What Not to Do Right Now

A short guide to staying safe, smart, and strategic under authoritarian conditions

If you’re feeling alarmed, angry, or overwhelmed—you’re not alone. What’s happening in the U.S. is not politics as usual. It’s not “just another bad administration.” It’s the open degradation of legal, civic, and moral norms at a breakneck pace.

And when that happens, many people feel the need to do something.

But not all actions are equal. Some can get you hurt. Some can backfire. Some can endanger others. And some can just… waste time we no longer have.

So here’s what not to do right now—and what to do instead.

❌ Don’t: Post unfiltered political rage on public platforms

Facebook rants, Insta stories, TikTok monologues—these may feel cathartic, but they are also:

  • Easily surveilled
  • Permanently archived
  • Used to profile dissidents

📌 Instead:
Speak carefully online. Use encrypted apps like Signal or Session. If you must post, do so strategically, not emotionally. Think of your digital footprint as evidence in a potential trial.

❌ Don’t: Assume institutions will protect you

Courts are being ignored. Law enforcement is being politicized. Agencies that once stood neutral are being weaponized.

📌 Instead:
Build community-level safety nets—legal aid groups, mutual aid funds, shared knowledge hubs. Trust people, not systems.

❌ Don’t: Wait for a “perfect plan”

There won’t be one. There won’t be a hero with a cape. And there won’t be a safe, slow path to comfort.

📌 Instead:
Start with small, local, immediate action:

  • Gather your vital documents
  • Encrypt your devices
  • Look into visa options or create an exit plan
  • Help one vulnerable person take a next step

❌ Don’t: Announce your intentions out loud

Thinking of fleeing? Helping others escape? Organizing dissent?
Don’t talk about it publicly. Not on social media. Not in texts. Not in open DMs.

📌 Instead:
Keep those conversations offline, encrypted, or in-person with people you trust completely. The more visible your planning, the more vulnerable it becomes.

❌ Don’t: Shame people for waking up late

You may have seen this coming months—or years—ago. Others are just catching on. Some are in shock. Some are frozen in fear.

📌 Instead:
Welcome them. Give them tools. Offer clarity without cruelty. You are not here to be right—you’re here to be effective.

❌ Don’t: Assume time is on your side

Things are accelerating. Power is consolidating. Laws are changing—fast.

📌 Instead:
Act now. If you need to leave, start preparing. If you need to speak, find secure ways to do so. If you’re staying, get anchored in real resistance—not symbolic gestures.

❌ Don’t: Despair so loudly that others stop trying

It’s tempting to spiral into doom. But that’s what regimes want—paralysis, isolation, self-silencing.

📌 Instead:
Grieve, yes. But also: move. connect. prepare. adapt. Your fear is not weakness. It’s your body’s call to action.

The Bottom Line

You don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to be loud. You don’t have to be fearless.

You just have to be awake, smart, and willing to move when others freeze.

The regime wants panic.
It wants chaos.
It wants you to react without thinking.

Don’t give them what they want.

Give them nothing—and give yourself, and others, a chance to survive, resist, and rebuild.

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