Alan Jacobs, writing at his site, has a few thoughts on activism that I think are spot on.

I’ve pretty much stopped writing about politics, for reasons explained here, but that doesn’t mean I hold no political views and take no political action. Here’s how I think about political activism.

Premise: Every government does unjust harm to some persons and groups of persons. (One’s general political philosophy will be largely determined by how much harm one thinks that any government does as a matter of course, and one’s voting patterns will be largely determined by that philosophy, but none of that is relevant to this particular post. What I’m about to say is, I think, universally applicable.)

From this premise I think some questions should arise:

1. In the current regime, what persons or groups are most harmed or most likely to be harmed?
2. Where can I find those vulnerable people in my community?
3. What organizations serve and seek to protect those people?
4. How can I (placed as I am, with certain specific gifts and resources) assist those organizations?

Once I have answered those questions, I have a plan for meaningful political action. Note that this plan will differ according to the political party that happens to be in charge.

This is the way. I’m going to talk with my wife about these steps and what we might do in our community. One thing we’ve already done is join our local YMCA. It has, among many other things, a dedicated program for people with special needs and that’s incredibly important to my family.