One difference with the Civil Rights Movement is the role that the press and television played in covering the protests and their brutality, raising the awareness of the nation to the ills of the repression in the South. Unfortunately, the media seems to have largely surrendered to Trump, and the present events are not covered, or are just normalized. This is the uphill battle that I believe we are facing. If you are living in Kansas, how do you know that the restaurants in DC are actually taking a nosedive if all you are hearing on Truth Social and TV is that people there are flooding them?
This sort of negativity is demotivating and unhelpful. The media were far worse in Poland in the 1989s for example. There are still plenty of places to find the facts and to spread them further every day.
I agree that there are plenty of places to find facts--if one is motivated to do so. But broad reach to the very large segment of the population which has no interest in the national news is what has been preoccupying me. There was ample opportunity for passive exposure in the previous eras, from newspapers universally delivered to the attachment to the 6 o'clock news. This is no longer the case. The strategy has to adapt to these new conditions.
Can we please speak the truth? The media is owned by corporations who have very rich men involved. These rich men want us to think a certain way. Sure the news references have changed but the media has been directing how we think for decades!
Tool tRUMP just perfected with dumbass followers who “like” him 🤮🖕🏻
Thank you for this ray of light in the midst of horrible darkness. I remember the Solidarity movement well, as I was just coming of age. And the civil rights movement was gaining traction when I was born. From their example, I benefitted from an innate knowing that reason and justice would always prevail.
But for the first time in my life, the road ahead for us is dark and unknowable. My faith that reason and justice will always prevail has been dinged-up a bit lately - especially since the press has completely relinquished their role as the Fourth Estate and is now morphing itself into another state-sanctioned propaganda machine.
The Jerry Springer watchers of yesteryear have elected themselves their own sleaze-laden reality show, and it feels like the rest of us are being dragged along for the ride. The sheer apathy of some, the divisiveness of many, and the overt avarice of those in power have given this situation an entirely new and sickening pallor of which I don't think we've ever experienced.
The future has never felt so uncertain, and so I very much appreciate this roadmap through it that you've provided us weary souls. I have to believe that there is a way through this, and that the sun will indeed shine again on reason, justice and our democracy. Thank you.
This is the most real, clear-eyed but inspiring piece I’ve read outside of Timothy Snyder. In fact, it fits alongside Timothy Snyder. I’m so glad I stumbled onto your Substack.
I’m not sure it’s possible to muster and sustain clandestine resistance in this media environment. We’re just blabbing on X (owned by one of the architects the authoritarian slide!) or BlueSky (or Substack), watching Rachel Maddow or reading the NYTimes online. We are posting memes and photos of ourselves at protests and videos of people shaming groups of ICE gestapo. We certainly aren’t quiet. And like people in airports are finding out, our opinions voiced all over the internet are easy for our enemy to discover. I guess when normal communication channels are censored - hasn’t happened yet, probably because 47 is such an attention-seeker - then clandestine means of planning and sharing information might sprout.
I find it incongruous when I get emails from actors like MoveOn or Women’s March talking about how far down the road of authoritarianism we are, and all they need to fight it is $5 a month from my personal credit card. I’m thinking about people being tortured in CECOT; whimsical “policies” allowing the abuse and murder of children to happen in Ukraine and Gaza; powerful institutions like Harvard giving in; and agencies like the DOJ, FBI, CDC, DNI co-opted by political hack lunatics. My ActBlue activism feels like a cheap way to ‘be the resistance’ without putting anything at risk and without having any effect on those most real, immediate, lethal situations. Maybe this is exactly that despair you are warning against, but I am starting to feel like even protest-marching with my neighbors is a waste of energy that doesn’t matter one bit to the authoritarians.
Correspondence to historical moments will never be perfect, but the larger lessons to which Ian is pointing are one’s that still apply. It is up to us to adapt them to our times and circumstances. We are lucky to have had such extraordinary people and their larger movements precede us. Standing on their shoulders, we will hopefully be able to create a way out of our own dark time.
We have a fundamental undemocratic flaw in the Constitution. i.e., the creation of Congressional Districts within States. This has resulted in government by minorities. Neither of the major political parties actually include a majority of the registered voters. The current system enables vested interests to have undue influence on major party Congressional Representatives. One way to promote a more equitable democratic system would be to allocate seats in the House of Representatives in proportion to the number of voters registered as independents or in specific political parties. For example, if 30 percent of voters registered as Democrats, then 30 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives would be allocated for Democrats. The Democratic Party would be responsible for creating 131 Districts each containing an approximately equal number of registered Democrats. The boundaries would be independent of State borders. Then, Democrats seeking election in a given District would only have to compete against other Democratic candidates. Similarly, other political parties and independents would compete within their own Districts. This revised system would result in all other political parties and independents having seats in the House of Representatives. This would be a much more democratic system and lessen the influence of vested interests.
