Mike, I have of late become a devout reader of your posts beginning with “The Plot Against America “. What I did not see in that piece nor in this one is a suggestion of any kind of the way forward. There is no question of abject complicity by the media, law makers at every level of government and certainly a vast swath of Americans most of whom voted for Trump (though, I suspect, had no idea that this is what they were voting for) and many too overcome by the tsunami currently engulfing us and the world at large. Many others…tens of millions…recognize what is happening and in one form or another have engaged in some form of resistance but with momentum so powerful behind this obvious coup it is difficult if not impossible to identify what form a successful resistance strategy looks like. It’s one thing to call it out…it’s another matter entirely to figure out how to transform the talk into an action that might have a modicum of success.
One suggestion: Seeing that part of the Trump administration playbook is firing federal employees, including those whose opinions don’t line up, concerned Americans should organise to offer accommodation and food to those federal employees who lose their livelihoods in this way. Perhaps, if there was a nationwide initiative in this direction (maybe organised on a street by street or neighbourhood by neighbourhood basis), more people would have the courage to speak out when they can still be heard rather than self-censor in the hope of keeping their jobs.
That said, it may very well be that in time the various factions which comprise this “government” (and I use the term advisedly) simply rip themselves apart because of the divergence of ideologies which appear to be feeding at the Trump trough. While it is true that the White Christian Nationalist wing of Trump World and the techno libertarian wing both share some common goals, i.e. disruption of the status quo, the bases for their respective ideologies have pretty much nothing in common. If Steve Bannon is to be believed, he and they have made clear their disdain for techno libertarianism and expressed the view that they are parasites riding the Trump wave for purposes which he and they do not share. He has called Musk a “parasitic illegal immigrant…[who] wants to impose his great experiment and play-act as God without any respect for the country’s history, tradition or values”. Putting Musk aside, the Thiel-financed movement is, I suspect, nevertheless anathema to Bannon’s vision which is hyper-patriotic , seeking to honor the country’s traditions and values though, of course on their White Nationalistic terms. There is nothing about those goals which are shared by techno libertarians who seemingly have no interest in honoring the country’s traditions, seeking, to instead destroy democracy in order to create a society based upon AI models, what you called “an unstoppable force that will inevitably dissolve traditional democratic institutions, framing the concentration of power among tech elites as inevitable”. I suspect those goals very much run contrary to the Bannon side of the equation. Can these two ideologies co-exist? With Thiel having invested so much money and energy to place Vance a heartbeat away from the Presidency and Musk having bought his way into the White House, it is hard to imagine the Bannon side of things prevailing and if it doesn’t or can’t, what then? One thing is for certain…we are all caught in the middle and will suffer as a result regardless of how this plays out. Perhaps they eat their own and afford us a chance for a quick breath. You never know.
What about the 2nd Amendment? It’s supposed to be a bulwark against this. If Trump invokes the insurrection act in response to nationwide protests, then what do we have left? Maybe anti-authoritarians need to start forming their own private militias and paramilitaries.
In my opinion the story that the 2nd amendment is somehow a bulwark against this was always a self-serving lie. It was a story the NRA told to sell guns. And the people who bought that are not on the side of democracy. Indeed the ones forming these militias are the same ones who sacked Congress on January 6th on their furher's orders.
I fear we may need to arm, but more against those wannebe brownshirts not a government that is vastly more armed. The bigger threat comes from Musk's wholesale theft of our data. And to do that we need economic power. And our first weapon, as Michael Collins defined it: our refusal.
Why are folks envisioning that we have to be out on the streets, armed? For fuck's sake, we have the power of lengthy and coordinated national strikes and boycotts, all of which can be done from the comfort of your home if so desired. Our labor, or refusal of it, is our power. Think of all the times you've heard about the economic havoc that the truckers' or dock workers' strikes could create. And their numbers are infinitesimal compared to that of an organized national strike throughout all sectors of the economy.
Remember, we have the ability to reach masses of people through organized communications via our phones and computers, so let's fucking do it! And by the way, if you haven't done so already, you might want to download Signal on your devices.
Yeah, it will take a little while to get completely geared up and better organized for a larger strike, but things are moving -- people just have to get on board AND they have to spread the word (don't assume others know about any given strike/boycott).
