Archive
Spiritual Exercises
Greetings Faithful Readers and New Friends. It’s been awhile since I’ve posted. Someone attacked me on Facebook and brought up a blog post and referred to this humble repository as a little read blog. It has had its ups downs for sure, but I am working it more into my plans and you will see regular content through 2026. It promises to be a momentous year and I want to develop this leadership.
I’ve struggled a bit this year which curbed my joy and my productivity and my relationships more than I am comfortable with. I’ve taken a moment to reassess and identify what I’m bringing to the situations that are causing me trouble. To that end I am committing myself to 4 weeks of stoic spiritual exercises.
Two years ago, after stepping away from the directorship of a nonprofit I put together and implemented 4 weeks of spiritual exercises I developed while on an epic road trip through the Southwest. It cleared my palate of the stress I had been carrying and helped me develop the focus to both write and publish a book but also address my obesity and overall lack of physical fitness.
Two years previously, after completing my third term on the Columbia, Missouri city council I had gone on an epic road trip and completed a bastardized version of the spiritual exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, bookended by Crowley’s Book 4 exercises from part 1 (basically Buddhist meditation).
For those exercises they are completed 2-5 times per day with prayers and readings and 5 senses meditations (think visualization but with all 5 senses). Its ordered around the life of Christ as moral teaching and also involves colloquys (imaginary conversations with God, Jesus, and the Virgin Mary).
Most significantly it involves a conscience check. I used the time to work on my ego. Whenever I would note an egoistic thought I would touch my heart. Taking a month and focusing on the content of your heart and striving to be better is powerful. I see why the Jesuits do it annually.
I had tried them once before in the early 2000s while backpacking in Big Sur and was also profoundly impacted. That time I had powerful colloquys and I felt that if I continued down that path I would irrevocably break with consensus reality and that that was not being asked of me.
I wrapped them up after 2 1/2 weeks, called my dad and learned he was passing through Fresno and hitchhiked over to meet him for one last ride in the big rig. I correctly guessed it would be my last chance for a ride along with The Popster and it was. I’ve never regretted it.
The 2021 version wasn’t mystical at all. I’d had some of that during my COVID homelessness organizing and these exercises were more of an act of discipline and sober reflection. I “received” 2 messages: to get a job and live humbly and to make a small lifestyle change, which I did.
I came out of that a lot more keyed into philosophy and less interest in mystical experiences. I continued to deepen my study of stoicism and other ancient philosophies over the next couple of years.
I felt that I had gotten what I needed out of discipling myself to work humbly for a board of directors. I again thought a major life change should be road trip and spiritual exercises. I thought of reworking Ignatius’s system to stoicism.
I realized though that the stoics already had a system. Leaning heavily on Pierre Hadot’s What is Ancient Philosophy I organized them around the 4 virtues: Wisdom, Justice, Bravery, and Temperance.
I had morning mediations where I set goals for the day. Unread from primary texts: Epictetus’s Discourses and Enchiridion, Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations, and Musonius Rufus and nothing else. I also memorized verses for each virtue and used the Ignatian conscience checks.
Wisdom involved a focus on study and reflection. Justice emphasized pro social interaction and philosophical conversation. Bravery involved physical exercise. Temperance involved vegetarianism and rigorous portion control.
I grew more focused and disciplined and kept that self motivation through writing The Practical Guide to Building a Better World. With setbacks and gear shifting I again am called to take on spiritual exercises. This time, no road trip but to be made real in my home environment.
I am also going to open them up to the public as a shared project with my community. I will be posting about it here and there will be an IRL version in Leavenworth and an online version available everywhere. More details to follow and I’ll be looking to start early in the new year.
If you are interested in my book it’s not too late to get it before Christmas direct from my publisher. https://breadandrosespress.com/products/the-practical-guide-to-building-a-better-world
Keep following for details as well as my traditional Holiday Letter coming soon.
Happy Interdependence Day
After a couple of hectic days at home we packed up and headed back to Columbia. We got a room at The Spa on Spruce, as the hot tub and backyard garden make it feel more like a vacation.
