Time To Get Scrappy
I spent some time this week in rural Iowa, and realized this: it’s time to get scrappy.
The urban dictionary has a definition by someone called “preshere” for scrappy that fits what I’m talking about… “Someone or something that appears dwarfed by a challenge, but more than compensates for seeming inadequacies through will, persistence and heart.
These little rural towns here are filled with damage and rot, but also with humans trying to make their way. The downtowns and actually a lot of the houses have windows covered in plywood. Local businesses and employers are limited, and some that exist are already making cutbacks due to tariff drama. Many are minimum wage economies. In one town I saw nearly as many services and nonprofits to help struggling people as I saw employers. And in this state the government is now going to require a minimum number of working hours per month in order to stay on Medicaid. But where? How do you find work when jobs are evaporating?
These dilapidated, atrophying towns are what happens when a country refuses to invest seriously in community, country, people, and the economy for 50 years — ever since the civil rights era. That unfunding and wealth shifting got a boost in the 1980s with Reagan’s trickle-down theory, and with the advent of talk radio that has since morphed into talk TV and talk-all-the-time podcasts scapegoating others for the damage and not the people who refuse to fund America.
Now we’ve had 40 years of culture wars topped off by an authoritarian movement and a demagogue at the top with a special gift of convincing his own supporters that their struggles are the fault of everyone but white men, and that any pain they continue to feel since he’s come into office is worth it because of the pain he’s causing the people who are supposedly to blame for all this.
I say all of this because even in these deteriorating towns, businesses and homes have huge big Trump/Pence signs still displayed, or “Make America Great Again” flags. Americans are still willing to publicly support an administration and a party that are actively dismantling and defunding things that Americans and American communities need.
I should clarify. Not everything is in decline. Some folks are making money or getting big loans somewhere because there are very large, pretty new pickup trucks all over the place. There are also some very nice homes, farms, and businesses. Some folks won’t feel the pain of the administration’s cuts to the US government and the impacts of tariffs or possible war in the Middle East for a very long time.
But here’s the thing.
Actual humans live in these places. Diverse groups of people, too. I am so sick of people assuming rural America is full of white, straight people. It is not.
So what are we doing to take care of each other in these places? As things intensify? As the impacts of disruption rise?
I would argue that we have got to get scrappy.
We have got to get creative.
We have to get resilient.
We have to get people together and have conversations, coordination, and collaboration like we haven’t done before. These places are not necessarily safe for everyone. But we can create spaces and community where we look after each other… and where we draw lines and say you shall not harm these people here.
If we are out in the middle of nowhere, we need to find like-minded people and start doing more connection and community with them. Even if that’s only a handful of people to start. Even if it’s only like two people to start.
The definition I cited above said being scrappy is “Someone or something that appears dwarfed by a challenge, but more than compensates for seeming inadequacies through will, persistence and heart.”
And those are the things: will, persistence, and heart.
We have got to find more ways to look after each other in the places where we are, as chaos, instability, and violence rise. I know I already said that but I’m saying it again because it’s so important. I’m saying it again because I don’t see that as a focus yet in this time of disruption, and we need to put energy, thought, time, and intention into it.
That might look like a weekly meetup in someone’s home to commiserate and brainstorm. It might look like a community-wide coalition of volunteer and political groups. It might look this coming weekend: like protests in lots of places for the “No Kings” protests. It might look like more coordinated action between groups and people at local levels advocating for things people need — from law enforcement changes (like not working with the federal government) to making sure the infrastructure stays functional to making sure people have food.
I don’t know what it looks like for you where you are.
I do know we’re all still in shock, and lots of folks are necessarily in protest mode. We soooooooo need the protests. Ongoing pushback is a key to dealing with authoritarians.
But we also need our communities to hold together, and we’ve got to think differently about how we do that up in this new era. We’ve got to get more scrappy.
We’re on our way.
Anyway. Food for thought.
Be safe this weekend. We did another post for thoughts for the weekend over here.
This is a lonnnnggggg transformation. We can drive change from in the midst of it — and that happens in part by getting scrappier in the places where we live.
We go forward and through together.
Vanessa Burnett is the director at Fierce Community. Zooms will be announced soon for more on how we can do the scrappy thing. Email fiercecommunityteam@gmail.com to set up a conversation.
This nonprofit work promotes connection, community, coordination, creativity, engagement, empowerment, leadership, and resilience in an era of rising instability and societal disruption. Vanessa is a social entrepreneur, advisor, and empower-er for doing fierce community in a time of disruption and disaster. Ms. Burnett has a rare systems-level understanding of the pieces and parts that modern society needs in order to survive that can help people and groups navigate this era of fast change and unprecedented challenges. She has over 25 years experience in resilience-building, civic engagement, coalition-building, critical infrastructure, systems thinking, big disasters, catastrophes, wildland fire, emergency management, incident management, land management, park rangering, homeland security, continuity of operations (COOP), continuity of government (COG), technology innovation, public communication, and disaster information sharing.
Thanks Vanessa. This is excellent advice. Your scrappy pal.