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RESIST: HOW TO KEEP ‘IT’ FROM HAPPENING HERE  
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Barton Kunstler
November 26, 2024
Nation of Change
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_ The zeal that marks rising authoritarian movements makes resistance
an apt term for the position that half of Americans find themselves in
and more if one acknowledges that issue by issue many Trump voters
disagree with the Republican Platform. _

, Sqwauker

 

“In the year 2025, if man is still alive, if woman can survive, [we]
may find…”

Yes, the reckoning has come 500 years earlier than Zager and Evans
predicted singing “In the Year 2525”, which reigned for 6 weeks at
Number 1 during the summer of Woodstock. The futuristic lyrics
contained a great historical truth: the forces that suck a society
into a dystopian vortex go far beyond the machinations of individual
politicians, the worst of whom are only the sores on the surface of
the body politic, symptoms of a deeper disease.

Resistance to the Republicans’ assault on legitimate government
appears daunting, given their control of all three branches of the
federal government, a majority of state legislatures, and a following
of fanatical true believers and docile sleepwalkers. The crusading
zeal that marks rising authoritarian movements makes resistance an apt
term for the position that half of Americans find themselves in—and
more if one acknowledges that issue by issue, many Trump voters
disagree with the Republican platform.

But what does “resistance” mean in these circumstances? Certainly
more than quixotic or token gestures. What constitutes effective
political action that works without our toppling into chaos? Highly
complex societies are funny. They have built-in redundancies and
adaptations that cushion shocks that would overwhelm smaller and
simpler communities. Yet when “fail-safe” systems fail, as they
always eventually do, an entire society can collapse, whether
literally overnight (solar storm that fries the entire electric grid),
in a human-driven panic (financial collapse), or over time (a slow
burn of alienation and neglect). The United States faces
environmental, economic, and social stresses whose solutions require a
balancing act between what really works and the gratuitous gesture,
between policies that revitalize democracy and those that plunge us
into the violence and disintegration that marks a society’s decline.

Resistance is just another word for constructive policy

Here are general suggestions for keeping authoritarian government from
happening here.

1. _Coordinated job and community action_s: Twenty one states now have
laws restricting teaching of the civil rights movement, the history of
American racism, issues related to gender and sexuality, or otherwise
“divisive concepts” (secular philosophy? Freudian psychology?
causes of the Civil War? critiques of US foreign policy? history of
religion?). In other words, critical thinking about history, society,
psychology, social relations, race, sex. What’s left? 

Those laws should outrage anyone with any understanding of education
and citizenship. In response, teachers’ associations can organize
state-wide presentations of banned units. It is a creative alternative
to strikes and walk-outs. States would either have to arrest or fire
teachers en masse _for teaching,_ or close down schools. Similar
actions by community leaders addressing community-police relations,
childhood hunger, or inadequate health care could trigger a new
activism among suppliers of vital services. At some point, it is
humiliating to realize that the work to which you devote your life has
become a meaningless political charade. Such implicit contempt for
one’s basic values has been as compelling a call to action as wages
and benefits.

2. _Strong rhetoric backed by solid argument_: Do not solely argue
over a woman’s right to choose an abortion. Raise the
specter—already here in some states—of pregnant women being
arrested at state lines because they are suspected of seeking
abortions. Argue that unlike virtually every other law, abortion bans
apply only to women; thus, male legislators and judges should have no
part in determining abortion access. Are these iron-clad arguments?
No, but they are legitimate with emotional resonance that counters the
anti-choice hysteria that overturned Roe vs. Wade.  Similarly, when
campaigning for gun control show that you know the difference between
deer-hunting rifles that load up a total of 4 or 5 bullets with a
couple of seconds between shots and automatic rifles that release
hundreds of rounds a minute.

Do not argue over Republican talking points or allow them to define
the terms of the issue. Gun control, for instance, does not mean
taking everyone’s guns away. Call out anyone who distorts your view
while pinpointing what _they _have to gain by misleading the public
about it. Challenge the source of the power and the _ugliness _of
policies that cut services to the poor and infirm. Consistently
address the agenda behind the malevolence and lies: who profits and
how much. Build it and they will come. Or at least vote.

3. _Organize locally and nationally: _Grass roots efforts strengthen
the bones of a party; national and regional messaging extends its
connective nervous system. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has
proven itself not only inept at both, but obstructive. The DNC needs
to be fixed in a way that distinguishes between political tactics and
political positions. Recognize that the immediate challenge is
resisting extremism. Fight hard and even a bit dirty. Later on, when a
measure of equilibrium is restored, you can resume fighting one
another.

4. _Pressure mainstream media_: Even corporate-based publishers are
capable of shame when they abandon or violate the core mandates and
values of traditional journalism. Pressure mainstream newspapers and
networks to acknowledge the danger posed by the incoming regime. Email
and phone campaigns, public critiques, cancellation of
subscriptions—whatever works. A lot of incredible investigative
reporting is still being done on subjects that timid major outlets
refuse to pursue. Let’s use social media to publicize corruption,
rights violations, or environmental destruction until the national
media is compelled to report it, not one token violation at a time but
by identifying the broader interests behind damaging policies and
political manipulation.

5. _Publicize effective programs_: Focus constantly on policy outcomes
and what they mean to individuals and families. Publicize programs
that are working and grassroots initiatives that created positive
results for communities.

6. _Resistance starts NOW_. Fair electoral processes may not even be
in place by 2026. Lining up one’s ducks for “later” while
Republicans aggressively push their agenda _now_ is politically
clueless. Nor can the environment stand two more years of gleeful
fossil fuel bonfires. We don’t have two years to waste.

7. _Complacency is complicity_. Complacency might have worked in the
50s, 70s, or 90s. But today, bemoaning the latest outrage or sending
an occasional check to worthy causes won’t cut it. We each have to
find a way to allocate time and energy to politics, despite busy lives
and perhaps feeling uncomfortable doing so.

8. _Forget Trump_. Trump is a reality TV host. Republican policies,
not Trump, are what hit people where they hurt. Effective resistance
and reform happens at the nuts and bolts of power. The Republican
strategy—as it was under Reagan—aims to roll back socially
beneficial programs simultaneously on every front. The Democrats react
with confusion and distraction, playing whack-a-moley with each new
threat. Yet there are clear consistencies across Republican policies
and clear winners and losers, the latter being the great majority of
Americans. Lay bare the common agenda behind all these assaults on the
common good: who profits, why, and how much, and the disinformation
campaigns that support them.

9. _Demonstrations alone are inadequate_. The power structure is adept
at deflecting mass expression of will. Million man and multi-million
woman marches feel great but like weekend binges, the high wears off.
That is not a reason _not _to protest, but it does show why relying on
demonstrations obeys the law of diminishing returns.

These efforts do not need to sway “the other side” or even 90
percent of it, only to galvanize non-voters and 5-10 percent of those
who voted Republican. Efforts at resistance can also solidify into
renewed vision and inspiration that has a permanent impact on the
nation and its political culture. We have to start turning it around
now. 

_To join the resistance, Americans are urged to mobilize
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achieves his worst impulses._

* Resistance to Republican Agenda; Politics in the Trump Era;
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