We watch CNN and Rachel Madow on MSNBC. Both have not surrendered, particularly Rachel who is tireless about showing what is truly happening. They are vilified by the far right, of course.
This is the most real, clear-eyed but inspiring piece I’ve read outside of Timothy Snyder. In fact, it fits alongside Timothy Snyder. I’m so glad I stumbled onto your Substack.
I’m not sure it’s possible to muster and sustain clandestine resistance in this media environment. We’re just blabbing on X (owned by one of the architects the authoritarian slide!) or BlueSky (or Substack), watching Rachel Maddow or reading the NYTimes online. We are posting memes and photos of ourselves at protests and videos of people shaming groups of ICE gestapo. We certainly aren’t quiet. And like people in airports are finding out, our opinions voiced all over the internet are easy for our enemy to discover. I guess when normal communication channels are censored - hasn’t happened yet, probably because 47 is such an attention-seeker - then clandestine means of planning and sharing information might sprout.
I find it incongruous when I get emails from actors like MoveOn or Women’s March talking about how far down the road of authoritarianism we are, and all they need to fight it is $5 a month from my personal credit card. I’m thinking about people being tortured in CECOT; whimsical “policies” allowing the abuse and murder of children to happen in Ukraine and Gaza; powerful institutions like Harvard giving in; and agencies like the DOJ, FBI, CDC, DNI co-opted by political hack lunatics. My ActBlue activism feels like a cheap way to ‘be the resistance’ without putting anything at risk and without having any effect on those most real, immediate, lethal situations. Maybe this is exactly that despair you are warning against, but I am starting to feel like even protest-marching with my neighbors is a waste of energy that doesn’t matter one bit to the authoritarians.
One difference with the Civil Rights Movement is the role that the press and television played in covering the protests and their brutality, raising the awareness of the nation to the ills of the repression in the South. Unfortunately, the media seems to have largely surrendered to Trump, and the present events are not covered, or are just normalized. This is the uphill battle that I believe we are facing. If you are living in Kansas, how do you know that the restaurants in DC are actually taking a nosedive if all you are hearing on Truth Social and TV is that people there are flooding them?
This sort of negativity is demotivating and unhelpful. The media were far worse in Poland in the 1989s for example. There are still plenty of places to find the facts and to spread them further every day.
I agree that there are plenty of places to find facts--if one is motivated to do so. But broad reach to the very large segment of the population which has no interest in the national news is what has been preoccupying me. There was ample opportunity for passive exposure in the previous eras, from newspapers universally delivered to the attachment to the 6 o'clock news. This is no longer the case. The strategy has to adapt to these new conditions.
Can we please speak the truth? The media is owned by corporations who have very rich men involved. These rich men want us to think a certain way. Sure the news references have changed but the media has been directing how we think for decades!
Tool tRUMP just perfected with dumbass followers who “like” him 🤮🖕🏻
Where's the shadow government with daily responses?
There are too many older elected Democrats who are unable or unwilling to meet the moment. They are being replaced
(too) slowly. In the meantime, regular people need to lead.
These thoughts are a gift I sorely needed… thank you
Thank you for this ray of light in the midst of horrible darkness. I remember the Solidarity movement well, as I was just coming of age. And the civil rights movement was gaining traction when I was born. From their example, I benefitted from an innate knowing that reason and justice would always prevail.
But for the first time in my life, the road ahead for us is dark and unknowable. My faith that reason and justice will always prevail has been dinged-up a bit lately - especially since the press has completely relinquished their role as the Fourth Estate and is now morphing itself into another state-sanctioned propaganda machine.
The Jerry Springer watchers of yesteryear have elected themselves their own sleaze-laden reality show, and it feels like the rest of us are being dragged along for the ride. The sheer apathy of some, the divisiveness of many, and the overt avarice of those in power have given this situation an entirely new and sickening pallor of which I don't think we've ever experienced.
The future has never felt so uncertain, and so I very much appreciate this roadmap through it that you've provided us weary souls. I have to believe that there is a way through this, and that the sun will indeed shine again on reason, justice and our democracy. Thank you.
Great work! Wise and inspiring.
This is the most real, clear-eyed but inspiring piece I’ve read outside of Timothy Snyder. In fact, it fits alongside Timothy Snyder. I’m so glad I stumbled onto your Substack.
