I got my first taste of political activism in 1991, when Operation Rescue came to my hometown of Wichita my first summer home from college. Their "Summer of Mercy" mission was to terrorize the machinery of abortion, from the OB/GYN doctors, to the social workers, to the women walking from the parking lot to the front door of the clinics—it didn't matter whether the patients were there for an ultrasound, or a Pap smear, or birth control.
People my age in Wichita were no strangers to the abortion debate—teen pregnancy was the norm and my high school had a day care with 60 kids in it. But watching a mostly abstract debate become a militarized conflict forced people to choose sides. Most people I knew chose the opposite side from my family.
I remember the Operation Rescue people as a throbbing mass, red in the face, and vascillating between boredom and verbal assault. Those threats weren't totally empty: people affilliated with the group had firebombed a clinic two years earlier, would attempt to kill one of the most visible pro-choice Wichita doctors a few years later, and murdered the same doctor in 2006.
During that summer I became one of the dozens of volunteers who took turns escorting patients as they walked from their cars to the clinic doors while we were pelted with vitriol and vegetables. (Unlike the vitriol, the vegetables could be deflected using an umbrella as a shield.) I couldn't believe people claiming to be Christian were treating innocent folks that way. I couldn't believe they knew all those nasty words, and were wasting all that food. Sadly, I could believe that I recognized some of the faces in the crowd hurling things at me—parents of my friends, coaches, even an extended family member. I also recognized some of the girls walking from their cars.
Standing up that summer was a little act but it changed my perspective on the world. I didn't have any money to give, but donating my time and energy and sense of security felt like it mattered. Standing up publicly mattered. I can't say that my modest actions really impacted the lives of others. But I can say that because of many people like me that summer, many lives were impacted. Operation Rescue called off their "operation" before the end of the summer after determining their protests had caused no decrease in services performed by the clincs. The Wichita abortion wars waged on for many years thereafter, but in 2022, deep red Kansas voters approved a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to abortion by a whopping 19 points!
When I started my first company after college, one with no immediate prospect of success, I thought it important to remember the non-capitalistic forces that had propelled me in life. So I pledged that all employees would volunteer 2 hours per month and the company would donate 2% of annual proceeds to a foundation. The first year I personally donated $100 to the foundation since we didn't make any money—a little act, but a significant percentage of my take home pay! The foundation organizer laughed but applauded my idealism. By the time we sold the company thirteen years later the Homestead Foundation had supported over 50 organizations with 10,000+ hours of service and made over $3 million in grants!
What if everybody who started a company in the mid-90's had made a similar little act? Some did, including the founders of eBay and Netflix. When lots of people do little acts, they turn into big acts.
Wondering whether little acts matter seems to be in the air these days. Many folks have already opened their checkbooks to October Closers. But I have heard from many more who are fatigued from donating to campaigns, burned from the last Presidential election, and wondering if our gifts really matter anyway. When I point out that pulling off the miracle of winning both houses of Congress next month could effectively stop the most corrupt and destructive administration in U.S. history two years sooner, I get an earful of cynical responses: What do the Democrats stand for anyway? It doesn't matter, government is broken! Not until Schumer is gone! Some of the candidates are anti-Israel! I'm a democratic capitalist not a democratic socialist! Citizens United is so corrupting that nothing we give can possibly matter! Sorry, we are sitting this one out lol!
Good points, wrong game! May we be fortunate enough to solve those problems soon. But now is not the time for sitting on the sidelines and bemoaning imperfect alternatives. Like that Wichita summer of 1991, it is a time for choosing sides and acting. Not speaking out against the MAGA forces ruining our country by the minute is a form of supporting what they are doing.
Over the past month I have held private Zooms with the twelve Senate candidates running in the contests that could flip the Senate. Twelve seats that are now up for grabs in a cycle we thought was impossible! We have vetted the candidates, and pledged personal donations so that we have their attention. Throughout October these candidates will be participating in synchronous or asynchrounous events with the October Closers so you can hear directly from them. Please read, watch, and attend. And please take a serious look at what you can truly afford to give. Pick a number and consider giving 1/5th each to the five candidates of your choosing. Then, forward this note to two (or five!) like-minded friends and urge them to do the same!
Not only do little acts matter, they are the only way big change happens.
Stay tuned, we will be announcing our October events soon.
Justin
P.S. You can invite friends to join the October Closers mailing list here.