Lastly, when reading about the long-term or far-reaching goals of some of these groups, don't obsess on what you might not agree with. I think it's pretty safe to say we're all sort of focused on the same priorities for the immediate future, and THAT'S what's important.
Early last fall, I called a friend, a retired Navy admiral who was once the top public relations officer of the Navy. He was at his office in the Pentagon on 9/11. He is a Republican, but not a Trump supporter. I was foreseeing what we are now witnessing. I asked him about Trump not obeying the courts. (We did not talk about Congress.) I knew that the judiciary did not have its own law enforcement group reporting to it. Enforcement had to come from the DOJ. At the time I did not know about the US Marshalls' judiciary role. No matter, they report to the Attorney General. I knew that Garland's replacement would be a toady, and would not comply with a court order Trump did not like. The admiral was confident that the courts would hold sway...because they took an oath to the Constitution. He also thought that the Secret Service would step up, also because they took an oath. I did not laugh at him, but the conversation ended shortly after that with me saying that I hoped he was right, and I was wrong. This is on us. No one has our back, except a lot of independent media, like here on Substack. National strike, and soon.
I approached this differently, instead of contacting the my congresspeople- Schumer & Gillabrandt who I know are fighting Stephanik is supposedly on her way to the UN - I contacted my local state reps - shit runs downhill so to speak- eventually all politics is local and the blood will be in their streets, I bet they won’t be invited on musks rocket ship they at the state level better mobilize their supporters & resources or they too will be thrown into this autocratic hell hole with the rest of us
I agree 100%, but again, HOW do we get people to wake up? It's absolutely maddening trying to explain these concepts to complacent friends, family, etc... They look away uncomfortably because they don't understand AND they feel powerless. I fear that most of them will not wake up until these cuts and changes directly affect them.
I had several interesting conversations with intelligent strangers in Texas last week. They fully embraced the direction the current administration and advisors were taking the country. Not sleeping, not alarmed, and not concerned. On the contrary, super supportive. How many millions are in this camp?
Add to this group the millions of people that have not benefited from American representative democracy and are cheering in misinformed fashion for something, anything new. The total of these two groups might be a solid majority, and perversely the shenanigans today could be considered majority approved.
We might be better served by a critical examination of American values, lifestyle, and meaning before hitting the streets to save what many consider either wrong or a myth. Does America have enough shared values to remain a cohesive nation?
America has always worked better for some than others. We must remove the rose colored glasses and internalize that the folks in power now are representative of too many Americans, either the some or duped aspirational others.
“Anti-Trump 50501 Protests Break Out Across the Country
Protests against Donald Trump and Elon Musk took place nationwide on President’s Day.”
(The New Republic)
The question is what has it done? What will it do? Action is to bring change. We are up against a transnational criminal network. Will the military support civilians or follow Trump’s orders?
Absolutely, sane people in the US and throughout the world look on the trump admin and reel from the rampant idiocy and abuse of power proceeding apace, and dismay at the lack of concrete means to enforce limits on the executive branch. This is just one of Democrats’ failings over the past 4 years, failure to harden limits on executive power which trump is now running away with, beyond restraint. I believe we’re past the stage of nonviolent demonstration; first, it’s doubtful that anyone in the administration could care less about citizens who aren’t Maga. I’ll go a step further and predict that at some point, protestors—US citizens—will be shipped to Guantanamo. That’s the world we’re crossing the threshold into, as the author describes.
So what other options? My suggestions are that people pull money from banks, raise the withholding exemptions on their pay so that no federal tax is withheld, blue states should stop all remission of tax to the federal government, and people should file no tax return unless they’re receiving money back. Next steps beyond that are national strikes that last more than one day, and boycotting buying anything other than from locally owned businesses. The final step is that states start seceding, which might get ugly but at least wake people up and prevent WWIII, keeping the trump admin from invading Panama, Greenland, Canada, and Gaza/West Bank. As the author states, our timeline is short. If we fail to act before the coup is complete, there will be no going back and no recourse.
“Yet most Americans continue their daily routines as if nothing fundamental has changed.”
To be fair, most Americans still need to individually survive, and a lot of that comes down to continuing with the daily routines that enable us to eat and have shelter. This is not me disagreeing with you, it’s just that I have a working class job. My co-workers and I were struggling to pay for rent and groceries long before Trump 2.0, and I can’t blame them for not noticing that things are getting worse because for a lot of them, shit was already bad.
