You watch Trump’s moves threaten civic institutions. Trump’s new Secretary of Education threatens to defund public schools. With an iron grip, Trump appoints young judges with extreme conservative views — reducing the courts’ legitimacy. He constantly threatens, berates, and tries to intimidate the news media. You have trouble tracking all of the purges and appointments. You know these institutions are not perfect, but losing them entirely would be deeply destabilizing. And, especially at this stage, many of these civic institutions are keeping Trump’s reign in check.
You decide to help defend those institutions you have some connections with. You know some military families, and the military is constantly under attack. Top generals are trying to hold the military together. Trump’s orders present a huge problem for the military: Following his orders makes them look political, but not following his orders might break them in half. They’re caught between a rock and a hard place. They’re largely slow-walking orders and taking the middle ground. When Trump announced he was leaving NATO, they convinced him to do a “partial removal” that in practice will keep the U.S. active in NATO.
It seems wherever you turn he’s gutted institutions. The EPA has been a chief target. He’s ordered opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling for fossil fuels. Similar to the military, they’re slow-walking those orders by sending them into a bureaucratic morass, further bogged down by their reduced staffing. You’re aware that local wanna-be scientists, like yourself, could pick up some of the water and air testing that’s getting missed — especially as Trump undid regulations to reduce coal pollution.
One night you hear poll worker friends talk about their challenges. Heading into the next elections, one of them faced a death threat — all have faced intense scrutiny and pressure in what are normally tame, quiet jobs. You think that’s outrageous and can imagine doing more to defend election integrity — something you’re deeply worried about.