Get off social media and go volunteer. Do something. Revolutions do not happen on your couch.

I'm not exactly sure how or when it happened, but recently I've seen an enormous spike in negativity and Sanders fatigue on other progressive-leaning subreddits, specifically r/politics. It was frustrating and depressing to see. I wasn't even quite sure what I was seeing, mainly people annoyed at the Sanders campaign saturation of the political subreddits. The overall impression is that we're becoming a cartoon of ourselves to outside viewers, comparing us to Ron Paul supporters in '08 and '12: shrill voices screaming into an echo chamber. I spend more time than I should thinking about this. Then I stopped.

One of the most important things I have learned in my life is that true change in the form of a movement, the kind that shakes the foundations, doesn't stop to examine itself in a mirror and figure out if it's "authentic" or not. It just exists and moves forward with what it needs to accomplish.

The political revolution Sanders is calling for is far too vague right now. It's because we're spreading it like a Facebook meme rather than the comprehensive, demographic-spanning political awakening that it needs to be. No one is angry enough. This takes bodies, not Tweets or think pieces or Mother Jones articles. We're also making the unspoken mistake that if Sanders is elected, everything will just magically get better. That is not good enough. There needs to be a movement, large and powerful, that exists outside of his campaign and continues even if he doesn't win. We need to prepare for the possibility of him not winning, because what we really want, what his campaign represents, is bigger than that.

I don't know exactly how this can happen, but I know what it can't be. I don't build revolutions for a living. Yet I know that it's not topdown. It's not subsidized. It's not pre-packaged. It's messy and vibrant. It's badgered on all sides by snarky criticism and yet it continues. I know it's not going to happen with me sitting in front of this computer, scanning Reddit articles and downvoting things that don't meet with my version of what I want things to be. It's not enough. It just makes me depressed.

I'm not a people person, I don't volunteer for things, but I registered today to volunteer for the Sanders campaign behind the scenes. Humble-bragging disgusts me, but I felt I needed to speak out and say: we need to figure out this political revolution or we're lost. Volunteering for a real progressive campaign is something to start with. Sanders' campaign is truly inspiring to me. It's the real deal, and it needs to be more.