With your point regarding the fact that militias in the U.S. now no longer have to “stand back” ... probably does us good to revisit the chilling warning of German Martin Niemöller, who became an outspoken critic of Hitler. During the rise of Nazism, he emphasized the dangers of inaction and complicity in the face of oppression:
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me”
George, this is the best summation of the election I have read. I agree with every word. I admit I am frightened by the coming onslaught by the rethuglicans. As I am approaching 92 in March I fear losing Social Security may put me out on the street with no where to go. I am proposing secession by 7 Western States and 7 or 8 Northeastern States so we at least will have two areas of refuge from the fascist dictatorship around the corner. I fear I am too late in organizing and people are yet too timid for bold action.
Thank you Fay. This reply is pre-caffeination so apologies in advance. I suspect this den of thieves will push the retirement age for future retirees higher. This might have been a more reasonable approach in conjunction with lifting the income cap to completely fund the system and even shift to a better mechanism to support retirees a generation ago when there were private pension and profit sharing plans. There might be several proposals related to privatization (I'm certain Rick Scott would enjoy flexing his in-depth knowledge of Medicare fraud to shift funds into the hands of greedy friends). I have thought about a Blue State exit -it would be interesting since at present, Blue State taxpayer funds are used to provide vital assistance in addressing Red State poverty. At this point as a US taxpayer I'm not a huge fan of "adopting a MAGA" especially on the basis of the new stream of responses I receive from some of my insights.
Thanks, George. According to Project 2025. jd vance and elon musk the plan is to extinguish Social Security, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act; along with demolishing the Department of Education, Health and Human Services, including the CDC, the National Weather Service, and NOAA. They then intend to withdraw from NATO and the Paris Climate Accord (again). Far from making America great again, they will push our reputation in the world into the cesspool.
Oh, yes they also plan to demolish the Civil Service and the Federal Bureaucracy and replace it with the cronyism of the latter part of the19th century. Their allegiance will be to the current dictator NOT the Constitution which they intend to burn.
I have updated my essay on Secession (now called Addendum to Secession on Fay's Rants if you care to read it.
I am boycotting Trump donors and his demographics.
I am checking campaign finance disclosures before I shop or eat out, for example, to see who has given what to which campaign. God bless public campaign finance reports.
There are certain ethnic restaurants I will avoid, too, because those groups flipped hard for Trump. (Yes I know not all, but 50% is enough to make me turn away.) This isn’t bigotry, it is economic protest. I may like the cuisine but I no longer respect the source. I am unsure I can be civil while there right now, so I will no longer be a patron.
Meanwhile many of the mega millionaires who funded Trump are already well known, so Walmart, Coors and Chic Fil A are no longer where I will spend my money. Not everyone can walk away from Walmart, due to access and income issues, but I can. Bud Light still looks good to me.
I guess I have declared my own quiet economic war. If someone has devalued me and my family, I am retiring the favor. And I am not alone.
Thank you Ann. And it is an important expression of economic power. For example, we should all be leaving the former Twitter. And another interesting area is a Tesla boycott. Musk sided against 68 million citizens who accept the reality of climate. That’s a pretty large market to abandon. I will be writing more about this soon.
Thanks for your perspective on the election George. I always look forward to your insights.
I agree that the Democrats need to adjust their messaging, but in the face of declining educational standards I worry that the public will become unable to understand the basics of economics, much less the minutiae.
I'm looking forward to civ.works, we need facts and analysis, not horse-race journalism.
BTW: I check all the same boxes as you when I look in the mirror.
Looking forward to your insights. I read some of the Powell Memo -- it looks like it had/has a huge influence on GOP policies. How to counter this, when for them it's all about greed and money, and they have no qualms using lies and disinformation to dumb down the public? When for them human decency is nothing but a contemptable joke? No idea.
Very true Jessica. Years ago I did some significant work in collective economic empowerment. It was covered in this 2008 report. It’s time to write about it and integrate some of the concepts into the civ.works platform. https://civ.works/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/esf.pdf
I mourn for the country I thought I lived in. No longer. I told Pam to expand the gardens and add to our chicken flock. In total retreat. Fortunately I am old enough that I can afford complete withdrawal. Learn Portuguese, brother, and get your citizenship ….that is if Putin hasn’t invaded Spain…
I’d like to help grow civ.works but I downloaded the app and can’t create an account. It asks for things I’m interested in but there is no list. It won’t start my account without input on a list that doesn’t exist. Can you look into that? I’ll send more your way if it will work.
I’ll wait for the fix. I’m researching resistance organizations already available for an active political group of women I’m in on FB. Standing by. Thanks!
LOL. Scary to get a response by the time I got to the end of the comments : ). Besides, I'm walking on egg-shells, so as not to be misunderstood while posting trauma-induced thoughts on substack. Jittery... I give you credit for being courageous and thick-skinned, also!
I despise fascism, neo-nazis, corruption, exploitation, inequality, injustice, abuse, unfounded assumptions, and willful ignorance. Which boxes do you check when you look in the mirror?
Hey George, yay to civ.works!
With your point regarding the fact that militias in the U.S. now no longer have to “stand back” ... probably does us good to revisit the chilling warning of German Martin Niemöller, who became an outspoken critic of Hitler. During the rise of Nazism, he emphasized the dangers of inaction and complicity in the face of oppression:
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me”
Indeed and thank you Becca.
George, this is the best summation of the election I have read. I agree with every word. I admit I am frightened by the coming onslaught by the rethuglicans. As I am approaching 92 in March I fear losing Social Security may put me out on the street with no where to go. I am proposing secession by 7 Western States and 7 or 8 Northeastern States so we at least will have two areas of refuge from the fascist dictatorship around the corner. I fear I am too late in organizing and people are yet too timid for bold action.
