“Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.” - FDR
I am encouraged by reports from some of the more knowledgable and engaged writers I follow that what we're doing is working. There is infighting. There is resistance within the party. That said, just a few moments ago one author reminded us to not underestimate the opposition's ability to coalesce around a shared goal if it means staying in power. So...yes, we have our work cut out for us. Thank you for sparing us from that one article you read. This cracked me up: "He thinks we should stop doing whatever it is we’re doing—which obviously isn’t working—and look for something that will work./ Silly us. Why didn’t we think of that?"
I do have to take breaks now and then in order not to feel like Alice in Wonderland. "What's up is down and what's down is up!" But I'm seeing those tiny signs, too. There's no giving up, not where it counts. That's the best sign.
When I was in elementary school in the early 60's, I was taught all about this sort of thing in between bomb drills. The teachers explained propaganda, free speech and what happens to those who disobey, and news that comes only from the "State". They were talking about Russia. The history was Nazi Germany. Now it's us. Never in a billion years did I think I would witness this destruction of democracy. And the powers that can do something are doing nothing. Wow. This is a very fragile world.
It's unbelievable. Especially considering who we're dealing with here. A man so unworthy of any kind of respect or admiration he's been a laughingstock for years, as well as a known conman.
He's now the leader of a regime bent on destroying an entire country, and until his followers come to their senses it looks like we're at their mercy.
If us humans, in this case Americans, are that stupid, our demise will be a blessing to the planet. She'll shake us all off before we resettle on Mars and destroy that planet too. Maybe we really are just a failed experiment. It's beyond sad........
I'd like to think there are too many good, decent folk for us to end that horribly. This may finally be our wake-up call. Too many including those in the bowels of government who should have known better, said this could never happen. Well, it's happening, but it doesn't have to continue happening. We have the tools and the know-how to end this. Now we need the courage and the commitment.
I'd like to think so too, I sure thought so yet Jan. 6 wasn't enough and I thought that was a no-brainer. I'm not overflowing with optimism right now-can you tell?!
New subscriber here and I just shared your terrific list of resources to my FB friends who are few in number and carefully vetted but are terrific about sharing things.
In 2017, an acquaintance of mine, the songwriter Perter Mulvey, did a reading one chapter at a time of Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny. Snyder's rules for resistance are now part of the literary canon of resistance but the one that seems most pertinent on a daily basis is "Do NOT obey in advance." So much of the caving and fear that we see is people, corporations and media obeying in advance, before they have to without a fight.
Fascist organizations seem to self distruct rather quickly in the past (example : WWII Italy) and things move much faster today in internet time.
It appears that Musk is deciding to take the money and run, Trump’s health and mind are both failing (and he looks like he died a week ago), and Vance doesn't seem to appeal to the Christian Nationalists like Trump did as a cult leader.
With the resistance shown during the recent protests ( multiple millions of people !) , I really don't expect this administration to last out even a single 4 year term.
They'll still commit all the outrages they can and do a lot of damage ( especially to the innocents), but it's not the end of the world as we know it yet.
“Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.” - FDR
Great quote from one of our greatest presidents. Thank you!
I am encouraged by reports from some of the more knowledgable and engaged writers I follow that what we're doing is working. There is infighting. There is resistance within the party. That said, just a few moments ago one author reminded us to not underestimate the opposition's ability to coalesce around a shared goal if it means staying in power. So...yes, we have our work cut out for us. Thank you for sparing us from that one article you read. This cracked me up: "He thinks we should stop doing whatever it is we’re doing—which obviously isn’t working—and look for something that will work./ Silly us. Why didn’t we think of that?"
Power on, Ramona!
I do have to take breaks now and then in order not to feel like Alice in Wonderland. "What's up is down and what's down is up!" But I'm seeing those tiny signs, too. There's no giving up, not where it counts. That's the best sign.
When I was in elementary school in the early 60's, I was taught all about this sort of thing in between bomb drills. The teachers explained propaganda, free speech and what happens to those who disobey, and news that comes only from the "State". They were talking about Russia. The history was Nazi Germany. Now it's us. Never in a billion years did I think I would witness this destruction of democracy. And the powers that can do something are doing nothing. Wow. This is a very fragile world.
It's unbelievable. Especially considering who we're dealing with here. A man so unworthy of any kind of respect or admiration he's been a laughingstock for years, as well as a known conman.
He's now the leader of a regime bent on destroying an entire country, and until his followers come to their senses it looks like we're at their mercy.
If us humans, in this case Americans, are that stupid, our demise will be a blessing to the planet. She'll shake us all off before we resettle on Mars and destroy that planet too. Maybe we really are just a failed experiment. It's beyond sad........
I'd like to think there are too many good, decent folk for us to end that horribly. This may finally be our wake-up call. Too many including those in the bowels of government who should have known better, said this could never happen. Well, it's happening, but it doesn't have to continue happening. We have the tools and the know-how to end this. Now we need the courage and the commitment.
I'd like to think so too, I sure thought so yet Jan. 6 wasn't enough and I thought that was a no-brainer. I'm not overflowing with optimism right now-can you tell?!
I’m not, either, which is why I’ll cling to those small but persistent signs of resistance. I’m hoping they’ll all add up to tsunami proportions.
Yes, yes, yes, to the tsunami!
Hear hear!!
New subscriber here and I just shared your terrific list of resources to my FB friends who are few in number and carefully vetted but are terrific about sharing things.
In 2017, an acquaintance of mine, the songwriter Perter Mulvey, did a reading one chapter at a time of Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny. Snyder's rules for resistance are now part of the literary canon of resistance but the one that seems most pertinent on a daily basis is "Do NOT obey in advance." So much of the caving and fear that we see is people, corporations and media obeying in advance, before they have to without a fight.
Fascist organizations seem to self distruct rather quickly in the past (example : WWII Italy) and things move much faster today in internet time.
It appears that Musk is deciding to take the money and run, Trump’s health and mind are both failing (and he looks like he died a week ago), and Vance doesn't seem to appeal to the Christian Nationalists like Trump did as a cult leader.
With the resistance shown during the recent protests ( multiple millions of people !) , I really don't expect this administration to last out even a single 4 year term.
They'll still commit all the outrages they can and do a lot of damage ( especially to the innocents), but it's not the end of the world as we know it yet.