Thank you, Daniel - great insights and connections, as usual! And there may not be huge numbers of younger generations protesting, but I’ve already seen several clever, insightful posts and videos from younger men and women who call out the lies and emphasize our democratic values with great analysis, humor and pointed rage. More are speaking up and I can only assume they are influencing others of their generations to pay attention. I have hope as one who has been ranting for decades about our democracy being destroyed, while hardly anyone I knew of any generation gave a shit. Now I see people waking up - so apparently it took hell to arrive before people began opening their eyes. Don’t give up!
Hi Daniel - I replied to you via your Substack mail - sent you a link and also mentioned that many TikTok links are posted by others on Substack showing young people speaking out. Maybe you could do a search on your Substack feed for TikTok links?
Wonder why you did not feature the solution instead of burying it in all that depressing detail. Why not build the case for massive protest and provide historical data showing the results? I think we are all looking for something we can do that has a chance of working.
Chenoweth, as you point out, has gathered the proof that such protests “have never failed”. So what are we waiting for?
We are “waiting for” leadership. I gave the 50501 guy a bit of grief for just being one person with a blog but he touched off something that has real potential.
The problem is that dozens of 50501s run the risk of diffusing the impact of protests when what we need is something focused and strategic.
At a given point, someone with experience needs to take the wheel and drive.
What's missing in this is that most corruption starts at the local political level. What if the resources/attention supported local, bioregional sovereignty? For example, where I live, millions of dollars in fines (from polluters) sit unused because there is a lack of civic willpower. What if a coalition formed to support local leaders who live in the area to build a disaster resilience hub that can also be a regenerative economic hub?
Working in Hungary as it was transitioning to democracy last century, a common occurrence when scouting locations, was one of my Hungarian crew saying quietly, reverently, sadly,
“My mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, son, father etc., went into that building, and we never saw him/her again.”
These horrific disappearences are happening in your country. Resist.
I'm glad you emphasized the non-futility of resistance in your headline. I believe that there is hardly anything worse at a time of crisis than bemoaning that it is too late to take action. There is all too much fatalism in the public discourse, so it's no wonder that the younger generation feels demoralized and passive.
I especially appreciated this passage: "According to political scientist Erica Chenoweth’s comparative study of uprisings from 1900-2006, non-violent movements that draw at least 3.5 percent of the population into the streets “have never failed to bring about change. Non-violent campaigns are twice as likely to succeed as armed conflicts.”
As for Tom V's question below, asking for specific details on your statement “They have been effectively conditioned into passivity” I think the answer can be found in a number of areas - mainly the mesmerizing influence of electronic media that has become increasingly pervasive and overwhelming to children from an increasingly young age over the decades, plus the effects of how we educate children, dumbing them down by forcing them to spend their days sitting at desks while force-feeding them with mind numbing, out-of-context information, test preparation, etc. Add to this the lack of time children are allotted for free play, creative exploration, interaction with the real physical world ...of course they are passive.
I'm pretty sure that when and if the data grab results in the detention, incarceration, etc., of larger swaths of non-immigrant Americans, and/or devastating attacks on social safety net systems we will see the golden 3.5% in the streets, on strike, and perhaps even directly sabotaging the broligarchs' control systems by fighting fire with fire. There are a lot of tech savvy hackers among the young. One thing to keep in mind is that, by virtue of their many public statements, we can assume that the broligarchs are so arrogant that they will overreach and over-estimate their effectiveness in creating bullet-proof systems of surveillance and control.
I appreciate Erica Chenoweth's finding that getting 3.5% of a population mobilizied can lead to system change. But in citing this figure as one that an anti-Trump movement could aspire, Chenoweth's finding is also sobering, given the much larger precentage of the populattion that support Trump and the MAGA movement.
I understand that Trump's hard-core support is less than the almost
majority he got in the 2024 election. But Trump's support is many times 3.5%, say 25 million as a very rough estimate.