I did a podcast yesterday morning and had a campaign meeting with a Senate candidate yesterday. It’s exciting to open a second front on the war against authoritarianism with moving to fire a Kansas Senator who gutted Medicaid when he knows how devastating it will be to his constituents.
The podcast was heavy on CoreCivic, the troubled private prison we are working to keep from becoming an ICE detention facility back in Leavenworth. I’ll share the link when it comes out. Earlier in the week a story by the Marshall Project came out. The Guardian ran it so it was nice to get some national/international coverage. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2025/07/01/leavenworth-kansas-immigration-prison-fight
Today it was grocery shopping, hot tubbing, and off to the beach at Finger Lakes. Another family joined our picnic table while we were in the lake so we just made them part of our party. We’re going to catch fireworks tonight. We brought bikes to drive to the edge of traffic and park and ride in.
Tomorrow it’s a quarry lake party and a neighborhood festival. Sunday we make our way home. Things heat up at CoreCivic with the next hearing taking place at 10:00. Follow along for updates. Here’s a flyer on my book reading in CoMo. If you’re in the area you should come.
All Over the Place
When I read my old posts I mostly just gave a rundown on what I’ve been up to and how I’ve been feeling. With the book coming out, stopping CorrCivic opening a detention facility, running a PAC in a tough world of national democratic fundraising, cooking and eating food, the house and the yard I’m jamming all the time. I’ve sworn to stop that and embrace the puttering pace but that vow has been overwhelmed by events.
On to the good stuff and the victories. I had a nice profile piece done in an online Minnesota publication. https://voyageminnesota.com/interview/meet-mike-trapp-of-leavenworth-kansas/
The book is out and I have the official launch planned for Leavenworth at the Red Hibiscus on July 8th 4pm-6pm. https://facebook.com/events/s/ribbon-cutting-mike-trapp-book/696092123306330/
With all that I managed to insulate my cubby. Our historic home was a rental so first steps have been eaves, shoring up the crumbling brick and gaps in the retaining wall.
If you want to buy the Practical Guide to Building a Better World. See me and save postage. Today I’ll be in Columbia through Tuesday. Hit me up if you want to hook up with a book. You can also pick one up from my publisher.https://breadandrosespress.com/products/the-practical-guide-to-building-a-better-world
I also caught Pride and gave the governor of Kansas a book and told her to run for Senate. She said “hell no” so I met with another great prospect yesterday. Gave the Christian Nationalists some words at the County Commission on the dangers of Christian sectarianism and a little lesson on Jesus’s core message. It’s a lot and it’s all over the place and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Think Nationally, Act Locally
I had the great pleasure of speaking to the Boone County Missouri Muleskinners on Friday for their weekly meeting. It was over Zoom and it went pretty well. They put the video on their Youtube channel. It begins with my friend Alyce Turner introducing me and reminding me of my biggest political defeat when I chaired The Committee for Rollcart Choice to try and keep Columbia, Missouri from banning automated trash collection. She references restoring recycling because Columbia’s Materials handling center was recently destroyed by a tornado. I’m posting the video link if you care to see the presentation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQf30-2Mies
If you prefer to read, here are my prepared remarks.
After writing a book on winning elections, governance, and advocacy I first need to make clear that my approach to politics is fundamentally different. Almost all political discourse in the US is around state and national issues based around a right/left dichotomy. Worse, the political discourse is heavily focused on horserace considerations more than substantive policy discussions. Rhetoric and sound bites play well on social media and cable news and politicians today exist who only have a political strategy and no strategy at all for governance.
As a longtime grassroots activist with a focus on building community with an anarchist’s heart and an ecologist’s focus on the bioregion I had a fundamentally different approach to politics. When I ran for city council my focus was not on pursuing any ideological victories or building a political platform for future political advancement.
