I know that for many of us this has been a hard year. It feels like every day there’s a new injustice, someone acting badly, or actions that further marginalize and divide our country.

And in times like this, it’s hard to stand up and fight every time we disagree.

Because it feels like too much.

I get it.

But something happened over the past few weeks that threatens your livelihood. That threatens your ability to connect with your clients and customers online. That will cripple the ability for your business to survive online.

And that’s the fact that the Federal Communications Commission announced plans to end net neutrality.

What’s even scarier is that the vote will be in a few days on December 14, 2017.

Repealing net neutrality is a terrible idea for everyone that creates and posts work online. Or for anyone that runs an online business.

If you don’t understand why you should care about this, check out these:

• Lauren Hom’s hand-lettered plea and why passion projects would suffer because of it
• Lauren Ronquillo on why small business owners need to fight
• John Oliver on what net neutrality is and why you should care (+ goats singing Taylor Swift songs)

While it’s critical for us as small business owners to stand up, we need more than creative and online business owners bombarding the FCC. We need our friends and families to submit comments and call their representatives.

But of course, we need to help them understand why this will impact them (and why they should care).

As always, you have to know your audience. And what works for my mom, won’t necessarily work for yours.

So here is some jumping off points for reasons your friends and family might care:

• Because an existing member of the FCC calls it a lousy idea
• Because it could result in you having to pay extra to access certain websites, like Facebook and see the photos of your grandkids, nieces, or nephews
• Because if you like anything niche or outside the mainstream, it’ll take longer or become harder to access that content
• Because the current FCC Chair used to be one of Verizon’s top lawyers
• Because the FCC doesn’t seem to care that last time 1.3 million bot comments are suspected of being submitted in favor of the proposal to eliminate net neutrality
• Because in 2015 President Obama put these rules in place to protect us because the Internet has become an essential part of our everyday life and communication, much like the telephone (these rules classified Internet Service Providers as public utilities)
• Because more than 200 Internet companies, including Etsy, Pinterest, Airbnb, think that these rules would make it harder to find the best deals when shopping online
• Because the only winners when it comes to repealing net neutrality are the companies that deliver Internet into your home and the new revenue stream the FCC is giving them
• Because it would allow the highest bidder to get the fastest load times and the losers get slowed down

How you (and those you convince) can act

Submit a comment to the FCC

• Go here: www.gofccyourself.com
• Click “Express”
• If it doesn’t auto-populate, type 17-108 in the Proceedings and select it from the drop-down
• Fill in your name and contact information
• In the Brief Comments field, at a minimum, put “I support strong net neutrality backed by Title II oversight of ISPs.”
• Click the checkbox to get an email confirmation
• Submit

Call your Congressional Representatives

• Go here to find your Congressional Representatives
• Click the buttons on this page to call them
• Need suggestions on what to say? Go here for a script