The problem is it is too long until the general election. Trump will have us at war soon to help Putin dissolve NATO so Putin can take over his neighboring countries. This is a MAD KING want to be and must be stopped now.
Finally. I think I've finally found someone who is telling it like it is and telling us how we can fix it: "vote for people who inspire you. Not the candidates you think the “moderates” will vote for. Not the safe picks. Not the people who tell us to stay calm while democracy burns." If I hear one more word about "messaging" ---about how to put the best political spin on something---about how NOT to tell the truth, not to be authentic and not to believe what you say---(scream). Thank you.
Great pointers there to know how to identify the mediocre candidates who will protect and promote the current order. Trying to further their individual interests at the expense of the community
There is a middle ground between waiting until the primaries and engaging in violence -- it's called civil disobedience, and civil disobedience in the sense of undertaking a peaceful, disobedient action that encourages the authorities to exercise power in a way that inflames the masses. Does anyone remember what African-Americans had to do, the sacrifices they had to make, the extraordinary violence to which they willingly exposed themselves, to get what meager protections they enjoy now? Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, Jr., and four little girls at the 16th Street Baptist Church, among many others, paid with their lives. They almost beat John Lewis to death. Adults and children were attacked by police dogs and sprayed with fire hoses. They knew this was the only way to get it done.
But people on our side, like Renee Good and many others, are going to get hurt. I'm inspired by the defiance we've seen in Chicago and Minneapolis, but do enough of us have the courage to expose ourselves to that sort of outcome in order to make a difference?
If enough people do it and continue to do it. When I was eight years old, I walked into my house to find my mother crying over the pictures in Life magazine of how peaceful black protesters were being treated by the Birmingham police. That changed a lot of minds in the Houston neighborhood where I lived in the 60s. But it will take extraordinary courage that white people in this country have not had to show in a long, long time.
Thousands of Minnesotans ate putting their lives on the line to push back against ICE…and Democratic Senators just agreed to a funding bill maintaining ICE funding at current levels…no restraints, no changes…nothing.
Civil disobedience is crucial, but we lack leadership that supports the protesters.
What you’re naming is the emotional whiplash so many of us are living with. We’re told democracy is in existential danger and in the same breath we’re told to stay calm and wait. That contradiction doesn’t reassure. It numbs.
What resonates most for me is your refusal to wait for a single dramatic moment that gives everyone permission to act. History doesn’t work that way. Courage shows up earlier and quieter in how we organize, who we support, and whether we are willing to stop settling for fear dressed up as strategy.
I also appreciate that this isn’t just alarm. You point toward imagination and leadership that actually meets the moment. That matters. People don’t mobilize around panic alone. They move when they can see a future worth choosing.
This is uncomfortable to read because it asks something of us. And that honesty feels necessary right now.
The boycotts, the "stop" of partaking in this "machine" is a very powerful tool and needs to be done strategically...near everywhere. Simultaneously, more atempts towards resilience, and self sufficiency have to be undertaken. We're being weeded out of that system(machine) regardless, so it naturally follows. Parallel economies are being built.
I find this really interesting. What exactly do you see as the parallel economies? What would worry me is whether the rich will still have need for the mass. As long as they do, the mass should hold levers of influence. The problem will become really terrible if ever they didn't.
It opens a BIG topic which would take volumes of words for our exchange, so I resort to trying a "loaded" paragraph. Parallel economy(s) arise from dysfunctional ones that no longer serve us. Currently they look like barter/work/service exchanges, off-book transactions, and are primarily local and rural....involving real value items like food, living space, labor, effective healing modes, transportation, internet, currency, water, fuel. etc. The rich (have been) and are actively reducing "mass" influence in many ways, most recently by disempowerment, dehumanization, transhumanism, and endangerment of all life. The term; becoming part of the "control grid" also reduces our impact and it's a prime directive of the elite and it begins with real ID and digital currency. As we've noticed it's not so much how large our "mass" is, it's whether we can even unite or ever use those "levers of influence". Mr. Corbins column itself appears as a helpful vehicle for a lever, but I dare say, to even slightly impact this monster evil juggernaut seems futile as past efforts have either been destroyed or co-opted ( i.e JFK, MLK Jr, Bernie, Jesse Jackson, added political parties ,etc.) Thus the one solution of pursuing your own life as you want to see it, becomes the only way forward (thus those economies). If any of this rings, perhaps check out these resources for far better explanations of what's going on: Catherine Austin Fitt's has a Solari report, commentator Whitney Webb, the greaterreset. org. There's lotsa folks doing lotsa creative things to make connection to.
