"This is just how things are now. There's nothing we can do."

…this is a helpless statement. Sometimes it’s true, and we have to accept that there are things we can’t control (i.e. other people). Other times it represents a thinking trap that many of us have fallen into at one point or another. Learned helplessness stems from repeated experiences of uncontrollable stressful events, experiencing repeated failures or setbacks, and learning to think that what happens to us is determined by outside factors (external attribution style) rather than taking responsibility for the roles we play in our own unhappiness. It can keep us from taking action and negatively impact our performance and progress in work, academics, and relationships.

Individually, we can control how we choose to respond to certain stressors. This includes stress with family members and other close relations. We can choose whom we interact with. We can set boundaries and enforce appropriate consequences when people cross or disrespect those boundaries.

When it comes to the challenges we face stemming from systemic issues, we’ve got to identify what we can do to impact the systems we live in. We can attend school board meetings and speak up. We can talk to and rally with others in our community to develop community cleanups or food and service exchanges. We can build strong communities where we can support each other and trade, barter, share or buy used things rather than contributing to our failed capitalist system.

We can choose the men and women who get voted into positions of power. We can choose to actually pay attention, do our research, and vote in our best interests.

Remember, the Senate and House of Representatives make up our Congress, which is responsible for making all laws, declaring war, regulating interstate and foreign commerce and controlling taxing and spending policies.

You can contact your senator via phone, or set up protests outside of their offices. Contact information can be found for your senators here:

https://www.senate.gov/senators/

For correspondence to a Senate committee or to a Senate committee chair:

(Name of Committee)

United States Senate

Washington, DC 20510

A U.S. Capitol Switchboard operator can also connect you directly with the Senate office.

(202) 224-3121