Dear Readers,

The old ways are ending; the new ways are here. We are in an awkward phase where various safeguards in the US are being dismantled, but the American public is largely unaware of the scope of the threat.

I have re-started my personal blog in order to try to address this, but it’s not enough.

The President of the United States is consolidating power that was purposefully kept unconsolidated. He is hurting his own voters and threatening his own party. He is not living by the law and he is not respecting order. 

The dangers of having Trump as president, the dangers of having Musk as whatever he is, go well beyond the normal political debates in the US.

As mathematicians, we are in community with a large number of people who do not concern themselves with politics. We need to tell them to be concerned.

These are not normal times. American democracy has never fully existed, but what did exist is being dismantled and the only people who can afford to ignore this are the super wealthy. 

If you are employed in the US, discuss with your colleagues and co-workers the relationship between your employer and the federal government. Can the President of the United States legally require you to change policies? Should the President of the United States be able to get you to change policies? If the people you are talking to do not care about the sort of requests Trump has made so far, don’t argue (today); help them think of a request they would find offensive, or a retaliation they would find unfair. Help them think realistically about what they would do, if it came down to it. Remind them that Trump’s most consistent concern is accumulating and protecting his own power. Whatever Trump can do to punish a person or an institution, he will do if they do not defer to him entirely; no matter how much they have already helped him.

If you are organizing a big conference in the US, make it hybrid. It is no longer safe to enter the US. It doesn’t matter your legal or professional standing, travelers no longer have rights in the US.

I have not written this in a way that discloses all of my opinions! Hopefully that can help you reach a wider audience. The main thing is to de-isolate ourselves and to feel a shared responsibility in pushing back on the authoritarianism threatening our finances and our lives.

If you are outside of the US, please do not come here and please inform any American friends/collaborators that you will be unable to travel to the US. I do not know if there are official campaigns to boycott the US that you could join but if so, please do.

It is important now to stay in touch with each other. Comment to this post with how you are holding up and if you have discussed current issues with friends or colleagues. What do you need to survive?

Best,

Piper