Our best hope for turning our country around lies in rural grassroots organizing. We have to step it up.
By Dr. Barbara Vasquez, WORC board chair
In my lifetime, there have been few national events that have saddened me more than the passage last week of the budget reconciliation bill.
With this bill now law, I mourn for the millions of families and children who will go hungry and have to endure poorer health as a result of the $186 billion it cuts from SNAP. I mourn for the 12 to 20 million people who will lose their healthcare as a result of the $930 billion it cuts from Medicaid. I mourn for the many, many more who will lose their access to healthcare once those cuts kick in and rural hospitals have to close.
I mourn for the tens of thousands of immigrants who have already suffered human and civil rights abuses since January and the potentially millions more who will suffer the same as a result of the $75 billion the bill gives to ICE to build detention centers and hire more agents. I fear for some of my own family members.
I mourn the loss and degradation that our natural world will endure as a result of the corrupt giveaways this bill presents to the fossil fuel industry, the rollbacks it imposes on clean energy, and the near carte blanche it gives to oil, gas, coal, and mining companies to plunder so many of our public lands and minerals while paying less in royalties to American taxpayers.
“That’s when I have to remind myself what this bill does not do: It does not take away our ability to organize and build the sort of grassroots power that can put our country on a more humane, democratic, and prosperous path.”
-Dr. Barbara Vasquez
And I rage at the primary reason our country will have to endure all of these affronts, deprivations, and abuses: to partially pay for massive tax breaks for billionaires, millionaires, and corporations. I say “partially” because the bill, in another show of contempt for everyday Americans, saddles taxpayers with an additional $3.9 trillion in national debt.
At moments, it’s hard not to fall into despair.
That’s when I have to remind myself what this bill does not do: It does not take away our ability to organize and build the sort of grassroots power that can put our country on a more humane, democratic, and prosperous path. The opportunities for doing so multiply and ripen with every loss that rural America experiences, be it through the budget bill or through DOGE and its cuts to Social Security, FEMA, National Weather Service, Forest Service, National Park Service, or any other government agency or program rural America depends on.
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The Western Organization of Resource Councils and the 10 organizations that make up our rural grassroots organizing network across the West and Midwest are poised to seize the opportunities that can help this country chart a new course that reflects our best nature as Americans, not our worst. The issues across the network are diverse: safe and prosperous rural communities; protections for clean air and water; the transition to clean and renewable energy; sustainable agriculture; equity, opportunity, and voting rights for Native communities; safety, dignity, and justice for immigrant farm workers; and so on. Find out more about each of groups that are part of the WORC network and the issues each works on.
If you haven’t already, join a group in your state and get involved. Each of the groups in our network relies on people like you to commit their time, energy, and leadership to make lasting change in rural communities. The movement towards a better future for our country starts there.
And if such a group doesn’t exist in your community, start one. To learn how, consider joining WORC’s Principles of Community Organizing, a three-day training to support organizers, leaders, and community members in building organizations, and running strategic campaigns so we can bring about a future where rural communities thrive, our institutions reflect the people they are meant to serve, and the people and places we love are safe. The next training is October 21 – 23, 2025 in Billings. You can register here beginning in mid-July.
And if the fire in your belly is burning particularly hot, then consider running for office. Right now, WORC’s Grassroots Democracy Program is conducting a summer training series on how to run for office and govern effectively. The next training in the series is on July 28, where you’ll learn how to develop your campaign plan, build your team, fundraise, get out the vote, and other helpful tips for running an effective campaign.
“The only way I know how to stave off the despair that so many of us are feeling after passage of this monstrous budget bill is to get active and involved”
-Dr. Barbara Vasquez
Of course, you can also help by supporting WORC’s leadership, community organizing, and Grassroots Democracy programs by donating here.
The only way I know how to stave off the despair that so many of us are feeling after passage of this monstrous budget bill is to get active and involved – to become an organizer, a community leader, and maybe even a candidate. You are not waging this fight alone, so join us! There is no time to waste.
Learn more:
The Federal Government is Waging War on Our Public Lands
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