When I was thinking about running, I asked the “why” question. I decided as a candidate I would run on my values but if I won, I committed myself to a governance agenda that recognized my fiduciary responsibility to the city as an organization, as a placeholder for long term capacity to ensure resident services. I also committed myself to the care and well-being of the 1,400 or so employees. I also decided that the concrete (sometimes literally) facts on the ground were more important than more ephemeral things like my political career and my constituent’s feelings about how the city developed.
My focus on good government challenged me to respect city policies and internal capacity and to focus on regular improvements and long-term planning. I long argued that as much attention we place on state and federal issues it is local government that matters most. Local governments operate utilities; electric, water, sewer, solid waste; deliver public safety with police, fire, and the courts; we guide and facilitate economic development, pass local laws, make land use decisions and more. From what it takes in taxes, fees, and other revenue compared to what it delivers, local government is the best value in politics. Politics even takes its name from polis, which means city.
All these points are well and good but what do they mean in an age of rising authoritarianism? They mean everything. An authoritarian agenda needs all levels of government to control the people and fulfill its awful purpose. One of the real strengths of our country is our system of decentralized power and local control. From voting to education to policing to land use, the patchwork of local systems that make up most of our governance systems serve as a check and balance from any group asserting a national governance agenda.
An approach that I call localism tells us to defer on national ideological agendas. Instead, we should look to our own local conditions to inform our path of building long term progressive change and protecting freedom and democracy. In Leavenworth, Kansas stopping CoreCivic from reopening their troubled detention facility as an ICE deportation center presents as the obvious issue to rally around.
CoreCivic through their chronic cost cutting and casual disregard for their employees, their detainees, and the law make themselves an obvious target. We highlight their long and spectacular malfeasance rather than the large national issues around immigration. We bring everyone to the table who wants to stop the facility from reopening with no litmus test.
As we work on this specific issue we strengthen our alliances, our individual and collective capacity, and the belief in the community that they can make a difference. Having a deep knowledge of local processes, relationships with the local power structure, and the unique political pressure points for local actors which can help guide messaging and approach has been critical in the success of the campaign.
More importantly we are manualizing our approach. We are telling the story to inspire action across the nation. We are also making connections with other activists in other communities who are fighting the same struggle. The national zeitgeist expresses itself within local communities and is best combated and ameliorated within communities based on their own conditions.
If you liked what you read and are interested in learning more about the practical realities of activism consider ordering my book. We should have books in this week, and they should ship the week after. https://breadandrosespress.com/products/the-practical-guide-to-building-a-better-world?fbclid=IwY2xjawKQPpNleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFFRVdlMTdjQ0U5ZXFIeUhJAR4t9VcKwAmjbC0TRFkPMrp5PdLY9Boh372cUz-qdfq5rkuO7zFoWKmKtbDZLA_aem_O46YqlaAoNU-5hWACdnx4g
The Practical Guide to Building a Better World
I can’t believe I wrote a book. What was only an idea at the end of 2023 is this giant beautiful thing becoming more real every day. The milestones have come so thick I have not been able to celebrate each one. Today I want to acknowledge the ISBN #
The Library of Congress is under attack. The President fired the Head Librarian without cause and claims to have appointed the Deputy Director of Commerce, I think, as its head. The staff there point to the name and the fact that the president has no power over the Library of Congress and had two folks escorted from the property. The alleged new acting chief librarian has not yet tried to enter.
Having a book enter the Library of Congress has been something I’ve looked forward to as I moved my manuscript from rough draft to a perfected piece of physical media. I am not surprised that every good thing is under attack. A would-be authoritarian’s desire to control the Library of Congress is understandable. Preventing that misuse of power is baked into the system. We shall see what prevails.
Today, I still celebrate and proudly share my ISBN # 978-1-939899-86-6
You can preorder at Bread & Roses Publishing
https://breadandrosespress.com/products/the-practical-guide-to-building-a-better-world
Podcast and Book Preorders
There has been so much going on my head is spinning. Achieving some big milestones is huge but it still leaves you to manage all the change and the innumerable details that need to get nailed down when you succeed.
Before I get into that some of the eggs have hatched in the House Finch nest in the wreath on our front door.
