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Reflections of a Poll Worker
The 2026 midterms showed there is no power like the power of the people, and voters in Massachusetts were no exception in demanding our voices be heard. But what does it take to make sure every ballot is counted? I served as a poll worker on Tuesday, and more than anything else, I saw how our democracy only works if we do. After a long day at the polls, these are my key takeaways.
Heartbeat of America
Elections are the beating heart of a republic. Every two years a brief window into the operations of the democratic system are left exposed to be tinkered with and updated by the people. The first votes have already been cast in this grand contest. The lumbering and wonderful machine of American Democracy is stirring to life again.
Vote Informed: Ballot Question 5
Ballot Question #5 “Change State Tax Revenue Limit” is one of the more confusing ballot questions. It is hard to read “method of calculating” and “Section 2BBBBBB of Chapter 29” and understand what this ballot question is fundamentally: an attempt to cut taxes. A no vote makes no changes to state taxes or revenue. A yes vote will cause more frequent occurrences of collected state revenue being given directly to taxpayers. I will break down the meaning of the question, the history behind it, and the likely effects.
We Cannot Let This Democracy Die
If raising our voices was futile, they wouldn’t try so hard to silence us. The midterms are less than a month away, and protecting our right to vote, both in Massachusetts and nationwide, is vitally important. With people like Elon Musk working to undermine voters and concerns over ICE at the polls, make sure you understand your rights, have a plan to vote, and know what to do if your ballot is challenged.
Background Resistance: Impacts of Dissent Beyond the Front Lines
Last spring, when the second Trump administration was still new, I shuffled nervously into a friend’s home late at night. My arms were full of snacks intended to share with strangers, and I was unsure what to expect. People from the neighborhood showed up one by one, all bearing copious amounts of food, none seemingly hungry. As the trays and boxes loaded with a variety of treats became ever more precariously placed on shrinking table space, we sat in a circle and, one by one, explained who we were and why we were there. Our neighborhood at the time was plastered with Trump’s name, Trump’s face, and the paranoia-fueled hatred of the “Other.”
A Reluctant Activist
In recent weeks, you have heard from conservatives explaining why they became involved in our movement. Another author has chronicled their history with left-wing activism. This week, I want to tell you my story of becoming politically active, coming from the 91% of Americans whose political engagement stops at reading the news and voting once a year.
De Historia Criminis Mimematis (On the History of the Memecrime)
The memecrime: God's (1) perfect fever dream. Eight feet of malice meets ten feet of irreverence to create eighty square feet of unreality. To look upon it is to know both great joy and great revulsion, simultaneous and interwoven. To gaze into its lidless, vacant eyes is to know instinctively the fear struck into the heart of every couch in the nation. How could a mere mortal mind conceive of such a thing? Allow me to explain:
A Cycle Considered
I grew up in a conservative household. I enrolled as a Republican as soon as I turned 18, and voted for George W. Bush that year. Then 9/11 happened, and the way our country’s leadership responded set off red flags in my mind. I had long been slow to trust authority figures, and I found myself drifting further and further apart ideologically from my family, church, and party. I watched as the GOP sold itself out, eagerly, to a rightward drift; a movement adding more and more authoritarianism, I would dare even say fascism, into the party. It took until I had some distance, when I was out of the party and looking over it with a wider lens, to learn that the process I’d seen happening up close had begun years before I had my voter registration, maybe even before I was born.
On the “Right” Side of History
The Overton window is a funny thing. In American discourse, we tend to imagine the Overton window as a range of politically acceptable ideas for the mainstream population sliding up and down a one-dimensional line stretching from the Left to the Right. There was a time when I was confident that I knew what “Left” and “Right” meant and where I sat on that line. As the foundation of political discourse shifted around me, the foundation of my political identity shifted out from under my feet as well.
Good Trouble in 2026
Over the weekend of July 17-19, Mass 50501 participated in Good Trouble’s national weekend of action honoring the late congressman John Lewis. Throughout his life, Lewis worked tirelessly for civil rights and particularly for equal access to voting rights. Our country’s history of voting rights is messy, complex, at times painful, and—importantly—still being written.
Celebrating America’s 250th Independence Day in D.C.
The Freedom250 celebration in D.C. was marred by a barricaded National Mall, ominous National Guard presence, and prolonged military aircraft flyovers. These shows of force were antithetical to celebrating democracy and independence; An outsider looking in saw it for what it was: a prop the regime is using to normalize military presence and build oppression.
Seven Days in D.C.
In the week leading up to the United States Semiquincentennial, thousands of people participated in Seven Days in DC, a weeklong series of civic engagement activities, public demonstrations, and cultural events designed to encourage direct participation in the democratic process. This was a massive undertaking organized by dozens of organizations and individuals and Mass 50501 was proud to head to D.C. and spend the holiday week fighting for our country.
Our Declaration
250 years ago, our predecessors submitted a list of grievances towards a tyrannical ruler, and declared their independence. What would our declaration look like today?
Pride Recap
Pride is a protest, and never has that been more clear to me than in the last two years. Our rights as queer people are being stripped away and the validity of our very existence denied as an entire governmental system tries to force us all back into the closet. But we will not go quietly. Never have I felt more empowered to fight back…
A Theory of Ruins
Fascists have always had an obsession with architecture over other expressive disciplines. Hitler in particular had a love of classical Roman and Greek architecture. He himself was a painter and his drawings were well constructed with correct proportions and majestic vistas. But something was always lacking in them. His work was always that of structures—without humanity at all. They were emotionless and stale, as if the sterile brought him solace.
Have You No Decency?
Decency requires you to put aside your selfish desires and submit yourself to some standard of propriety. Fundamentally, it requires subscribing to a higher code; By contrast, Trump's indecent use of language acts as a confession that he does not value anyone but himself. While this indecency harms many, it also provides us an opportunity…
May Day Strong Recap
On May 1st 2026, we supported and participated in May Day Strong. The call to action was straightforward: no school, no work, and no shopping. The power of the economy, as both laborers and consumers, belongs to us. And when a ballot isn’t in our hand, we vote with our feet and our wallets. That is to say, the system does not work without us, and when we decide to work and shop is our decision.
The Power of Oaths
Veterans were all given great responsibility at a young age. We matured under the demands of defending the nation, and gained wisdom about the human condition. All the veterans of the No Kings movement have within them power to win hearts and minds. With patient effort and clear direction we can prepare the people for the demands of our time. Veterans represent something to people. We are already trained as servants and leaders, and bearers of quiet burdens. That habit of service does not atrophy.
40 Years of Activism
I wrote about my life in this series with the hope that people could glean some good advice. Maybe take some inspiration from the actions, and find hope and tools for the ongoing fight for our rights. Let’s end fascism and hatred. These are some of the stories of my life.
Mayday, America
To participate in May Day Strong is simple: No School. No Work. No Shopping. This is a required step in our development as a movement. It will demonstrate to those still on the sidelines that we have staying power and the capacity to escalate. It will show to our political adversaries that we have the ability to apply pressure on a national scale at a specific time in a coordinated way to effect. It is a warning to capitulators that we have leverage in the consumerist system that they have built and that we are smart enough to exploit that vulnerability.