constantly divided into those who are with me and those who are against me. This is what the terrorists want. This is also, unfortunately, what many politicians and governments today preach. Therefore it is more important than ever to resist.

So become an active antiterrorist. Look each other in the eyes. Talk to people, talk with people. Build trust, openness, communication. Simply – be human.