Due to governmental mismanagement of funds, our family received an "Economic Impact Payment" from the IRS, despite the fact that neither I nor my wife have lost our jobs. While my son's first suggestion was to send it back, we quickly realized that that would simply contribute to more mismanagement, so we chose three charities (a local food bank, an environmental group fighting the climate crisis, and a local group supporting mental health issues exacerbated by COVID) and have contributed the money from "President Donald J. Trump" to those.

But what else can we do?

For me, it's getting money out of politics - see RootStrikers. And supporting education. Getting out the vote. But these are such big issues that we gave our money to local charities that can make a difference now. (Well, supporting the environment is a bit of a goliath, but one we cannot ignore.)

Will we make a difference?

It's hard to feel confident when you're fighting a well-funded behemoth that has a powerful propaganda machine providing neat sound bites to its followers - who are also the lawmakers. Critical thinkers will each have different thoughts, and the lack of a unified message makes a direction harder to follow.

Lost in a bubble?

Meanwhile, social media attacks aiming to divide our nation continue to grow in sophistication and effectiveness. Driven by state supported actors, corporations, or other entities driven by greed or politics (do I repeat myself?) is it possible to fight back ethically? Or do we have to fire with fire?

Where do we best apply pressure?

My family and I will continue to support the causes we believe in, and we are planning to contribute to down-ballot candidates come September to help ensure that Joe has the support he needs in Congress. But it felt like I was doing more in the '80s though maybe - without the Internet lens - I only felt I was doing more. And I had more time then.

How can someone with a full-time job (for which I am very grateful!) and a family to support make a real difference today?

This post is the beginning. I'm expressing my dissatisfaction in a forum that perhaps only I will hear. I do not believe in Facebook and I rarely post in Twitter, so this is it. For now. My goal is to start conversations with friends and colleagues, listen, learn, and offer what I can. I can't do nothing. It's time to get started.

Who's in? What are your thoughts?