Commentary: Is Resistance Futile? 

By Jane Mulcaster

America is for everyone, not just those who voted for the guy occupying the White House. It’s even for those who didn’t – or can’t – vote at all. 

Democracy is delicate and harbors hypocrisy. It’s cumbersome and slow. Some argue it’s too tolerant of divergent opinions, others that it’s not tolerant enough. We–I–grumble about having to pay taxes as we stretch our budgets to keep food on the table and a roof over our heads and provide a safe place for our children to grow and thrive. The government – “the man” – imposes “restrictions” on our “freedoms.” Government is the stern parent who won’t let us eat Twinkies for dinner and takes us by the ear when we break our brother’s toy. 

There’s always a tension between indulgence and discipline, between capitalism and personal gain versus responsibility to our communities and the planet. The line that divides us now is not just who’s “left” or “right;” it’s who sees the world as zero-sum, where more for you means less for me, versus who sees the world as a continuous whole that must find balance with itself.  

“The power of the people is greater than the people in power.”

As everyday Americans, we can be lulled into seeing ourselves as oppressed by the people in power. But the American republic was purposely designed with the people as the center of power. The architects sought to give every entitlement to the people to check a monarch while taking great care to preserve the rights of minority opinions. Despite many trials over two and a half centuries (more) and struggles with the scope of Jefferson’s great idea that “all men are created equal,” we find that the “arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” 

Save for the Civil War, America has managed to maintain an equilibrium between majority and minority ideas. Relative peace and prosperity have flowed from a common belief in the Jeffersonian ideal and that the framework the founders created is sound and worth preserving with our honor.

A New Kind of Civil War

But we find ourselves in a perilous moment when many of those in power no longer believe in or respect those ideals. In the 1860s, the lines were drawn between north and south. But today, the battlefield is in our minds and hearts, in what we believe to be real. 

Technology has divided us into our own silos of self-interest – but it also has the power to unite us, making the world and all its people our communities. As wielders of these new technologies, we’re challenged to rise above the dividing, monetizing algorithms that seek to exploit our passions to enrich advertisers – and provide a lever for threat actors who seek to destroy our mighty but fragile nation and ignite a fear that divides. In this moment, the consequences are global. 

“Join, or Die”

Pictured above, Benjamin Franklin’s woodcut published in The Pennsylvania Gazette on May 9, 1754 depicts the disunity of the 13 colonies during the French and Indian War. The cartoon later became a symbol of the American Revolution. 

Gathering in public with a homemade sign bearing an impassioned slogan seems silly, maybe even futile. But it connects us as a community and reminds us that together, we’re the ones in power. We see each other and find heart. Our elected representatives see us and know they must respond to our demands. And the people around the world see us standing up so they know we haven’t been defeated. 

As survivors of wildfire know, in the wake of disaster comes renewal. Although much may be lost, life and liberty are resilient.  

Jane Mulcaster is a Bay Area based correspondent and writes about culture, politics, and the environment.

Featured photo by Jane Mulcaster: Thousands gathered on April 5, 2025 at the Santa Cruz County’s government center to protest the policies of the current presidential administration. 

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