Thank you very much for this. I'll check these sources out as I definitely relate to this and hope to be able to explore more. I've also been thinking somewhat around the issues you mention and see how everything you say makes sense. What concerns me, however, is that as far as I can gauge the ability to do these things in the parallel economies relies not only on resources, like time, but also on ownership. If one owns (mortgage free) where they live, for example, one has greater leeway when it comes to a lot of issues. But unfortunately at the moment the direction of travel is towards dispossesion for the ordinary people. Which will reduce our ability to resist and find alternatives. This worries me especially with regards to the younger generations.
We hear the phrase: "Own nothing and be happy" as especially the younger ones appear most vulnerable to be swept into the planned totalitarian state. Other scary statistics point to credit card debt in the U.S, being at an all time high....and it's way high. First thing to take care of: get out of debt...somehow. Yes ownership does facilitate our ability to choose "other ways" with the added time and resources. Otherwise, it has to feel monumental to build any kind of resilience and independence in this freedom crushing social/political world. Obviously one step at a time is a good mantra. Thank you for replying. It's refreshing to find conscious dialogue in this comment session. PS- another precious resource is Dr.Edward Group...watch anything/anywhere of his talks, tho his focus is taking responsibility for our own health.
Thank you very much fir this, Tom. Freedom-crushing is a very apt description. I think this is exactly the direction of travel, although I am in Europe, not the US. Same difference, unfortunately. I will try have a look at the sources you have liked, I am sure they will be really insightful. It’s always a question of time, though, isn’t it? The effort at the moment is to make it more difficult for people to think independently and the economic system contributes massively to this. I will follow you, so we can try to stay in touch. Hopefully there will be others who will also engage with you. I am sorry to hear that it has been difficult to get a proper engagement. It can be like that sometimes, can’t it? One feels like one is shouting in a void… hopefully as you say, we will start changing this one step at a time.
What needs to be said is what Paul Krugman published this AM--that our felon president is sundowning. He has dementia (type unknown). I know this from firsthand experience, both personally and professionally. He has been demented for some time, but he is becoming increasingly symptomatic. This needs to be understood and addressed. He still has the ability to know the optics of what is going on, but no ability to understand. His middle of the night ramblings and anger outbursts will continue until his condition is acknowledged and dealt with by those who have the power. It is time for the 25th--in fact, past time.
I agree with Margaret. I don't pretend to know the how. We can't wait until elections that may not be free and fair or happen at all.
We can be brave. I know I am.
I will stand up for it all, and although I've always thought of myself as a peacekeeper, I realize we may need to take actions outside our comfort zone. I'm not advocating for violence. I just don't think most of us know what will be required. Community building in the meanwhile (always) is essential. Other than that (and the traditional actions ie letters, calling, showing up where needed), what else?
The issue with Community organizing Val is that in my community, all dyed in the MAGA red, one stands to have his house burned down and maybe occupied and maybe it has come to that. The peace makers will inherit the earth according to the Christian text but Lord knows what sort of dilapidated piece of shirt it'll be by the time this is all said and done. I dont trust my neighbors and so my position is a precarious one to say the very least.
I get it. I live in a tiny blue bubble in a sea of red. Larger community is not necessarily of like mind, so when I say community building, I mean that I try to find the common ground greased by the wheels of kindness. It isn't a panacea for all, or Pollyanna pov, just what I know is good and right and I can do THAT. If it comes down to anything else (that may not be peaceful), I will have to assess that at the time and see what is needed. Anybody who pretends that they have all the answers is not coming from a solid place. I am with you in the conundrum at this time....
I think blue state governors should paceset a call for a series of national days of protest and renewal by declaring state holidays to support the protests and begin mobilization toward the fall elections. Our real leaders would emerge from these actions, and the US military would have a strong democratic movement to hang its hat on, should military intervention be necessary to ensure the elections. https://steveclark855.substack.com/p/think-trump-might-suspend-the-fall?r=r3976
If we fight in the streets, we will be slaughtered. No Russian revolution here. They are armed to the teeth. Pick your battles folks. 1 - Take two weeks, starting now, to prepare your flock for a shutdown, food, fuel, survival gear, etc. After that, en masse, shut down the economy. NO extra spending, no work, stop working for corporate monsters. 2 - Recruit NOT a D brand paint job, but a Coalition Party of a - Independents, b - the green crowd, c - social democracy advocates, d - surviving moderate R types who despise their ilk, e - slackers who are fence sitters who now know their ass is in the gunsights now, f - libertarians who are not corporate lackeys, g - legal patriated citizens who normally do not vote due to their fears of being singled out, like they now are, and get them registered. Before any primaries. The fat pig oligarchs need consumption to fuel their jets n yachts n brothels n orgies. SHUT DOWN THIS ECONOMY. It is rife with filth, trafficking, drug addiction, prurient sexual debauchery, preposterous energy waste. STOP USING AI !!!!!!!!! Now worse than fentanyl. Asymmetrical warfare folks. Talk to your neighbors. Corbin, get your national contacts to begin spreading the SHUTDOWN across the country. Starve the beasts. We all will suffer, but if we care, we will find ways to keep other alive.
