We Are Sleep Walking Into Fascism
And It's Later Than You Think
There is an interesting pattern emerging these waning days of summer. Some of us are running around frantically telling everyone we know that ‘the sky is falling’ as we watch the systematic dismantling of our beloved republic and the unraveling of our civic institutions and democratic norms. We are probably larger in number than what we know, but our efforts to inform the public and strategically resist the emerging apocalypse are often disconnected, fragmented, and duplicitous. We need a unified, sustained, integrated effective pro-democracy people’s movement, and we are late to the party.
There are other folks who are completely unaware or checked out of what is happening and many others who are just blissfully complacent. There are many reasons why folks are living their lives as if nothing is happening, but at this point the reasons really don’t matter. What matters is whether we will be successful in connecting across our varied interests and levels of engagement to build a people’s party to resist this autocratic danger.
Did You Know:
Historians and experts in authoritarianism are telling us that we are in the grips of an authoritarian breakthrough. An authoritarian breakthrough is the point at which an emerging autocrat successfully transforms governmental structures, making the reversal of autocracy through electoral means very difficult if not impossible. Authoritarianism is successful when there is:
consolidation of power into one centralized executive branch
suppression of dissent including criminalizing and imprisoning political opponents, dissidents and activists that are resisting the takeover
erosion of the constitutional checks and balances thus giving the regime complete immunity
Deploying the federal military to occupy cities is a key strategy of authoritarians and the occupation of a country’s capital significantly increases their ability to stay in power. This is happening in plain sight.
On Monday, Trump signed a new executive order to expand the use of the National Guard nationwide to ensure a “quick reaction force that is resourced, trained, and available for rapid nationwide deployment”. This is performative posturing but gives us a clear picture of his motivations and his disdain for the Constitution. It is mostly illegal except for extreme circumstances that he can manufacture on a whim. Regardless of the stunt, this is not normal and it is a dangerous moment for our country.
Why It Matters:
Experts believe that there is still time to reverse this fascist takeover, but that window is closing. The actions of this regime are unpopular and will become even more so as the impact of the reckless policies become more known. Trump and his acolytes are moving quickly in their machinations to solidify the coup. They have now turned their sights to trying to manipulate the midterms through mid-cycle redrawing of Congressional maps and tinkering with mail-in voting.
Vice President J.D. Vance visited Indiana on August 7th to try to convince Gov. Mike Braun to follow Texas’ lead in manipulating Congressional districts in a mid cycle map drawing scheme. Protestors in the Statehouse let it be known just how unpopular of an idea that is for most Hoosiers. Indiana is one of the most partisan gerrymandered states in the country so we now only have two of the nine seats in the U.S. House of Representatives although the actual proportionate number for fair representation should be four seats out of nine. We have NO Democratic representation in the U.S. Senate. Indiana has about a 45%-55% split between Democrat and Republican votes, so Hoosiers are already under represented in Congress.
If their scheme were implemented and successful, Mike Braun and his supermajority MAGA lawmakers would deliberately and maliciously be silencing about 45% of Hoosier voters. On Tuesday, August 26, Governor Braun and the Indiana MAGA delegation flew to Washington, D.C. to meet with Trump. We can assume that he continued to bully them to create a special legislative session in order to manipulate the maps even more in his favor. (It is estimated that a two-week special session would cost taxpayers about $300,000.)
Stay tuned!
What We Can Do:
Scholars who have studied successful resistance movements that have reversed authoritarianism say the most effective way to reverse this trend is to create a multi-racial, multi-class pro-democracy movement that is widespread, sustained, and involves active engagement by at least 3.5% of the population. This movement will need to be based in the disciplines of non cooperation and the principles of nonviolence. We need a trained, resourced and readily available people’s movement that is available for statewide activism in every state.
There also must be ample social proof that a resistance movement is afoot—yard signs, billboards, neighborhood protests and collective ‘noise making’, sidewalk chalk and signs hung the windows of businesses that promotes the values of the movement. Ultimately, it will likely involve sustained strikes and boycotts.
There are groups who are taking up this mantle and working to create a sustained, robust, multi-faceted, strategic response to the injustices and lawlessness of the current regime. Not every civic organization understands the assignment and are using 20th century strategies against a 21st century coup that is coming from inside the house. Those strategies may keep activists busy, they are not helping to build a movement.
While there is urgency in the moment, people are also now more likely than before to be persuaded to look up from their busy lives and devices to see what is truly happening. This pro-democracy movement will begin on our front porches, in our neighborhoods, in our businesses, schools, churches, civic organizations and the other pillars of a healthy society. Relational organizing is the super power of mass movements. It is how we will build a ‘beloved community’ out of this mess.
Some important first steps:
Connect with national groups that are promoting non cooperation and active nonviolence methods. Indivisible National is a great place to start and will help you connect with a local group.
MADVoters is doing amazing grassroots organizing, civics education, voter registration and movement building. They understand 21st century activism and will speak up when our elected officials choose party over country.
Sign up to take a nonviolence training course. The King Center in Atlanta offers online courses and their website has great information to help you get started. The MLK Center in Indianapolis offers in-person courses in a variety of formats.
Take the 1 Million Rising/No Kings training to host neighborhood conversations to help build the noncooperation resistance movement one neighborhood at a time. It’s fun, it builds community and it builds momentum!
Download our Conversation Guide and Book and Movie Discussion Guide to help with neighborhood conversations. Visit the Organizing Indiana website for the most up to date information of what is happening in movement making around the state.
Share H4D with friends, family and neighbors. We will keep you informed while being kind to your inbox!
Yours in joyful resistance and movement building,
The H4D team
Indivisible is also a good group. Indivisible of central Indiana arranged it for around 50 Hoosiers to talk to Youngs Indiana Aid Monica 5 at a time. I was one. I was able to advocate for poor people. Touched on the military in LA. billionaires, I am one who calls every day. I asked who is his allegiance to AIPAC who donated $93,000 to him or Trump, because it clearly isn't to us. All these groups we need to meet as one group. Iam trying to become an ACLU phone bank volunteer. There is also a small group called Indiana progressives. I think we need them too. I am a GenX lady always considered myself a conservative to middle Democrat. I think I am becoming progressive because I have some pretty radical ideas and I stand solidly that Netanyahu should be arrested now along with Hamas and Hezzbollah leaders. I also think 🤔 Trump shredded and shit on our beloved Constitution. We will have to redo the whole thing and rise up out of the ashes of destruction. Oh I also asked if Senator Young would participate in Trump's impeachment trial. I have so many ideas and please know you can call Senators and Congresspersons and governors after hours in any state. And in any district in the state. Start going to city county council meetings, school board meetings consider running as a precinct committee person Democratic seats often are empty. If we get a good grasp of local government we can work our way up and get rid of ass kissers like Braun. Also we need to fight for legislation to have an independent group draw our districts and as you said stop gerrymandering. Especially at this time. Only after the census. We also need to consider joining a compact with other states to where whoever wins the popular vote becomes president. I am frustrated and sick of feeling like the only blue dot in a red sea and knowing my presidential vote never counts.
Let's get together!
What I would say would be a bit more blunt....but rather we are democrat republican independent black white Christian or atheist are labels that do not apply or matter right now...we are hoosiers trying to fix what our forefathers feared....we didn't work hard enough to keep democracy now we must work together putting all our differences aside (politically) to restore our common ideology of a freely fairly run democracy.