Tag Archives: privacy

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A few days ago a friend mentioned they were subscribing to The New York Times to help ensure we’d continue to benefit from real journalism, and because the NYT has been repeatedly singled out by Trump. That started me thinking about places to either spend or donate to counter the abuses we’ll see under Trump. After some consideration, here’s what I’ve done.

  • News: Trump suppresses news sources that disagree with him. More than ever, it is important to support newspapers with actual investigative journalism. I subscribed to The New York Times and The Washington Post.
  • Civil Liberties: I donated to the ACLU, who has defended gay marriage, voting, reproductive rights, and a slew of other important liberties for the last hundred years.
  • Hate Crimes: I donated to the SPLC, which tracks hate crime and hate groups across the US.
  • Digital Rights: The US has never had a more pervasive surveillance state than it does right now. Trump has demonstrated that he’ll do and support anything to get what he wants, including threatening to imprison his political opponents, attack independent news sources, use torture, etc. We can be virtually guaranteed that he will include extensive use of the surveillance apparatus to spy on people. I donated to the EFF, which fights to protect digital rights, including privacy and our access to strong encryption.
  • Women’s Health: Trump and Pence will go after women’s rights and access to healthcare. I donated to Planned Parenthood.
  • Black Lives Matter: I donated to Black Lives Matter. There are many other groups of people who are discriminated against, but the epidemic of violence against black people is particularly bad and has to stop. I was particularly encouraged to see that the Black Lives Matter organization is working with the indigenous people at Standing Rock. Organizations, governments, and businesses that abuse or ignore the rights and wellbeing of one group will do the same to other groups and to the environment. Groups working together to support each other sets a great example.

It’s not easy for everyone to afford to make a donation. In my case, I’m choosing to make donations in lieu of buying gifts for family this holiday season. (Merry Christmas to my mom, dad, brother, and partner!)

I hope you will consider making donations to one or more of these organizations or contributing in some other way.