@cdarwin@c.im2026-04-23 22:55:31
@hex@kolektiva.social2026-02-25 06:06:41
This is as good a time as any for a thought experiment.
You're in Nazi Germany. You know about the camps, you know what they do, you see the ash fall, you smell it. People who resist alone are killed, some are sent to the camps too. You're afraid to even talk to people about it for fear that they'll turn you in.
You think back to when the camps were being built. You had all the warning signs, but you didn't know how to interpret them. You could believe it would happen. You thought you'd have a chance to vote him out. You thought there might be another way. You thought maybe things would turn out differently if you just sat tight, kept your head down, kept yourself safe.
You see a family being dragged from their home. You know they will be killed. You want to fight, not just for them but for yourself. You opposed Hitler, and at any point you know you could be on the list... Even if you do nothing.
You wish you could rise up, shoot the SS, open the gates, fight it all. You know you aren't alone, but you don't know how to connect with the people who want the same thing.
Using the knowledge we have now, what should you have done in the preceding months and years to connect, to build a community that would open up all paths of resistance?
There were people who resisted. We know it wasn't enough.
Gun laws in Nazi Germany were very similar to US laws in that Nazis were largely free to own guns and everyone else was not. Unlike the US, where "others" have historically controlled using the fear that they might be randomly executed, Germany did codify it. Red flag laws were one more step in the US towards that codification, and there will be more.
When Nazis were taking away those guns, the social networks didn't exist to make resistance possible for most folks. But some Jews were able to resist.
It wasn't the guns that made the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising possible, though they definitely helped. The Warsaw Ghetto uprising was made possible by labor organizing in the precessing years.
If there were more uprisings like that, the Holocaust could have been stopped if not prevented. Social networks make resistance possible. Guns are only useful tools to resist authoritarianism *after* you build a community able to support that resistance, and they are only one of many tools made useful by that community.
Getting guns is easy, and not always necessary. Building community is hard. Guns won't keep you safe. Community will.
Single acts of resistance may slow the machine down, but to actually bring down a monster you need to be able to attack more than once. You need a society of resistance. If you are afraid now, build that. Talk to people while it's still safe to do so. Ask them where their red line is. Talk to neighbors. Figure out your network.
Take the steps you need now to keep your neighbors safe, to keep yourself safe.
#USPol
@cdarwin@c.im2026-02-24 08:38:07
A group of nearly 400 prominent Christian leaders called Donald Trump’s administration
“cruel and oppressive”
and accused the government of being corrupted by an aberrant form of Christianity,
in an Ash Wednesday statement
https://acalltochristians.org/
@ubuntourist@mastodon.social2026-02-23 12:25:51
15,000 people singing to call on ICE to leave their jobs!
🎵🎵🎵
Oh-h-h, It's okay to change your mind,
Show us your courage,
Leave this behind,
It's okay to change your mind,
And you can join us,
Join us here any time
🎵🎵🎵
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVEuV1hkvjG/
@cdarwin@c.im2026-04-24 12:15:15
Trump’s venal persona and his war on Iran will do untold damage to America’s ability to make a positive difference in the world
Trump’s hardline authoritarianism is devastating to American soft power.
He is a one-man wrecking crew for values that presidents of each party tried to promote.
America the generous? He eviscerated USAID, America’s foreign aid agency.
America the democratic beacon? He pardoned the January 6 rioters and sent ICE to Minnesota.
America …
@islamoyankee@mastodon.social2026-02-22 23:53:54
Event Video: Multifaith Prayers and Call to Action
The Interfaith Center of New York hosted a conference on Religious Resistance to Authoritarianism, and I privileged to be invited to give one of the close prayers. The video of that segment is below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_AsyGBk9bI
@memeorandum@universeodon.com2026-04-13 16:25:41
Three Lessons From Hungary on How to Beat Competitive Authoritarianism (Gabriela Greilinger/Talking Points Memo)
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/three-lessons-from-hungary-on-how-to-beat-competitive-authoritarianism
http://www.memeorandum.com/260413/p68#a260413p68
@metacurity@infosec.exchange2026-01-28 13:49:40
How ICE Uses AI to Automate Authoritarianism
https://www.techpolicy.press/how-ice-uses-ai-to-automate-authoritarianism/
@hex@kolektiva.social2026-02-20 10:01:44
The document also notes that intelligence and counter-intelligence form the base of all operations. As I've noted this is exactly the area where authoritarianism is at it's weakest.
Authoritarianism is extremely weak at information collection and processing. To counter this weakness, it floods the information environment so that intelligence becomes more difficult for *everyone*.
What folks don't tend to realize, what is covered in the book "To Catch a Fascist," is the fact that "antifa" is really a big decentralized intelligence network.
@cdarwin@c.im2026-04-18 23:04:27
Corruption and authoritarianism aren't distinct problems,
they're two sides of the same coin.
Kleptocracy and autocracy go hand in hand, each dependent on the other to sustain itself.
https://bsky.app/profile/zacheverson.com/post/3mjrllytb4w2a
