A chilling reminder that throwing Kristi Noem etal under the bus is another devious way to make us think the movement towards authoritarianism has been disrupted. I recently read a post about how Hitler used the Brown Shirts to terrorize people on the streets, but got rid of them when he needed the army to establish his power. As I understand it, ICE=Brown Shirts.
This is both an excellent and scary commentary on precisely what is happening! America needs to quickly wake up, speak up and fight to defeat the fascists before we lose our Constitutional democracy!
The power and courage of ordinary people in the face of this thinly disguised authoritarianism to even risk and, subsequently, lose their lives is beyond inspiring. It is also proof positive that this administration will never see that top rung.
Jimmy Kimmel got fired, then people started cancelling subscriptions and the wealthy in control of that decision shit their pants and brought him back, with apologies. They understand money, they crave it like love and would probably ration their water if it meant getting more money and power. Stop giving them your money. Capitalism, at least in theory, works because we vote with our dollars. Let's test it out with concerted effort. If you want to give your money to Amazon and get really into using AI, then those businesses will get stronger. From the "tippy top," as our demented leader likes to say, for those with monopoly power over things we are addicted to, maintaining that is not seen as a choice, it is a religious conviction, a crusade. They will only move and act to get bigger and stronger, but they can be controlled and not allowed to further dominate our politics, unless we decide we will just sit back and let them.
We can create 4th Amendment Workplaces - "we should not just wave our hands and stipulate that these powerful institutions will fold and grovel to authoritarianism. Not because we believe in their moral fiber, but because they hold power, and pushing them to use their power in the right way is just another organizing task for everyone trying to fight authoritarianism. Regular Americans, all of us who are protesting and marching and decrying government oppression, need to make it part of our task to convince those on the higher tier of power that their own interests are better served by fighting than by folding."
Your Stacks are essential reading - especially now. Thank you.
A chilling reminder that throwing Kristi Noem etal under the bus is another devious way to make us think the movement towards authoritarianism has been disrupted. I recently read a post about how Hitler used the Brown Shirts to terrorize people on the streets, but got rid of them when he needed the army to establish his power. As I understand it, ICE=Brown Shirts.
This is both an excellent and scary commentary on precisely what is happening! America needs to quickly wake up, speak up and fight to defeat the fascists before we lose our Constitutional democracy!
“I expect little courage from the already-powerful, and, in aggregate, they have so far justified this expectation.”
This. All damn day.
The truth. Essential and grim. Thank you.
The power and courage of ordinary people in the face of this thinly disguised authoritarianism to even risk and, subsequently, lose their lives is beyond inspiring. It is also proof positive that this administration will never see that top rung.
Jimmy Kimmel got fired, then people started cancelling subscriptions and the wealthy in control of that decision shit their pants and brought him back, with apologies. They understand money, they crave it like love and would probably ration their water if it meant getting more money and power. Stop giving them your money. Capitalism, at least in theory, works because we vote with our dollars. Let's test it out with concerted effort. If you want to give your money to Amazon and get really into using AI, then those businesses will get stronger. From the "tippy top," as our demented leader likes to say, for those with monopoly power over things we are addicted to, maintaining that is not seen as a choice, it is a religious conviction, a crusade. They will only move and act to get bigger and stronger, but they can be controlled and not allowed to further dominate our politics, unless we decide we will just sit back and let them.
We can create 4th Amendment Workplaces - "we should not just wave our hands and stipulate that these powerful institutions will fold and grovel to authoritarianism. Not because we believe in their moral fiber, but because they hold power, and pushing them to use their power in the right way is just another organizing task for everyone trying to fight authoritarianism. Regular Americans, all of us who are protesting and marching and decrying government oppression, need to make it part of our task to convince those on the higher tier of power that their own interests are better served by fighting than by folding."
A powerful essay.
On who gets to decide what’s true. À primer to oppose ‘because I said so’ ideology/fascism:
https://twvme.substack.com/p/an-american-guide-to-epistemics-epistemic?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=4211715&post_id=185785268&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=eov1&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email