Yesterday, Heather Cox Richardson and Timothy Snyder, two of the greatest public intellectuals living and working today, joined together for a conversation about history and current events and it was amazing. They covered a wide range of topics, but in preparation for the No Kings protest coming up this Saturday, I wanted to highilight what Snyder said about the important role each of us plays in creating social change. This comes at about 31 minutes into the conversation: 

[Authoritarian projects] often fail. They often crack up. And there’s a good, I think there’s a really good chance that this one is going to crack up. The second thing to remember is that it’s not all on you. So people, like, it dawns on you that these terrible things are happening. And then you think, what can I do? And the answer is, yeah, sure. Like as you alone, you know, there’s not a lot that you can do, but that’s not the right way to think about it. The right way to think about it is if you do one, if you do your little thing, it’s going to be fine. If everybody does their little thing, it’s actually going to be fine. The question is not how you save the world. The question is how you do a little, a little thing regularly on some terrain where you know something, in cooperation with other people, regularly. If you get that far it’s actually going to be okay. If we all do that it’s going to be okay.

That’s true. And it is a source of hope. We can all do just a little, and if we all do just a little, it will be ok. So think about that as you consider whether to get yourself out to your local No Kings protest this Saturday. You’re not going to chage the world, but if you do your little part, you can help. See you there!