All of the projects I have been working on seem to be coming together at the same time. At the New American Community we have been leading the local opposition to keep CoreCivic from reopening their troubled detention facility as an ICE detention center.
Through our work on the issue we came to know William Rogers a former corrections officer who has become a leader in exposing their understaffing and unsafe conditions for staff and residents. Mr. Rogers was kind enough to share his story on our first podcast episode.
https://newamericancommunity.podbean.com/
On the literary front Bread and Roses Press has The Practical Guide to Building a Better World at the print house. Presales are open and we should have books in June!
https://breadandrosespress.com/products/the-practical-guide-to-building-a-better-world
Thank you for support and follow along here or at Https://www.miketrapp store or Https://www.newamerican.community for the latest updates on the book, podcast, and organizing events and materials.
Happy Easter
It’s been a great long holiday weekend visiting with family and friends. Even with a doctor’s appointment and some work it’s been nice to focus on family and connection and making memories. Most significantly I finished the final edits on my manuscript and The Practical Guide to Building a Better World will get its layout and final design this week. Very exciting.
We’ve also had a tremendous spring this year and we found time to visit with the Spring ephemerals. With a long frost free period with rain the flowering trees have put on a show and are mostly supported by the budding hardwoods.
Easter is a time of new beginnings. The Spring renewal. I thought I might share my Easter poem/song I wrote some years back. We know of the eponymous Eostre only through the writings of the 8th century, I think, ecclesiastical historian the Venerable Bede. As a super nerdy kid I have been a fan since high school.
He records her name and that the preconquest European indigenous honored her at this time of year. That’s it.
Looking at religious origins of European religions the spring nature goddess Eostre was likely a close cousin of Assana/Astarra. Their stories are better preserved. Her hares ate the dark covering that surrounded the sun, freeing it for the first sunrise. Thanks for the dawn Easter Bunny!
Eggs are of course a symbol of life. Think The Great Egg of Euphrates. With that laid out here’s my Easter ditty.
The Venerable Bede was a friend to me
‘Cuz he told stories
Stories of the way things used to be
Before the great genocide of Europe
That came with the coming of Christianity.
Eostre/Astara/Asana was the goddess of fertility
She sent her swift hares to guide us
From the darkness to the light where we can see
And water drawn on Easter morn is holy
Eggs represent the Earth’s fecundity
And Easter’s really about Eostre
The forgotten women erased from history.
Be peace today. Get outside and see the beauty. Recommit to a life worth living.
Say “No” to CoreCivic
When CoreCivic first sought to use Leavenworth County as a proxy to garner an ICE contract I gave it serious consideration. I was superficially aware of CoreCivic’s failings maintaining adequate staffing putting employees and inmates at unnecessary risk. I knew superficially about the serious issues with private prisons in general and CoreCivic in particular. Cost cutting at the expense of safety and basic needs is the norm in the industry and CoreCivic is the worst amongst them.
I was on the Executive Committee of the Leavenworth Lansing Chamber of Commerce so I had to consider investment in the region, bringing a shuttered facility back online and creating employment opportunities for folks without a college degree. With an immediate public outcry against the plans we weighed the pros and cons quietly. I was pleased when the County quickly dismissed the idea as not in the best interest of their constituents.
With the change of administration I saw news stories about CoreCivics stock price surging, rising 69% in a single week after the election. I was not surprised when CoreCivic began the process of trying to bring CoreCivic back online in Leavenworth with an ICE contract. While discussing the issue online I met a former employee William Rogers who personalized the issue for me.
His firsthand accounts of the impacts of short staffing the unit are graphic and incredibly sad. He had both his head split open and was stabbed. The “observation bubbles” which should be staffed to monitor conditions and provide assistance were routinely closed because of staffing issues. He told me about another co-worker who was also beaten and stabbed requiring 16 surgeries. While on workers comp CoreCivic cut off her health insurance. She lives in poverty in our community unable to work.