So using Chenoweth's analysis, could one not argue that the MAGA movement has gotten what it wanted politically through largely non-violent participation in the political process? And if the MAGA hardcore is in the 25 million range, should we not expect that it will take far more than 3.5% to overcome the much larger MAGA contingent?
even if courts orders DOGE to delete all the data it has taken (has this been happening? I haven't seen any reference to it) there is no way of checking that such orders are complied with, and no doubt they are making lots of back doors to the systems they are infiltrating. So, very valid concerns for a long time to come even if they are stopped right now. thank you for saying these things.
Hey, Daniel - assuming yr AI course will be recorded?
Thanks for this latest offering-yes, really now about translating all this into direct action—will 12 million Americans rise up and sacrifice the last illusions of comfort and safety? Aligning with a global revolution? Don’t really see another choice, it’s feels like the tipping point is getting nearer.
Chris Hedges talked about the moment and incident that sparks revolution is always (historically) unpredictable - but for sure building the ground for it - and for its success (obviously not all are-like the Arab spring), is the work we can actively do and prepare for.
Many good points here. The habeas corpus issue is very concerning. On a side note, there’s a very good article in the current New Yorker about the notion of hybrid autocracy as it unfolded in Hungary. The article addresses the issue of how individual citizens do/can/must wrestle with the moral issues concerning acceptance of the status quo versus pushback. Here’s the article:
When you say “They have been effectively conditioned into passivity” referring to younger generations, can you address the question of agency who exactly is doing this conditioning and why? I think one thing that can work against the process of much needed citizen engagement is the mainstream media’s default status as red alert. While much of it may be merited, eventually this creates a kind of numbness. Our nervous systems can only be on high alert for so long and then they go into some other state whatever that might be called. Perhaps apathy or perhaps some sort of self-protective mechanism is involved. Certainly no easy answers here, just describing.
Thanks for pointing out the New York Times/CIA connection. I wonder how many average Americans would accept this if you put it in front of them. Core belief systems honed over a lifetime are incredibly hard to change.
https://www.narativ.org/p/red-flags-has-doge-been-infiltrated
Thank you, Daniel - great insights and connections, as usual! And there may not be huge numbers of younger generations protesting, but I’ve already seen several clever, insightful posts and videos from younger men and women who call out the lies and emphasize our democratic values with great analysis, humor and pointed rage. More are speaking up and I can only assume they are influencing others of their generations to pay attention. I have hope as one who has been ranting for decades about our democracy being destroyed, while hardly anyone I knew of any generation gave a shit. Now I see people waking up - so apparently it took hell to arrive before people began opening their eyes. Don’t give up!
Send links?
Hi Daniel - I replied to you via your Substack mail - sent you a link and also mentioned that many TikTok links are posted by others on Substack showing young people speaking out. Maybe you could do a search on your Substack feed for TikTok links?
Wonder why you did not feature the solution instead of burying it in all that depressing detail. Why not build the case for massive protest and provide historical data showing the results? I think we are all looking for something we can do that has a chance of working.
Chenoweth, as you point out, has gathered the proof that such protests “have never failed”. So what are we waiting for?
Yes that is why I cited her.
But that should be the headline!
We are “waiting for” leadership. I gave the 50501 guy a bit of grief for just being one person with a blog but he touched off something that has real potential.
The problem is that dozens of 50501s run the risk of diffusing the impact of protests when what we need is something focused and strategic.
At a given point, someone with experience needs to take the wheel and drive.
What's missing in this is that most corruption starts at the local political level. What if the resources/attention supported local, bioregional sovereignty? For example, where I live, millions of dollars in fines (from polluters) sit unused because there is a lack of civic willpower. What if a coalition formed to support local leaders who live in the area to build a disaster resilience hub that can also be a regenerative economic hub?
Do it!
Working in Hungary as it was transitioning to democracy last century, a common occurrence when scouting locations, was one of my Hungarian crew saying quietly, reverently, sadly,
“My mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, son, father etc., went into that building, and we never saw him/her again.”
These horrific disappearences are happening in your country. Resist.
I'm glad you emphasized the non-futility of resistance in your headline. I believe that there is hardly anything worse at a time of crisis than bemoaning that it is too late to take action. There is all too much fatalism in the public discourse, so it's no wonder that the younger generation feels demoralized and passive.
