What It Means to Stay Human in the Trump Era

Staying Human Now #4 - Trump’s actions are engineered to grind us down. Staying human is a key resistance strategy.

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Every week I share a few “tiny moves” - small actions to help us stay human and strategically grounded in the face of Trump-era harm. The original post of Stay Human: 80 Tiny Moves for Everyday Resistance in the Authoritarian Harm Complex has had over 45,000 views, likes and shares. Think of tiny moves as scaffolding to bridge the gap between overwhelmed withdrawal and always-on activism. The goal is to enhance our strategic versatility, range, and agility.

But this week, I want to pause and ask the deeper question that sits beneath the whole series:

“What does it actually mean to ‘stay human’ right now?”

Here’s how I’ve been answering that lately (the answer is evolving).

What staying human means to me, right now

Honestly, it shifts day to day. The essence is trying to hold onto the parts of myself that systems (news, media, politics, culture, the economy) seem purpose-built to wear down. The relentless grind includes diminishing my focus and ability to comprehend what’s going on, assaulting my sense of what’s right, straining my ability to care without folding, and reducing the clarity and energy I need to act instead of freeze.

Staying human means not letting the noise, the cruelty, or the gaslighting get so deep inside me that I start to mirror it. Not letting myself become numb or brittle or performative, even when that might feel easier or safer.

This pressure is not accidental

The overwhelm, the confusion, the pressure to react faster than I can think—it’s not just how things are. That’s engineered. Manufactured. Enforced.

And it’s not just happening to me alone. It’s designed to isolate all of us who might otherwise find strength together.

More on this theme of harm-by-design in my upcoming post: Stay Sane: 60 Tiny Moves to Resist Digital Despair and News Overwhelm in the Trump Era. Subscribe below using the special offer to ensure you see it when it’s posted.

Tiny moves, bigger than they look

Sometimes staying human looks like reaching out to someone before I disappear.

Sometimes it’s creating small group chats where we can speak honestly without fear. Where we remind each other what’s real when everything feels distorted.

Sometimes it’s as small as pausing before I share something just because it made me mad. All my friends are upset. Do I really need to pour fuel on their fire?

Sometimes it’s remembering that I still get to choose what I pay attention to. What I let shape me.

What I’ve learned is that staying human isn’t something I can sustain alone. The days I feel most like myself are when I’m connected to others who are also fighting to stay present and clear-eyed.

We create these little pockets of sanity together. We check in with each other, hold each other, remind each other what matters when the noise gets too loud.

Strategy, not just vibes

Staying human isn’t just about feeling better and preserving our softness. It’s about protecting the inner architecture that lets us discern, connect, and act with integrity and sustainable energy. It’s about sustaining the clarity and effort required to resist disinformation, fragmentation, and collapse.

And then finding ways to keep acting from that place - not just individually, but with others who are doing the same work.

Our humanity gets stronger when we nurture it collectively.

Even when it’s messy.

Especially when it’s messy.

Your turn

What does staying human mean for you this week?

What are you holding onto, when so much is designed to make you let go?

If this helped, forward it to a friend. Or highlight a line and post it in Substack Notes, your share might reach someone who needs it.

Right now, I’m offering 50% off annual subscriptions through the end of May. That’s just $25 for a whole year of content! Tell all your contacts who care about staying human in the face of systemic harms. Forward and paste this link to anyone.

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New moves drop every week. Let’s keep building.

Where This Work Leads

This blog is part of a larger project called Progressive Strategy Now which is more than just my blog’s title. It is my attempt to meet the moment, a growing collection of resources and consultation to help mission-driven people and organizations stay human and stay strategic while navigating moral injury, institutional destruction, and the lived realities of authoritarian harm. If this post gave you words for something you’ve been carrying, you’re in the right place. This is one dispatch in an ongoing series.

Stay human. Stay strategic. Shape tomorrow.

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Strategies for Staying Human in the Face of Authoritarianism

If you’re looking for practices, tools, and deeper reading to help you stay grounded under pressure, this growing list is for you. It includes some of my previous posts and a section for other resources. These are starting points for staying human in hard times.

My Posts

• The Harms Are Cumulative. Your Overwhelm Is the Goal. Let’s Get Unstuck
  Trump and Musk weaponize chaos to exhaust our capacity for resistance. Recognizing the patterns of harm gives us the framework to protect our humanity and reclaim our strategic power.

• Befriend Yourself: A Strategy for Staying Whole While They Dismantle Everything That Matters. Trump and Musk want to disappear you into a cell of despair. Kindness to yourself is how you stay human—and begin your escape.

• When They Gut Your Mission: Start Here…. You’re still standing. That means you get to choose where to go next.

Blogs I recommend

• Invisible Threads. Veteran journalist Kate Woodsome is pioneering coverage at the intersection of democracy and mental health.

• The American Pamphleteer. “Because freedom won’t fight for itself—but together, we sure as hell can. Subscribe for bold, unfiltered takes on resisting fascism, building real community, and living with guts in chaotic times.“

• How To Resist. Great blog about sustainable ways to remain engaged in activism and mutual aid.

• Chop Wood, Carry Water. This blog is full of daily advice to take action and stay motivated.

Other Resources

• ACT for Moral Distress, online course by Dr. Jaimie Lusk. “Navigate moral distress with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, a powerful evidence-based treatment that allows us to hold our pain while taking valued actions.”

• In Tumultuous Times, Think Like a Hostage. “Guidance given to hostages can foster psychological flexibility in tough times.” Very clever article by Dr. Jaimie Lusk.

• Please drop additional suggestions for resources in Comments

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My Consulting Services

Need a new strategic plan that protects your mission and your funding during hard times? I help mission-driven professionals and progressive organizations cultivate agility and resilience to navigate moral injury, authoritarian drift, and institutional harm without losing their purpose or humanity. Service include:

• Strategic plan revisions to meet the moment.

• Fundraising and communications.

• Developing resilient data systems to track unmet needs and the downstream harms resulting from authoritarian aggression.

Let’s talk. Direct message me to start the conversation. Or request a consultation using my website’s contact form:

https://www.progressivestrategynow.com/

***From Progressive Strategy Now, a publication of Paul T Shattuck LLC. The views expressed here reflect my personal analysis as a researcher and consultant, and do not represent the positions of any employer, clients, or affiliated organizations.