Before the facility was shuttered U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson stated in court: “The only way I could describe it frankly, what’s going on at CoreCivic right now is it’s an absolute hell hole”. A 2017 audit found that its officer vacancy rate was nearly 25%. Contraband and weapons were commonplace. Inmates were left unsupervised while guards had to monitor multiple pods. In 2011 CoreCivic was triple-bunking inmates in cells designed for two people but uninstalled the beds to conceal it from its certifying body the American Correctional Association.
CoreCivic is pursuing a Special Use Permit. A public hearing will be held on April 7th, 2025 at 6:00 PM at Leavenworth City Hall, in front of the Planning Commission. Planning Commisioners will make a recommendation regarding the permit to the Leavenworth City Commission. Leavenworth will hold two more public hearings, also at 6:00 PM, on May 13th and May 27th with a vote occurring after the final hearing. In addition to the zoning decision the City will also take up a Government Services Agreement between the City of Leavenworth, ICE, and CoreCivic detailing emergency response and payment arrangements.
I urge the Planning Commission and the City of Leavenworth to deny the permit and to not approve the agreement. CoreCivic has a long history of unsafe operation and their failures to protect their staff and residents make them unfit to operate a detention facility in Leavenworth. Kansas zoning law allows us to weigh the relative gain to the public health, safety, and welfare to the hardship imposed to the property owner. CoreCivic’s poor performance history including the death of a facility resident would negatively impact the health, safety, and welfare of their workforce, facility residents, and the community.
The Bureau of Prisons and Lansing Correctional Facility currently struggle with staffing issues. There is a workforce shortage in the region that shows itself in ways that we all see. CoreCivic would cannibalize the existing workforce without allowing for the safe operation of their facility. CoreCivic struggled with adequate staffing levels in an economy with less workforce challenges than we wrestle with currently.
Even larger issues than CoreCivic’s poor operating history is the current state of the Federal Government. Leavenworth should take no part in the adminsitration of mass deportation where seperating families and casual cruelty are a feature not a bug. Right now the Trump administration has illegally fired 13 Inspectors General who provide critical outside accountability to ensure legal and safe contracting and government operations.
Signing a contract with ICE while numerous contractual obligations are flouted by DOGE cuts and staffing changes. New York City had a contract to house undocumented individuals and families. They provided the residential services and the payments were direct deposited into their account. Without notice or just cause those funds were taken by the Federal government. How can Leavenworth rely on Federal partners to uphold any agreement they make while existing agreements with contractors, employers, and funding recipients are violated across the country.
Leavenworth has an opportunity to protect the health, safety, and well being of our residents by rejecting this special use permit and government services agreement. With the growing unpopularity of Elon Musk and his unaccountable DOGE minions we will likely see a change in Congress in 2026 and a change in administration in 2028. Once again private prisons will fall out of favor and how will CoreCivic maintain their facilities and staffing with a dimmer economic forecast? Why should we undercut the performance and safety of our existing correctional facilities for a potentially short term divisive project with partners who cannot be relied upon?
Contact the Leavenworth City Commission and demand they vote “no” on CoreCivic.
Mayor Holly Pittman holly.pittman@firstcity.mo 913-449-8991
Mayor Pro Tem Nancy Bauder nbauder@firstcity.mo 913-675-7166
Commissioner Griff Martin griff.martin@firstcity.mo
Commissioner Edd Hingula edd.hingula@firstcity.mo 913-775-0635
Commissioner Jermaine Wilson jwilson@firstcity.mo 913-617-3667
Show up and testify at Leavenworth City Hall at 6:00 PM on April 7th, May 13th, & May 27th
Community Outreach for Mass Mobilization
With all that is going on nationally being engaged in a national political organizing project is a real blessing. I don’t feel powerless and alone in front of the giant forces threatening democracy and the rule of law. Taking action and talking to other organizers is heartening and I highly recommend it.
The New American Community is moving into the next phase of our County Party Outreach Project. I have called all of the state parties and had some great conversations and several active collaborations. Delaware and New Mexico are helping our outreach efforts and have agreed to work together. Several other states are reviewing information or have made a commitment to work together in the future. As a political unknown outside of my region though it has felt a little like cold call sales.
