Absolute, Undivided Attention is Prayer~Simone Weil

If You Aren't Horrified, You Are Not Paying Attention

Simone Weil (1909-1943) was a French philosopher, mystic and political activist. She was known for her deep thinking on justice, suffering and spirituality. In her short life, she witnessed the rise of authoritarianism, the horrors of the Holocaust, and the role of moral resistance in times of tyranny. She believed in the power of solidarity with those targeted by hate and oppressive regimes. Her spirituality influenced her writings and propelled her to a life of political activism. She refused to turn a blind eye to the horrors of the war and she believed that paying absolute, unmixed attention to the tyranny that surrounded her was a form of prayer.

Let us all be that prayer; for our sake and for the future’s sake.

Image by Kent Danes/Unspalsh

Did You Know:

Our beloved, flawed and imperfect union is now in the throes of an ‘authoritarian breakthrough’. We must understand clearly what this means if we are to reverse the breakthrough. Throughout history, countries that have fallen victim to dictatorial rule experienced the following phenomena on their journey to dictatorship:

• the consolidation of power into one centralized ‘executive branch’

• suppression of dissent, including criminalizing and imprisoning political critics, dissidents and activists resisting the takeover

• the erosion of checks and balances thus giving the regime complete immunity

21st century governmental coups are not happening with military interventions and violent insurrections, they are happening when an authoritarian ‘wannabe’ is duly elected and that leader then uses the levers of a democracy to transform a democratic form of governance into an authoritarian regime. It is a malicious ‘trick of hand’ and is happening under our noses. Not enough people are paying attention.

Why It Matters:

There is a pattern of how a democracy falls into authoritarianism. Each country has its own set of vulnerabilities and predisposed conditions that may contribute to the ultimate demise of its democratic form of governance. For us, the electoral college, make up of the Senate, and extreme partisan gerrymandering has resulted in ‘minority rule’ in our federal government and many of our state governments. We have been moving away from representational governance for decades. These conditions weaken our democracy and leaves us vulnerable.

Once the MAGA regime gained a trifecta in the national government, they began their journey of moving toward autocratic rule. The first six months of this regime was a calculated stage of an ‘autocratic attempt’; a testing of the waters to see how ready our county was to slide into this authoritarian abyss.

Here are just a few examples of their actions in testing the resilience of our democracy and the degree to which they would meet opposition—the entire list would be overwhelming and requires more time and resources than we have:

• The Senate confirmations of recklessly unqualified candidates was the opening gambit. Check!

• The illegal takeover of federal agencies by Elon Musk and the stealing of personal data from the IRS and Social Security Administration by his teenage mutant minion tech bros was a simultaneous double play. Check!

• The firing of all the Inspectors General in the federal agencies that provide oversight against corruption and malfeasance. Check!

• Trump’s continual illegal and unconstitutional tariff manipulations paid for by everyday citizens by increased consumer prices and destabilizing our economy. Check!

• The passing of an egregious budget bill that takes food out of the mouths of poor children, robs everyday citizens of their health care in order to give billionaires a tax break. Check!

• ICE agents, often wearing masks and civilian clothing, abducting people off the streets or from their homes and unlawfully holding them captive in concentration camps without due process. Check!

• Defending and lying about all of the above using propaganda and gaslighting. Check!

Here’s the danger. Now that the autocratic attempt succeeded, the regime moved into the second phase of the mission which is the ‘authoritarian breakthrough’. Now it is even harder to resist the tyranny and the window is closing.

The cowardice of our elected GOP politicians gave this regime an automatic first down in their autocratic attempt. The MAGA regime now has an open field and is running the ball to a dictatorial touchdown. Will anyone attempt a tackle?

Image by David Pepper/Hold the Line

What We Can Do:

Our first assignment is to pay absolute, undivided attention to this moment and to sound the alarm for those who have yet to notice or do not understand what is happening.

Secondly, we the people need to organize and move into a collective display of non-cooperation against this authoritarian breakthrough. There is a national movement and training called 1 Million Rising that is helping to organize and empower a resistance movement. It’s easy to become involved:

• Sign up for the final training on Wednesday, August 13th. Just by signing up you will get the videos and resources of all three sessions for your review even if you can’t attend the zoom session on Wednesday evening.

• If you are willing and able, volunteer to host a “community resistance gathering with your immediate network. This is how we will grow a pro-democracy resistance movement. The 1 Million Rising coalition are experts in what successful resistance movements look like and community conversations are where it all starts.

• Take advantage of the Conversation Guide and Book and Movie Discussion Guide that H4D developed with other democracy defenders as a free community resource for building community and relational outreach.

• Join an Indivisible group near you.

• MADVoters is an Indiana phenomenon and is making national news about Indiana’s resistance against our own homegrown tyranny. Together with other democracy defenders, they made sure that J.D. Vance heard how unwelcome he is in Indiana. Join MADVoters today!

• Hoosiers for Democracy substack is your trusted source for movement building that doesn’t assault your inbox! Invite others to subscribe to H4D and help us grow!

Yours in joyful and persistent resistance,

Debbie & the H4D team

Note: One hallmark of an authoritarian breakthrough is the militarization of the police and federal law enforcement overreach. On Monday, August 11, 2025, Trump declared federal control of Washington, D. C. This is illegal, unconstitutional and a dictatorial move. Beware!