This is how we system, through our being, in each moment. I love this manifesto Mike. It is how we see and feel our agency, as embodied, and that we can continue to be the non-authoritarian world for ourselves and others. I love that you bring joy into this. The relational space of who can we be for each other is within our ambit, as authoritarian power dismisses it as soft and powerless. But it is the actual space of resistance as it weaves us together. We make the revolution irresistible.
I have a red state friend that writes romance novels in a very specific genre, contemporary stories of small town girls and cowboys. She makes a VERY good living, and her audience includes lots of rural red state women.
I have followed her socials for years and they are always discussion of things like food and vacation spots, she has never posted anything serious or political.
Until yesterday.
She posted her thoughts about what is happening to our country, to a decidedly mixed reaction, a decision that has the potential to cost her a large amount of money.
But she felt she had to do it, and I applauded her courage.
I keep mentioning empathy because it’s the key to all of this. The forces of autocracy have blinded themselves to empathy, or lack it in the first place. They crave power and wealth as a substitute for it. They think we are weak when it is THEY who are fundamentally broken. They lack the courage of conscience, to say “no” when they are about to cross an unwritten social law. Those laws and ethics bind us together. Without it, we are alone and must buy adoration and glory to substitute for LOVE. Great piece, I’m so grateful to find these.
Vance tosses cheap rhetoric bombs like "no, you have to have compassion/empathy for your family first, then your neighbors", etc. just handwaving to shit on "outsiders". I'm beyond hoping Trump fails out of power. I don't think Shady would be any better or any worse, and he certainly appears more directly in touch with the real puppet-masters. Has it really mattered that the Executive branch has disappointed MAGA 'influencers'? Perhaps there is something to be said for weakening the coalition — I'm just not seeing convincing arguments that it *isn't* too late for that.
This reminds me of Ionesco and his play The Rhinoceros. To quote him-
“I first thought of the rhinoceros image during the war (World War II), as I watched Romanian statesmen and politicians and later French intellectuals accommodate themselves to Hitler’s way of thinking. They might say something like, ‘Well, of course the Nazis are terrible, terrible people, but you know, you must credit them with their good points.’
And you wanted to say to them: ‘But don’t you see, if you start granting them a good point here, a good point there, eventually you will concede everything to them.’ Which is exactly what happened.
But they looked upon you as an alarmist, then a nuisance, finally an enemy to be run down. They looked like they wanted to lower their heads and charge.”
There are lies and there is self-deception. Maybe admitting to some of the awkward truths that the American Administration is a symptom of, especially to do with the decay of urban life and drugs and poverty that are possibly more obvious to people abroad, rather than trying to allocate all the blame on one camp, would be a good way to go too.
Bravo! “Take a stand and do the right thing,” backed by salient examples, is a powerful antidote to the psychopathic capture of our public sphere.
That said, the statement “This is why asking ‘what should we do?’ misses the point entirely.” risks overlooking those who hear their inner voice but feel scared or uncertain. I hope you feel both humbled and honored that people look to you for guidance. For those who have lost their way, a guiding light holds more power than a wagging finger.
This is great advice for all times, even if there wasn't a mega-crisis battering our hearts & minds. Stay open & free, everyone! Cling to Reality, share truth.
I am part of the problem. I stay quiet everyday of my life. Sometimes dozens of times if not hundreds of times in one day I have to stay quiet. I live in San Francisco, trying to raise 3 kids…..we are playing make believe.
Mike, I believe this was your best piece thus far - and that is saying a lot as the others are excellent!
This is how we system, through our being, in each moment. I love this manifesto Mike. It is how we see and feel our agency, as embodied, and that we can continue to be the non-authoritarian world for ourselves and others. I love that you bring joy into this. The relational space of who can we be for each other is within our ambit, as authoritarian power dismisses it as soft and powerless. But it is the actual space of resistance as it weaves us together. We make the revolution irresistible.
Nice work Mike:) I use the phrase 'Democracy is an attitude not an act'
I have a red state friend that writes romance novels in a very specific genre, contemporary stories of small town girls and cowboys. She makes a VERY good living, and her audience includes lots of rural red state women.
I have followed her socials for years and they are always discussion of things like food and vacation spots, she has never posted anything serious or political.
Until yesterday.
She posted her thoughts about what is happening to our country, to a decidedly mixed reaction, a decision that has the potential to cost her a large amount of money.
But she felt she had to do it, and I applauded her courage.
Kudos and best of luck to her, and thank you for sharing.
Character matters. Feed the darkness, or feed the light. Building character is a choice.
I keep mentioning empathy because it’s the key to all of this. The forces of autocracy have blinded themselves to empathy, or lack it in the first place. They crave power and wealth as a substitute for it. They think we are weak when it is THEY who are fundamentally broken. They lack the courage of conscience, to say “no” when they are about to cross an unwritten social law. Those laws and ethics bind us together. Without it, we are alone and must buy adoration and glory to substitute for LOVE. Great piece, I’m so grateful to find these.
Vance tosses cheap rhetoric bombs like "no, you have to have compassion/empathy for your family first, then your neighbors", etc. just handwaving to shit on "outsiders". I'm beyond hoping Trump fails out of power. I don't think Shady would be any better or any worse, and he certainly appears more directly in touch with the real puppet-masters. Has it really mattered that the Executive branch has disappointed MAGA 'influencers'? Perhaps there is something to be said for weakening the coalition — I'm just not seeing convincing arguments that it *isn't* too late for that.
This reminds me of Ionesco and his play The Rhinoceros. To quote him-
“I first thought of the rhinoceros image during the war (World War II), as I watched Romanian statesmen and politicians and later French intellectuals accommodate themselves to Hitler’s way of thinking. They might say something like, ‘Well, of course the Nazis are terrible, terrible people, but you know, you must credit them with their good points.’
And you wanted to say to them: ‘But don’t you see, if you start granting them a good point here, a good point there, eventually you will concede everything to them.’ Which is exactly what happened.
But they looked upon you as an alarmist, then a nuisance, finally an enemy to be run down. They looked like they wanted to lower their heads and charge.”
That pairs well with Popper's "paradox of tolerance".
There are lies and there is self-deception. Maybe admitting to some of the awkward truths that the American Administration is a symptom of, especially to do with the decay of urban life and drugs and poverty that are possibly more obvious to people abroad, rather than trying to allocate all the blame on one camp, would be a good way to go too.
Bravo! “Take a stand and do the right thing,” backed by salient examples, is a powerful antidote to the psychopathic capture of our public sphere.
That said, the statement “This is why asking ‘what should we do?’ misses the point entirely.” risks overlooking those who hear their inner voice but feel scared or uncertain. I hope you feel both humbled and honored that people look to you for guidance. For those who have lost their way, a guiding light holds more power than a wagging finger.
banger
I don't think we can have a rational society as long as the average IQ is below 105.
This is great advice for all times, even if there wasn't a mega-crisis battering our hearts & minds. Stay open & free, everyone! Cling to Reality, share truth.
This should be photocopied and put under every door, in every letter box. Thanks Mike.
You should promote my Charter 24, which is based on Vaclav Havel’s Charter 77.
https://charter24.org
Reminds me of Václav Havel’s ‘living in truth’ imperative in communist Czechoslovakia.
I am part of the problem. I stay quiet everyday of my life. Sometimes dozens of times if not hundreds of times in one day I have to stay quiet. I live in San Francisco, trying to raise 3 kids…..we are playing make believe.