“Why do anything? America is cooked.” 

My friend made this doomerist statement a week ago. He’s not the only college student thinking like this. Our generation is increasingly more anxious about current events, especially when it comes to the immigration crackdown and national politics. The result is doomerism: The belief that current events are so far outside our control that no matter what we do, we are doomed. 

This belief is wrong. We are not doomed. The protests in Minneapolis against Immigration and Customs Enforcement are working. Not perfectly, but in the four weeks since two U.S. citizens were killed by ICE and around 50,000 people marched in -20° Fahrenheit, the largest immigration crackdown in U.S. history is slowing down. The success in Minneapolis wasn’t magic, it was the product of individuals choosing solidarity and selflessness over fear and silence. More than 700 businesses across the state closed their doors. Enough teachers risked their jobs to go on strike that school districts shut down. 60 CEOs wrote a letter calling for the “de-escalation of tensions.” People........

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