I hear you, truly. Survival is hard enough—especially when the system is already failing so many. That struggle is real. And that’s what makes this moment so urgent. Because if we let this slide into autocracy, it won’t just be "bad"—it will be something far worse. It will be permanent. The tools being built now—AI, surveillance, dismantled institutions—will lock in that suffering, making escape impossible. That’s why I’m shouting so loud. Not to guilt working people, but to say: we must fight now, together, or soon there may be no way out.
I one hundred percent agree with you, and I really do wish more people were looking outside of themselves in this tumultuous moment. It’s challenging, though, because right now, so much is still not directly experienced by everyday Americans. I think you’re correct about the weaponization of AI, and more people should be concerned. It’s just that maybe this big issue is not the way to get people to care about what’s happening because most people haven’t really experienced AI, as it currently exits, do much of anything, let alone be used by nefarious government actors .
Thank you for this. I flashed on Jose Saramago’s book Blindness when I read this. I’m going to say that blindness is the illusion of comfortable because whatever gains are only short term. You can ground yourself in comfort (not necessarily comfortable) and wake up at the same time but I think that requires some mindfulness.
Excellent book! I've read it many times and have passed it down to my kids. It's a reminder that we can go from normal to dystopian very quickly and it will all seem to make sense as it's happening.
Contact your local reps tell them that eventually they’ll be dealing with the fall out in their local communities- blood will be flowing in their local villages and towns
Thanks for posting. For those of us who would choose to actively stand up and oppose, the options (calling reps, protests, donations to EFF, NRDC, etc) appear bleak. Traditional channels do not appear to make any significant impact. How do you suggest we could actually turn back this juggernaut?
Guns. Buy guns. I’m not kidding. One side can’t uphold Democratic norms all by themselves. Democracy is a contract. Not a suicide vest. If a faction decides it wants to throw it away and rule by force, then they’ll succeed if they aren’t met with force.
Not even remotely trying to be pessimistic here...but let me give you a play by play. Defy the courts, create massive job losses, order the police, military, national guard etc..to crack down on protestors and send in your Jan 6 goons to create the excuse for force. People that don't assault the protestors will be disloyal and fired. Use the federal grants to control local police. Declare national emergency and then suspend the next election. The massive protests won't be the problem, they are THE OBJECTIVE.
EFFECTIVE protests matter; saying 'peaceful' protests belies the manipulation we saw at the BLM protests. They know how to use our actions against us. We have to out-think them, methinks.
People need to go to DC specifically. I don’t know that massive crowds in other blue cities will matter much. The politicians need to feel it personally.
As Donald dismembers U.S. alliances & Elon dismembers critical govt agencies, MBS, who dismembered Khashoggi, hosts “peace talks” (for piece parts) as Vlad dismembers Ukraine. And democracy hangs on by a limb!
I feel like I’m going crazy when I do anything “normal” now. Everything looks and feels different to me. Even grocery shopping feels like I’m at a funeral.
I do see a lot of signs that people are waking up, though, so I try to be hopeful that we have enough democracy left to get off the road to ruin.
Get to know the 5 Stars App. It's an easy way to call your representatives directly - along with scripts for the issues you're calling about. Call early! Call often! It's your duty as a citizen to reach out to your representatives to let them know what you think and how you feel.
Mike, I have of late become a devout reader of your posts beginning with “The Plot Against America “. What I did not see in that piece nor in this one is a suggestion of any kind of the way forward. There is no question of abject complicity by the media, law makers at every level of government and certainly a vast swath of Americans most of whom voted for Trump (though, I suspect, had no idea that this is what they were voting for) and many too overcome by the tsunami currently engulfing us and the world at large. Many others…tens of millions…recognize what is happening and in one form or another have engaged in some form of resistance but with momentum so powerful behind this obvious coup it is difficult if not impossible to identify what form a successful resistance strategy looks like. It’s one thing to call it out…it’s another matter entirely to figure out how to transform the talk into an action that might have a modicum of success.
People in the streets, David. That is the last defense.
