How to resist an oligarchy
Not everyone can, or needs to, be on the front lines and in the trenches shooting CEOs and blowing up pipelines, there are many other ways to help and organise which are essential not only to the resistance, but as building blocks for a better future
Credit: Fablefulart
I joined a Unitarian Universalist church last year, and it’s made a big difference in my life. UU doesn’t require anyone to believe anything besides the inherent dignity and worth of all humans. There’s some other grounding principles, but the gist is love and support one another. You can be an atheist or a theist. The organization is run democratically with transparency. It feels like a modern take on religion.
Our UU does volunteer work at local soup kitchens, raises money for charity, helps kids learn about religions. We do different events for social justice.
I was an atheist for 20 years, and UU repaired my relationship with god and community. Each of us has their own beliefs, but it feels like liberal democracy enshrined in a belief system. Even if the extremist take other aspects of our lives, I have faith in my local UU community.
I'm happy that you found your people. I'm personally much more invested in the rights of workers and general humanist values, and I belong in those trenches
I'm an atheist but I really respect the UUs. They do good work. :)) I've had many UU friends and their church near me in college had an absolutely massive pride flag out front. It was awesome.
I'd actually considered going to one myself to see what they were all about, but the nearest UU to me is quite a way away and I'm not able to travel, so it never materialised. I don't believe in god and don't have a relationship to repair, but don't have issue with individuals who do (my issue lies with organised religion, not personal belief), and I think groups that bring communities together (and without the pressure of having the same religious beliefs) like that are vital in building solidarity.
(In the 'Churchgoer' slide I think you have the wrong year on the bit about ICE)
One group you've missed that I think can do a lot of good are what you might call 'Interference'. Basically finding ways to make the system less efficient and effective. The resistance manual that's been going round has some ideas, but there's also basic stuff that can gum up the processes they use to be evil.
If they start a tip line to identify a certain class of individual, send them tips. Lots of tips. Make them plausible so they have to divert time and energy to investigting them.
If you see an official vehicle when you're travelling, obstruct it as much as could plausibly not be deliberate. Drive slowly and brake harder than you need to. In fact, do that anytime you can cause a nuisance.
Slow productivity anywhere you can. If you have to interact with a business that supports the oligarcy, do everything you can to reduce their efficiency. Call them repeatedly for minor things and talk for as long as possible. Place orders and then cancel them after they've started fulfilment. Return things.
Be sand in the cogs of the system without exposing yourself to direct physical danger. None of these things will end the threat on their own, but they make it easier for others to resist and add up if many people do them. If you're working online use protection. A good, ideally foreign and non-logging, VPN helps, TOR also helps, but you should always assume these things c`n be compromised, so stack them.
Just to be clear, I didn't miss anything because I didn't make it, fablefulart did. 😊
Otherwise, I agree, those are really good points, thanks for adding them!
Luigi
Wahoo!
Yeah, but we don't post publicly about that..
If churches, synagogues, schools etc. are now unsafe from ICE raids it's time people thought about making safehouses if they want to help resistance -- but how many modern homes have basements or attics that can have easily-hidden access?
I've been thinking, could supporters outside of the US offer mailing services for mifepristone etc. via stealth via sending baked goods, keychains with hollow storage or similar that can obscure pills within? Such measures will likely be necessary to keep supplies available in restricted states. Someone should organize a covert sign-up system for women to request mailings from outside the country.
That's a really good idea, unfortunately I'm not in a position to handle the logistics of something like that myself, but I'd 100% be up for donating funds and even posting medication to the US if something like that was happening.
Dunno how much it counts, but I'm looking into contributing to projects like ActivityPub implementations to hopefully help improve our lovely little platforms, and perhaps gather more users.
I'd like to be a marcher, but I need to gather my wits real quick first.
Having and maintaining a platform to safely communicate on is important, but we can't forget that lemmy isn't secure, so consider supporting (or promoting amongst your peers) platforms that are, too.
As for marching, if that is really where you think you could help most, train! build strength, learn how to use cold and hot weapons, learn basic first aid, learn how to disarm smoke bombs and other weapons the cops may use against you, and remember - being a marcher still doesn't mean being at the front line, you can be at the back helping those who are injured, who have gone in to shock, or who need their energy replenished. There is plenty to do, and we need everyone!
I'd like to be a marcher, but I need to gather my wits real quick first.
Getting in the right mindset will not only enable you to take action; it will also make the actions you take more effective.
But -- odds are that nobody is ever going to be "ready" for what's coming, and at some point you'll need to dive in while carrying some uncertainty. That's another reason why all efforts great and small are important. Every individual can draw on moral support from the whole.
Together, we are greater than the sum of our parts.
This is a wonderful post, thank you very much for sharing
Thanks, I'm glad people are finding it helpful!
….unless they’re democrats. Then Oligarchy is okay.
Isn’t that right?
Dont post pictures of text without typing the text
Don't make confidently incorrect assertions before confirming you're not the one who missed something..
It's easy to think that military forces consist of infantry, mechanized armor, ships, planes, missiles. Your military can have all that, but without many more personnel dedicated to logistics, supply, repair, construction, engineering, technology, medical, administration - you will not win any wars.