I’m not sure it’s possible to muster and sustain clandestine resistance in this media environment. We’re just blabbing on X (owned by one of the architects the authoritarian slide!) or BlueSky (or Substack), watching Rachel Maddow or reading the NYTimes online. We are posting memes and photos of ourselves at protests and videos of people shaming groups of ICE gestapo. We certainly aren’t quiet. And like people in airports are finding out, our opinions voiced all over the internet are easy for our enemy to discover. I guess when normal communication channels are censored - hasn’t happened yet, probably because 47 is such an attention-seeker - then clandestine means of planning and sharing information might sprout.
I find it incongruous when I get emails from actors like MoveOn or Women’s March talking about how far down the road of authoritarianism we are, and all they need to fight it is $5 a month from my personal credit card. I’m thinking about people being tortured in CECOT; whimsical “policies” allowing the abuse and murder of children to happen in Ukraine and Gaza; powerful institutions like Harvard giving in; and agencies like the DOJ, FBI, CDC, DNI co-opted by political hack lunatics. My ActBlue activism feels like a cheap way to ‘be the resistance’ without putting anything at risk and without having any effect on those most real, immediate, lethal situations. Maybe this is exactly that despair you are warning against, but I am starting to feel like even protest-marching with my neighbors is a waste of energy that doesn’t matter one bit to the authoritarians.
Thank you. I needed that slap in the face to bring me back to my senses. Onwards and upwards.
Correspondence to historical moments will never be perfect, but the larger lessons to which Ian is pointing are one’s that still apply. It is up to us to adapt them to our times and circumstances. We are lucky to have had such extraordinary people and their larger movements precede us. Standing on their shoulders, we will hopefully be able to create a way out of our own dark time.
Thank you Ian. What a beautiful and fortifying essay.
We have a fundamental undemocratic flaw in the Constitution. i.e., the creation of Congressional Districts within States. This has resulted in government by minorities. Neither of the major political parties actually include a majority of the registered voters. The current system enables vested interests to have undue influence on major party Congressional Representatives. One way to promote a more equitable democratic system would be to allocate seats in the House of Representatives in proportion to the number of voters registered as independents or in specific political parties. For example, if 30 percent of voters registered as Democrats, then 30 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives would be allocated for Democrats. The Democratic Party would be responsible for creating 131 Districts each containing an approximately equal number of registered Democrats. The boundaries would be independent of State borders. Then, Democrats seeking election in a given District would only have to compete against other Democratic candidates. Similarly, other political parties and independents would compete within their own Districts. This revised system would result in all other political parties and independents having seats in the House of Representatives. This would be a much more democratic system and lessen the influence of vested interests.
We watch CNN and Rachel Madow on MSNBC. Both have not surrendered, particularly Rachel who is tireless about showing what is truly happening. They are vilified by the far right, of course.
This is the most real, clear-eyed but inspiring piece I’ve read outside of Timothy Snyder. In fact, it fits alongside Timothy Snyder. I’m so glad I stumbled onto your Substack.
I’m not sure it’s possible to muster and sustain clandestine resistance in this media environment. We’re just blabbing on X (owned by one of the architects the authoritarian slide!) or BlueSky (or Substack), watching Rachel Maddow or reading the NYTimes online. We are posting memes and photos of ourselves at protests and videos of people shaming groups of ICE gestapo. We certainly aren’t quiet. And like people in airports are finding out, our opinions voiced all over the internet are easy for our enemy to discover. I guess when normal communication channels are censored - hasn’t happened yet, probably because 47 is such an attention-seeker - then clandestine means of planning and sharing information might sprout.
I find it incongruous when I get emails from actors like MoveOn or Women’s March talking about how far down the road of authoritarianism we are, and all they need to fight it is $5 a month from my personal credit card. I’m thinking about people being tortured in CECOT; whimsical “policies” allowing the abuse and murder of children to happen in Ukraine and Gaza; powerful institutions like Harvard giving in; and agencies like the DOJ, FBI, CDC, DNI co-opted by political hack lunatics. My ActBlue activism feels like a cheap way to ‘be the resistance’ without putting anything at risk and without having any effect on those most real, immediate, lethal situations. Maybe this is exactly that despair you are warning against, but I am starting to feel like even protest-marching with my neighbors is a waste of energy that doesn’t matter one bit to the authoritarians.
Certainly a hard time. Our choices are similar to those facing Lincoln during the Civil War.
See my post on how 2025 is analogous to 1862.
https://couragebysavingdemocracy.substack.com/p/is-this-our-second-civil-war
In resistance….there is hope. Without it, it’s hope less.