You are asked to join a meeting for some key members of the Strike Committee. They have organized a 1-minute national strike — with almost a million people participating. They want to reach out to other movement sectors, like getting poll workers to agree to participate in a strike if the elections are not actually free and fair. You’re honestly not sure why you’re present — they seem to have a good strategy and good sensibility. But you can sense the frenetic pace that you’ve seen everywhere.
After a lunch break, one member of the Strike Committee urges everyone, “We just have to double down and do a national strike now — Trump isn’t going to let us have a real election.” He cites unnamed sources inside the White House discussing Trump’s plans to stay in office. One source said Trump was discussing running for a third term — despite the 22nd Amendment, which explicitly forbids this. (Trump allegedly yelled, “Who’s gonna stop me?”) Another source suggested that Eric Trump might run as a surrogate, or perhaps Trump would just declare a state of emergency to halt elections for as long as possible. The Strike Committee member is urgent, “This is it. We have to throw everything at this or we lose whatever version of democracy we have.”
To everyone’s surprise, you stand up. You hold your hands out. “You’re absolutely right. You have to move. And you have to move fast. But you have to be smart — you can’t go into this breathless. I want everyone to take a breath before you do.” You take a breath and notice that nobody else really joins you. “I’m serious. You have been at a breakneck speed already. Take a breath.” A few do. “Before you head into this course, you need to have the whole movement ground itself.”
Taking cues from your intervention, the group decides to clear all activity from its calendar for one weekend. They don’t universally take time off, but even that bit of reduced activity allows new behaviors. Without scheduled actions, some organizers have time to reach out to new allies, and others reconnect with their passions. All report the time opened them up to new options — and made them feel even more convinced that a nationwide strike is ready to go forward.