One suggestion: Seeing that part of the Trump administration playbook is firing federal employees, including those whose opinions don’t line up, concerned Americans should organise to offer accommodation and food to those federal employees who lose their livelihoods in this way. Perhaps, if there was a nationwide initiative in this direction (maybe organised on a street by street or neighbourhood by neighbourhood basis), more people would have the courage to speak out when they can still be heard rather than self-censor in the hope of keeping their jobs.
That's a great suggestion. Solidarity!
That said, it may very well be that in time the various factions which comprise this “government” (and I use the term advisedly) simply rip themselves apart because of the divergence of ideologies which appear to be feeding at the Trump trough. While it is true that the White Christian Nationalist wing of Trump World and the techno libertarian wing both share some common goals, i.e. disruption of the status quo, the bases for their respective ideologies have pretty much nothing in common. If Steve Bannon is to be believed, he and they have made clear their disdain for techno libertarianism and expressed the view that they are parasites riding the Trump wave for purposes which he and they do not share. He has called Musk a “parasitic illegal immigrant…[who] wants to impose his great experiment and play-act as God without any respect for the country’s history, tradition or values”. Putting Musk aside, the Thiel-financed movement is, I suspect, nevertheless anathema to Bannon’s vision which is hyper-patriotic , seeking to honor the country’s traditions and values though, of course on their White Nationalistic terms. There is nothing about those goals which are shared by techno libertarians who seemingly have no interest in honoring the country’s traditions, seeking, to instead destroy democracy in order to create a society based upon AI models, what you called “an unstoppable force that will inevitably dissolve traditional democratic institutions, framing the concentration of power among tech elites as inevitable”. I suspect those goals very much run contrary to the Bannon side of the equation. Can these two ideologies co-exist? With Thiel having invested so much money and energy to place Vance a heartbeat away from the Presidency and Musk having bought his way into the White House, it is hard to imagine the Bannon side of things prevailing and if it doesn’t or can’t, what then? One thing is for certain…we are all caught in the middle and will suffer as a result regardless of how this plays out. Perhaps they eat their own and afford us a chance for a quick breath. You never know.
What about the 2nd Amendment? It’s supposed to be a bulwark against this. If Trump invokes the insurrection act in response to nationwide protests, then what do we have left? Maybe anti-authoritarians need to start forming their own private militias and paramilitaries.
In my opinion the story that the 2nd amendment is somehow a bulwark against this was always a self-serving lie. It was a story the NRA told to sell guns. And the people who bought that are not on the side of democracy. Indeed the ones forming these militias are the same ones who sacked Congress on January 6th on their furher's orders.
I fear we may need to arm, but more against those wannebe brownshirts not a government that is vastly more armed. The bigger threat comes from Musk's wholesale theft of our data. And to do that we need economic power. And our first weapon, as Michael Collins defined it: our refusal.
Mutually Assured Destruction,
What do we have left?
Why are folks envisioning that we have to be out on the streets, armed? For fuck's sake, we have the power of lengthy and coordinated national strikes and boycotts, all of which can be done from the comfort of your home if so desired. Our labor, or refusal of it, is our power. Think of all the times you've heard about the economic havoc that the truckers' or dock workers' strikes could create. And their numbers are infinitesimal compared to that of an organized national strike throughout all sectors of the economy.
Remember, we have the ability to reach masses of people through organized communications via our phones and computers, so let's fucking do it! And by the way, if you haven't done so already, you might want to download Signal on your devices.
Here are some places you can start:
FEBRUARY 28: https://thirdact.org/texas/2025/02/10/u-s-economic-blackout-planned-for-feb-28/
MARCH 15: https://substack.com/@nolkaphanem/posts ; https://substack.com/@nolkaphanem/p-157290075
https://events.pol-rev.com/
https://theonecalledjai.com/
https://generalstrikeus.com/
Yeah, it will take a little while to get completely geared up and better organized for a larger strike, but things are moving -- people just have to get on board AND they have to spread the word (don't assume others know about any given strike/boycott).
Lastly, when reading about the long-term or far-reaching goals of some of these groups, don't obsess on what you might not agree with. I think it's pretty safe to say we're all sort of focused on the same priorities for the immediate future, and THAT'S what's important.
May be the only defense. Time will tell whether it will be enough to counter the snowball that’s already running us over.
