You’ve seen those bumper stickers that some political progressives have, right? You know, there’s the word “Resist!” and under it or beside it the circuit diagram symbol for a resistor. (Though there’s a part of me that wants to know how many ohms of resistance I’m supposed to provide.) Now here’s a version of that meme aimed at geeks who are also politically progressive…
The middle two statements are nonsensical (is “capacitate” the opposite of “incapacitate”?). But the last statement is actually my preferred slogan for action in today’s political climate: I don’t want to resist, I want to transform (though let’s be clear that I do not mean this literally: I don’t want to transfer electrical energy through coupled inductors via a magnetic field, OK?).
I can’t make political sense of “induct.”* But “capacitate”? Absolutely! You nailed it: It’s the opposite of “incapacitate.” What a great organizing principle, to help build one’s own and others’ capacity.
I have simply “Resist!” on my door, with a resistor, because my wife the physics and printmaking geek made it. However, I’m a fan of the boys whose sign at the March for Science said “We’re not only resisters, we’re transformers!”: a positive vision. No reference to protons intended.
*Although at first, I mistyped it “indict,” which does have a political meaning, just not a very uplifting one.