It's our job as organizers to convince ppl that our political vision is worth their hope & time. Talking *at* people about why they shouldn't want "normal" back is unkind & nonsensical. Of course they want the nearest thing they remember that didn't feel this way. Engage w them.

Ppl's imaginations aren't foreclosed, but you won't persuade someone by telling them what they are feeling during the most frightening time in their life is wrong. What are they really saying when they say the want normal back? They want safety. You can relate to that. So relate.

Appreciate the common ground you've discovered and then take the conversation a step further, like an organizer. Unless you are so tired and frightened that you simply don't have the energy to engage like an organizer, in which case, take care of yourself and let others be.

I think some folks have a misguided notion that organizing is the art of the telling the truth in a convincing manner. That's a valuable skill. Organizing is not the art of correcting people. It's about engagement.

Folks are so ready to explain the world to ppl w out bothering to establish common ground when it has literally never been easier to find common ground. We're all afraid or soon will be. If you cannot leverage that to connect w ppl & build power w folks, you are doing it wrong.

You can trust that your enemies are leveraging the fact that we are all afraid or soon will be, and I promise you they are building power.

If you found this thread helpful, I think you'll really dig this episode of Movement Memos where @shane_burley1 and I dig into what it means to organize for survival during quarantine while also defending ourselves against the advance of fascism. https://truthout.org/audio/how-to-fight-fascism-while-surviving-a-plague/