Early last fall, I called a friend, a retired Navy admiral who was once the top public relations officer of the Navy. He was at his office in the Pentagon on 9/11. He is a Republican, but not a Trump supporter. I was foreseeing what we are now witnessing. I asked him about Trump not obeying the courts. (We did not talk about Congress.) I knew that the judiciary did not have its own law enforcement group reporting to it. Enforcement had to come from the DOJ. At the time I did not know about the US Marshalls' judiciary role. No matter, they report to the Attorney General. I knew that Garland's replacement would be a toady, and would not comply with a court order Trump did not like. The admiral was confident that the courts would hold sway...because they took an oath to the Constitution. He also thought that the Secret Service would step up, also because they took an oath. I did not laugh at him, but the conversation ended shortly after that with me saying that I hoped he was right, and I was wrong. This is on us. No one has our back, except a lot of independent media, like here on Substack. National strike, and soon.
I approached this differently, instead of contacting the my congresspeople- Schumer & Gillabrandt who I know are fighting Stephanik is supposedly on her way to the UN - I contacted my local state reps - shit runs downhill so to speak- eventually all politics is local and the blood will be in their streets, I bet they won’t be invited on musks rocket ship they at the state level better mobilize their supporters & resources or they too will be thrown into this autocratic hell hole with the rest of us
I agree 100%, but again, HOW do we get people to wake up? It's absolutely maddening trying to explain these concepts to complacent friends, family, etc... They look away uncomfortably because they don't understand AND they feel powerless. I fear that most of them will not wake up until these cuts and changes directly affect them.
I had several interesting conversations with intelligent strangers in Texas last week. They fully embraced the direction the current administration and advisors were taking the country. Not sleeping, not alarmed, and not concerned. On the contrary, super supportive. How many millions are in this camp?
Add to this group the millions of people that have not benefited from American representative democracy and are cheering in misinformed fashion for something, anything new. The total of these two groups might be a solid majority, and perversely the shenanigans today could be considered majority approved.
We might be better served by a critical examination of American values, lifestyle, and meaning before hitting the streets to save what many consider either wrong or a myth. Does America have enough shared values to remain a cohesive nation?
America has always worked better for some than others. We must remove the rose colored glasses and internalize that the folks in power now are representative of too many Americans, either the some or duped aspirational others.
“Anti-Trump 50501 Protests Break Out Across the Country
Protests against Donald Trump and Elon Musk took place nationwide on President’s Day.”
(The New Republic)
The question is what has it done? What will it do? Action is to bring change. We are up against a transnational criminal network. Will the military support civilians or follow Trump’s orders?
TONIGHT IF YOU REGISTER:
Event Details:
📅 Date: February 19, 2025
📍 Time: 7:00 - 8:30PM ET (4:00 - 5:30PM PT)
🔗 Link to Join: https://BuildTheResistance.org/BuildingOn50501
“What to Expect:
Understand why resistance today must look different from past movements.
Learn how to build power and take effective action beyond the streets.
Get practical tools to plug into ongoing efforts and mobilize in your own community.”
“Trump Firing Thousands Of National Park, Forest Service Workers Sparks Protests
More than 4,000 probationary workers lost their jobs in recent days as part of DOGE's ongoing purge.” (HUFFINGTON POST)
Absolutely, sane people in the US and throughout the world look on the trump admin and reel from the rampant idiocy and abuse of power proceeding apace, and dismay at the lack of concrete means to enforce limits on the executive branch. This is just one of Democrats’ failings over the past 4 years, failure to harden limits on executive power which trump is now running away with, beyond restraint. I believe we’re past the stage of nonviolent demonstration; first, it’s doubtful that anyone in the administration could care less about citizens who aren’t Maga. I’ll go a step further and predict that at some point, protestors—US citizens—will be shipped to Guantanamo. That’s the world we’re crossing the threshold into, as the author describes.
So what other options? My suggestions are that people pull money from banks, raise the withholding exemptions on their pay so that no federal tax is withheld, blue states should stop all remission of tax to the federal government, and people should file no tax return unless they’re receiving money back. Next steps beyond that are national strikes that last more than one day, and boycotting buying anything other than from locally owned businesses. The final step is that states start seceding, which might get ugly but at least wake people up and prevent WWIII, keeping the trump admin from invading Panama, Greenland, Canada, and Gaza/West Bank. As the author states, our timeline is short. If we fail to act before the coup is complete, there will be no going back and no recourse.
