Reading · From Klaus Haus

“But what can I do?” This is a question we are getting with greater frequency from our friends, followers, listeners, and viewers. We’re going to try to answer that question…with a little help.

In this episode of Getting to 3rd Space, we are going to try and answer a question we are getting more frequently from friends, followers, listeners, and viewers: “But what can I do about the situation in our country?” Frankly, we were a bit stuck. So we went to Perplexity and asked it this question: People ask me, about the current social and political situation in the United States, “What can we do?” What can I tell them?

Here’s a summary of what we learned (and we’ve put a few links below if you want to learn more):

First, don’t give your power away to despair. Feeling hopeless only helps the people who want us numb and quiet. Take care of your own energy and sanity so you can stay engaged for the long haul.

Second, shift your focus to where you have real leverage: local life. Pick one local issue you care about—democracy, climate, housing, gun safety, public schools, racial justice—and commit to one concrete role: show up regularly, donate a little, volunteer your skills, or support the people doing frontline work.

Third, invest in relationships. Talk with your neighbors, your faith or civic groups, your coworkers. Listen more than you lecture. Share good information. Democracy isn’t just laws and elections; it’s whether people know each other well enough to stand up for each other when it counts.

And finally, use the tools we have. Vote in every election, especially the small ones. Call or write your representatives once a month on the issues that matter to you. Not everyone needs to be an activist, but everyone can choose a lane and be reliably present in it.

If enough of us do small, steady things in one chosen corner of public life, it adds up. The question isn’t ‘Can I fix everything?’ It’s ‘Where can I be faithful and consistent?’ That’s how we bend things in a better direction.”

⁠The Hill: Several Political Storms Loom on the Horizon in 2026⁠

⁠Brookings: The bucket list for involved citizens: 76 things you can do to boost civic engagement⁠

⁠Reddit-Serious Conversation: What should we be doing to help people/communities/ourselves in the current state of the US?⁠

⁠A Crucible of Thought: Political Predictions for the USA in 2026⁠

⁠Greater Good Magazine: What Can We Do Now? ⁠

⁠Vox: 26 things we think will happen in 2026⁠

⁠Playing with Fire: What to do NOW: 10 actionable ways to make a difference during the Trump years⁠

⁠KSAT.com: Americans are exceptionally anxious about their political system, new Gallup polling shows ⁠

⁠Brookings: Economic Issues to watch in 2026

Kindness seems out of vogue right now. But we don’t believe that to be true. We believe there are a lot of people in our world who are choosing kindness even in the face cruelty.

Do you have an act of kindness that you’d be willing to share? You can participate through a Google Forms Survey at this link: https://forms.gle/5NQakn6bgeXpm2us5 or by clicking on the button below.

There you will find two kindness questions we’d like you to consider and then respond to:

What is an act of kindness you’ve received that made a difference to you?
What is an act of kindness you have done which you hope changed another person’s life?

What do we do with the acts we learn about in this survey? We save them and feature them in our Thanksgiving show each year…anonymously unless you prefer we use your name.

Finally, please share this survey because an act of kindness shared begets others.

Acts of Kindness Survey

Fact Checking: Because there are a lot of things happening…some true, some false, some unbelievable…we use the following fact checking sites. Take a look for yourself:

RealClearPolitics

Reuters FactCheck

Because media can have its own biases, we also rely upon these sites to help us get balanced coverage:

Media Bias/Fact Check

Encore! But What Can I Do?

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