We also have received almost 150 survey responses from county party organizations. Reviewing the responses help with Messaging is the largest unmet need. We created our survey as good community organizers both to have feedback to inform our work and to identify collaboration opportunities.
This week I’ve contacted county party leaders who completed the survey for follow up conversations. I’ve begun providing technical assistance to some party organizations and also discussed what people are doing.
What I found inspiring was the three conversations I had all said the same thing. We are focusing on community outreach because we need to know who is out there in case we have to do a mass mobilization to fight for democracy. From rural South Carolina, to a small city in Missouri, to the New Mexico suburbs the answer was the same.
We have found our Message. Democracy and the rule of law are under assault and we need to take action with our neighbors right now. The pro-Democracy Alliance is forming at the grassroots level everywhere. There is new energy to fight back and defend and folks aren’t waiting for non-existent national leadership but are leading themselves. Finding like minded souls in organizations or online and taking action.
Democrats and Direct Action
I cut my teeth in political organizing around direct action with a long term focus on building a community of resistance. I found it far more energizing than electoral politics, more immediate, and far more fun.
Speaking truth to power and engaging in active non violence shaped who I was. I also engaged in influence campaigns that worked within the system. As a young field organizer in Utah I helped gin up significant opposition to an inadequate wilderness prevention Bill generating thousands of postcards and turning out hundreds of students at a critical public meeting.
That shifted the Utah delegation and the bill was defeated. The next year a bill was passed that includes an additional 1.2 acres of mostly Red Rock desert permanently protected as wilderness. I thought about that 1.2 million acres a lot and how we freed the weed by petition gathering, voter registration, organizing a GOtV and passing the California Compassionate Use Act.
My support of electoral politics further strengthened as a three term City Council Member in Columbia, Missouri I saw a laundry list of progressive accomplishments and good government wins all through campaigning for votes. As I completed The Practical Guide to Building a Better World, I formed a Political Action Committee to support my national level local organizing.
After the inauguration we all witnessed the unconstitutional and illegal invasion of government systems and employee relations by unaccountable billionaire Elon Musk and his high tech goons. A spontaneous movement on Reddit called 50501 for national protests at state capitals.
I was intrigued but unavailable. I hope as also a little shocked by the general reception by Democrats and other activists not wanting to take part because they didn’t know who was organizing it. Folks who shared information were encouraged not to participate because of a lack of permits and no identified organizers and folks speculates it was a setup.
So most of the folks I know stayed home. But not all. I heard reports from Michigan where the crowd was robust and inspiring and I saw news reports on many other protests.
In spite of being 50 states, 50 protests, 1 day a President’s Day protest was called by the same network. In Leavenworth the local Democrats put out a call and on a frigid day 40 or so concerned citizens came out with signs and flags and it was beautiful.
When I got home I enjoyed seeing protest photos from across the country. We think protests need leadership and organization, and both can be helpful to win concrete victories but they are not necessary. During the Vietnam protest era the largest protests happened after the national leadership splintered and went silent. The protests kept growing.
We live in an era of increased suspicion and less and less trust. The more that we can rebuild our ability to organize together on a common cause the more effective we are going to be. The New American Community is embracing and promoting decentralized grassroots movements and we encourage others to do likewise.
We have to be wise. There are agents of chaos and misinformation that drive divisive activities. There are risks to trusting strangers. There are also risks from not trusting others we do not know. The risks of being isolated and powerless and having our cherished institutions destroyed without an effective public outcry.
We need to be wise and structure for safety. Do your homework, withhold judgement, make sure if you go to an action you have an exit plan and support. But please don’t stay at home out of fear. The next big action is the February 28th economic blackout.
I don’t know who is planning it. I know it makes sense. I know I want to do it. I know it’s safe. Now more than ever we need a mass mobilization to protect our democracy and our way of life. When the call to action is just and proper and good I am acting, whether I know who made the call or not.
Multiconstruct 
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