“Yet most Americans continue their daily routines as if nothing fundamental has changed.”
To be fair, most Americans still need to individually survive, and a lot of that comes down to continuing with the daily routines that enable us to eat and have shelter. This is not me disagreeing with you, it’s just that I have a working class job. My co-workers and I were struggling to pay for rent and groceries long before Trump 2.0, and I can’t blame them for not noticing that things are getting worse because for a lot of them, shit was already bad.
I hear you, truly. Survival is hard enough—especially when the system is already failing so many. That struggle is real. And that’s what makes this moment so urgent. Because if we let this slide into autocracy, it won’t just be "bad"—it will be something far worse. It will be permanent. The tools being built now—AI, surveillance, dismantled institutions—will lock in that suffering, making escape impossible. That’s why I’m shouting so loud. Not to guilt working people, but to say: we must fight now, together, or soon there may be no way out.
I one hundred percent agree with you, and I really do wish more people were looking outside of themselves in this tumultuous moment. It’s challenging, though, because right now, so much is still not directly experienced by everyday Americans. I think you’re correct about the weaponization of AI, and more people should be concerned. It’s just that maybe this big issue is not the way to get people to care about what’s happening because most people haven’t really experienced AI, as it currently exits, do much of anything, let alone be used by nefarious government actors .
Thank you for this. I flashed on Jose Saramago’s book Blindness when I read this. I’m going to say that blindness is the illusion of comfortable because whatever gains are only short term. You can ground yourself in comfort (not necessarily comfortable) and wake up at the same time but I think that requires some mindfulness.
Excellent book! I've read it many times and have passed it down to my kids. It's a reminder that we can go from normal to dystopian very quickly and it will all seem to make sense as it's happening.
Resist Cyborg Theocracy.
I am aware of all this AND terrified AND sad but I still don’t know what to do
Contact your local reps tell them that eventually they’ll be dealing with the fall out in their local communities- blood will be flowing in their local villages and towns
Thanks for posting. For those of us who would choose to actively stand up and oppose, the options (calling reps, protests, donations to EFF, NRDC, etc) appear bleak. Traditional channels do not appear to make any significant impact. How do you suggest we could actually turn back this juggernaut?
Guns. Buy guns. I’m not kidding. One side can’t uphold Democratic norms all by themselves. Democracy is a contract. Not a suicide vest. If a faction decides it wants to throw it away and rule by force, then they’ll succeed if they aren’t met with force.
Mike: Can you give us a plan of action as well as a dire report? Americans are “can do” people.
We have to get people on the streets. It's really that simple.
Not even remotely trying to be pessimistic here...but let me give you a play by play. Defy the courts, create massive job losses, order the police, military, national guard etc..to crack down on protestors and send in your Jan 6 goons to create the excuse for force. People that don't assault the protestors will be disloyal and fired. Use the federal grants to control local police. Declare national emergency and then suspend the next election. The massive protests won't be the problem, they are THE OBJECTIVE.
THANK YOU.
I've been thinking this for awhile now.
EFFECTIVE protests matter; saying 'peaceful' protests belies the manipulation we saw at the BLM protests. They know how to use our actions against us. We have to out-think them, methinks.
Maggie,
National strikes and boycotts do not require you to be on the streets.
On the streets doing what?
People need to go to DC specifically. I don’t know that massive crowds in other blue cities will matter much. The politicians need to feel it personally.
🪚DISMEMBERSHIP 🪚
As Donald dismembers U.S. alliances & Elon dismembers critical govt agencies, MBS, who dismembered Khashoggi, hosts “peace talks” (for piece parts) as Vlad dismembers Ukraine. And democracy hangs on by a limb!
I feel like I’m going crazy when I do anything “normal” now. Everything looks and feels different to me. Even grocery shopping feels like I’m at a funeral.
I do see a lot of signs that people are waking up, though, so I try to be hopeful that we have enough democracy left to get off the road to ruin.
Get to know the 5 Stars App. It's an easy way to call your representatives directly - along with scripts for the issues you're calling about. Call early! Call often! It's your duty as a citizen to reach out to your representatives to let them know what you think and how you feel.
https://5calls.org/getting-started/