Thank you Fay. This reply is pre-caffeination so apologies in advance. I suspect this den of thieves will push the retirement age for future retirees higher. This might have been a more reasonable approach in conjunction with lifting the income cap to completely fund the system and even shift to a better mechanism to support retirees a generation ago when there were private pension and profit sharing plans. There might be several proposals related to privatization (I'm certain Rick Scott would enjoy flexing his in-depth knowledge of Medicare fraud to shift funds into the hands of greedy friends). I have thought about a Blue State exit -it would be interesting since at present, Blue State taxpayer funds are used to provide vital assistance in addressing Red State poverty. At this point as a US taxpayer I'm not a huge fan of "adopting a MAGA" especially on the basis of the new stream of responses I receive from some of my insights.
Thanks, George. According to Project 2025. jd vance and elon musk the plan is to extinguish Social Security, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act; along with demolishing the Department of Education, Health and Human Services, including the CDC, the National Weather Service, and NOAA. They then intend to withdraw from NATO and the Paris Climate Accord (again). Far from making America great again, they will push our reputation in the world into the cesspool.
Oh, yes they also plan to demolish the Civil Service and the Federal Bureaucracy and replace it with the cronyism of the latter part of the19th century. Their allegiance will be to the current dictator NOT the Constitution which they intend to burn.
I have updated my essay on Secession (now called Addendum to Secession on Fay's Rants if you care to read it.
Thank you Fay. Will definitely read the essay.
Hilarious response : ) -- especially since it is pre-caffeination.
Thanks Christopher -I'm even funnier when I'm post-single malt.
I am boycotting Trump donors and his demographics.
I am checking campaign finance disclosures before I shop or eat out, for example, to see who has given what to which campaign. God bless public campaign finance reports.
There are certain ethnic restaurants I will avoid, too, because those groups flipped hard for Trump. (Yes I know not all, but 50% is enough to make me turn away.) This isn’t bigotry, it is economic protest. I may like the cuisine but I no longer respect the source. I am unsure I can be civil while there right now, so I will no longer be a patron.
Meanwhile many of the mega millionaires who funded Trump are already well known, so Walmart, Coors and Chic Fil A are no longer where I will spend my money. Not everyone can walk away from Walmart, due to access and income issues, but I can. Bud Light still looks good to me.
I guess I have declared my own quiet economic war. If someone has devalued me and my family, I am retiring the favor. And I am not alone.
Thank you Ann. And it is an important expression of economic power. For example, we should all be leaving the former Twitter. And another interesting area is a Tesla boycott. Musk sided against 68 million citizens who accept the reality of climate. That’s a pretty large market to abandon. I will be writing more about this soon.
Thanks for your perspective on the election George. I always look forward to your insights.
I agree that the Democrats need to adjust their messaging, but in the face of declining educational standards I worry that the public will become unable to understand the basics of economics, much less the minutiae.
I'm looking forward to civ.works, we need facts and analysis, not horse-race journalism.
BTW: I check all the same boxes as you when I look in the mirror.
Thank you Bob. Always grateful for your insights (and reflection). 🤓
A clearsighted view of future activism, so needed to counter the despair and resignation many of us feel. Let's move on. There's much to be done.
Thank you Jessica. There’s more to come soon.
Looking forward to your insights. I read some of the Powell Memo -- it looks like it had/has a huge influence on GOP policies. How to counter this, when for them it's all about greed and money, and they have no qualms using lies and disinformation to dumb down the public? When for them human decency is nothing but a contemptable joke? No idea.
Very true Jessica. Years ago I did some significant work in collective economic empowerment. It was covered in this 2008 report. It’s time to write about it and integrate some of the concepts into the civ.works platform. https://civ.works/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/esf.pdf
I mourn for the country I thought I lived in. No longer. I told Pam to expand the gardens and add to our chicken flock. In total retreat. Fortunately I am old enough that I can afford complete withdrawal. Learn Portuguese, brother, and get your citizenship ….that is if Putin hasn’t invaded Spain…
Thank you Allan. I definitely need to expand my Portuguese vocabulary beyond obrigado and desculpe.
Excellent piece and proposals, George. I’ll look at civ this afternoon.
Thank you. More specific information is now available in my latest article as well: https://open.substack.com/pub/bomdia/p/the-new-resistance
Excellent piece, George! Clear-minded and forward-looking.
Thank you Catharine!
I’d like to help grow civ.works but I downloaded the app and can’t create an account. It asks for things I’m interested in but there is no list. It won’t start my account without input on a list that doesn’t exist. Can you look into that? I’ll send more your way if it will work.
Thank you for letting me know Deanna. Did you download from the iOS version or the Android version?
iOS
Thank you! In the meantime time if you happen to try the Web version that should be fine (although not much fun on a mobile device).
I’ll wait for the fix. I’m researching resistance organizations already available for an active political group of women I’m in on FB. Standing by. Thanks!
Thank you again Deanna!
Excellent piece of work today, George. But alas, all maga needs is a one-word rebuttal: "woke." I give up -- for now : )
Thank you Christopher. And I'm a proud woke hippie.
LOL. Scary to get a response by the time I got to the end of the comments : ). Besides, I'm walking on egg-shells, so as not to be misunderstood while posting trauma-induced thoughts on substack. Jittery... I give you credit for being courageous and thick-skinned, also!
I despise fascism, neo-nazis, corruption, exploitation, inequality, injustice, abuse, unfounded assumptions, and willful ignorance. Which boxes do you check when you look in the mirror?