I want to be clear in that my pointing out what Musk has control over US treasury isn't me panicking and speculating. He literally has control over US treasury Payment Systems and the OPM datasystem and has stated his intention to eliminate as many programs as he can. Federal workers sent anonymous tips to journalists of how Musk's cronies, no one has any idea of whether they are even US citizens, are downloading data onto private servers, which is a cybersecurity nightmare.
This is an unprecedented hostile coup on speedrun. It is a lot to take in, I know. It can feel overwhelming and paralyzing, but these first few weeks are crucial if we going to save the most lives. We can't rely on anyone to save us.
Look at the Democrats, who are failing to act or take this threat seriiously. Senate Minority Leader is posting about tariffs and pizza on bluesky. Elizabeth Warren stated Musk's actions are wrong and demands an investigation. Are they in denial? Do they not see what this is? Why are they not storming offices and punching fascists? Or at least organizing protests and going on news to show the unconstitutional and illegal acts for what they are? Why are they not blocking Musk from accessing any system?
Thus we can't rely on them to save us. They're complicit at worst and incompetent at best.
The destruction of the US government will kill a lot of innocent and vulnerable groups, and this is why we need to really work together to try to save the most lives. I'm asking these questions to get people to think.
When SSDI and other programs are destroyed, who is going to help homebound disabled folks? Do we know who are allies are? Do we know who we can trust to have our back?
What community care exists to help our most vulnerable? What infrastructure exists to care for each other? Do we have a list?
If not, are we researching what exists in our area? Are we looking into who we know and what skills we each can share with one another?
Make a list of your skills. Make a list with friends of their skills. You'll need this.
Do we have a way to train folks, especially on how to care for the unique needs of disabled folks? To train on accessibility and make sure our community care is accessible?
If you don't know how to train folks on accessibility or aren't sure where to find this information, feel free to reach out to me. I used to do accessibility trainings, and I still have those materials.
Do we have a safety plan? (I wrote a post on that here: https://ni.hil.ist/@TheBird/113909678180718685 ).
Do we have ideas on how to do this work and try to avoid burnout? Do we have a system to delegate tasks so no one is left behind or a task left undone?
Whatever actions you plan, you MUST write up an agreed upon plan for delegating tasks and ways people can take breaks. Draft an agreement or mini-constitution about how to handle people who fail to follow-through on the tasks they take on or are assigned.
Do you have a plan or an idea on how to hold people accountable? There's good resources on this within disability justice and transformative justice movements.
Do we have a list or understanding of what talents and skills we currently have and what each of us are able to commit to? Do we have a secure way to store this info to avoid surveillance state?
Disabled people (in particular Disabled Black and Indigenous folks) are the most likely to die after hostile coups like the one we're in.
We can't get out either. There are laws in most nations that prohibit us emigrating unless we can meet a minimum productivity/work threshold to prove we won't be a "drain on the state" and it's resources and healthcare. Yes, most of these laws use the word "drain." So that means when things get worse, and it will get much worse, disabled people end up trapped and left to die.
This is the questions we need to ask and address in our communities and activist groups. Within our friend groups as well. These questions won't be answered in just one conversation or meeting either.
We'll need to pick a set of tasks to focus on and find trusted groups we can coordinate with to help immediate needs.
This won't be easy. But community care and fighting white supremacist transphobic ableist fascism never is.
Be safe.