I especially appreciated this passage: "According to political scientist Erica Chenoweth’s comparative study of uprisings from 1900-2006, non-violent movements that draw at least 3.5 percent of the population into the streets “have never failed to bring about change. Non-violent campaigns are twice as likely to succeed as armed conflicts.”
As for Tom V's question below, asking for specific details on your statement “They have been effectively conditioned into passivity” I think the answer can be found in a number of areas - mainly the mesmerizing influence of electronic media that has become increasingly pervasive and overwhelming to children from an increasingly young age over the decades, plus the effects of how we educate children, dumbing them down by forcing them to spend their days sitting at desks while force-feeding them with mind numbing, out-of-context information, test preparation, etc. Add to this the lack of time children are allotted for free play, creative exploration, interaction with the real physical world ...of course they are passive.
I'm pretty sure that when and if the data grab results in the detention, incarceration, etc., of larger swaths of non-immigrant Americans, and/or devastating attacks on social safety net systems we will see the golden 3.5% in the streets, on strike, and perhaps even directly sabotaging the broligarchs' control systems by fighting fire with fire. There are a lot of tech savvy hackers among the young. One thing to keep in mind is that, by virtue of their many public statements, we can assume that the broligarchs are so arrogant that they will overreach and over-estimate their effectiveness in creating bullet-proof systems of surveillance and control.
I appreciate Erica Chenoweth's finding that getting 3.5% of a population mobilizied can lead to system change. But in citing this figure as one that an anti-Trump movement could aspire, Chenoweth's finding is also sobering, given the much larger precentage of the populattion that support Trump and the MAGA movement.
I understand that Trump's hard-core support is less than the almost
majority he got in the 2024 election. But Trump's support is many times 3.5%, say 25 million as a very rough estimate.
So using Chenoweth's analysis, could one not argue that the MAGA movement has gotten what it wanted politically through largely non-violent participation in the political process? And if the MAGA hardcore is in the 25 million range, should we not expect that it will take far more than 3.5% to overcome the much larger MAGA contingent?
Thanks for the link to the Hysteria channel’s breakdown on Stephen Miller, it was f’kin hilarious🤣
even if courts orders DOGE to delete all the data it has taken (has this been happening? I haven't seen any reference to it) there is no way of checking that such orders are complied with, and no doubt they are making lots of back doors to the systems they are infiltrating. So, very valid concerns for a long time to come even if they are stopped right now. thank you for saying these things.
Hey, Daniel - assuming yr AI course will be recorded?
Thanks for this latest offering-yes, really now about translating all this into direct action—will 12 million Americans rise up and sacrifice the last illusions of comfort and safety? Aligning with a global revolution? Don’t really see another choice, it’s feels like the tipping point is getting nearer.
Chris Hedges talked about the moment and incident that sparks revolution is always (historically) unpredictable - but for sure building the ground for it - and for its success (obviously not all are-like the Arab spring), is the work we can actively do and prepare for.
Many good points here. The habeas corpus issue is very concerning. On a side note, there’s a very good article in the current New Yorker about the notion of hybrid autocracy as it unfolded in Hungary. The article addresses the issue of how individual citizens do/can/must wrestle with the moral issues concerning acceptance of the status quo versus pushback. Here’s the article:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/05/05/is-the-us-becoming-an-autocracy
When you say “They have been effectively conditioned into passivity” referring to younger generations, can you address the question of agency who exactly is doing this conditioning and why? I think one thing that can work against the process of much needed citizen engagement is the mainstream media’s default status as red alert. While much of it may be merited, eventually this creates a kind of numbness. Our nervous systems can only be on high alert for so long and then they go into some other state whatever that might be called. Perhaps apathy or perhaps some sort of self-protective mechanism is involved. Certainly no easy answers here, just describing.
Thanks for pointing out the New York Times/CIA connection. I wonder how many average Americans would accept this if you put it in front of them. Core belief systems honed over a lifetime are incredibly hard to change.