We must throw everything and the kitchen sink against this administration and the oligarchy…in a deliberate and sustained strategic effort. To “shut the economy down” is too general and vague, after all we have to eat and shelter ourselves; we need to work and earn to do so. On the other hand, a rolling weekly/monthly boycott of target corporate offenders would send a strong message and shake up Wall Street: say start with Amazon, then Chevron, then Target, then Chase, then Walmart, on down the list, then start again. Agree, AI is a corporate trap, it’s already replacing humans, opt out. Dump/limit social media too; it’s an open door into our privacy a pipeline for propaganda.
What I proposed is 'limited' shutdown. The corporate oligarchy. Not mom n pop. If the oligarchs refuse to feed the little ones, then overwhelm will destroy them. The goons cannot/will not go everywhere. They invade one neighborhood, and get cut to ribbons, they will think twice. Cut the guts of the oligarchy, not the local folks. Invent new/old ways of providing needed goods. We outnumber them 100 to one, at least. Many in the military Will NOT kill for them.
I think we are essentially saying the same thing. However Mom & Pops, from bodegas to restaurants to small fabricators serving corporations, are interrelated with large corporations. Beyond direct dependence on their supply chain control, if a factory shuts down, M&P businesses are the first to fail because corporate (e.g. Amazon) workers eat out and shop locally. We must keep an eye out for downstream, unintended impacts of our action. I recommend we target hurting large corporation stock values and venture capitial firms, and expose their true public images. Hopefully, that would influence their operations to make them better "community citizens" who act responsibly, rather than as irresponsible actors in the interest of profit alone and nefarious political/ideological agendas. Hmmm, same thing I would say about these so-called political leaders.
I recommended this 3 months ago. If we had done it then, prepped and set up alternative sup ply lines, we already would have shut down the economy after two months of prep and one month of action. Now we are faced with much more misery. The economy is our only tool. We have no other. Consumption rules the corporate reality. Few stock buys, fuel, food, medicine, etc. There is no way out of this - none. Many will suffer. You have any alternative short of capitulation, which will then result in death for those who do, they have no value (in the negative) to the oligarchs? They are already dead in their eyes. Now, 26 years later, after all those years of catastrophes, we really are fucked.
Analyze your expenditures. Most, sans aberrant drug use, can cut expenses. We are not so helpless that we cannot find the ancient ways of survival. Feed no monsters. They shut the electric off, you adapt. They shut off 10k or 100k, they die. We run their companies, duh???? They ARE A HANDFUL of USELESS TRASH. Think this through. You wanna die??
Ha ha." Two flavors of managed decline" I love that. I read somewhere this morning that Trump has enriched himself by a mere 1.5 billion dollars since his return and thats just what's traceable. Lord knows how much he's actually amassed while everyday american struggle for even basic amenities. Eight months sounds like a really long time especially given what's already happened in such a short time. Schmidt says its fear mongering when considering no more fair elections and maybe so but the mixed messages im getting from democrats like you mention is confusing the issue. My heart tells me that this is about to get a lot uglier and sooner than 8 months.
You lambast the Democrats who are telling us that we need to focus on the elections this year rather than wait for some magic solution to our problems. Then you tell us to do the same thing. You are trying to gain popularity by spreading discontent with the people who have been elected to resolve the problems, rather than finding the ways to bring the opponents of the Republicans together to win the election. That’s not going to work for you or for the Democrats. We need to promote local leadership to address the local manifestations of our national problems. Build local issue centric groups and help their leaders connect with the National Party so the Party supports those local objectives. We need ten thousand leaders across the country, not a few new leaders in DC. And those ten thousand leaders need to win the election this year for Democrats and democracy. That is how we will win. We need your help in pulling this together. Say yes to Democracy.
Right on, Corbin, except I have no faith that we'll actually have elections in 8 months. Trump is a horribly damaged (psychologically) human being who will never be able to muster enough power to fill the abyss of his missing self-worth. That's why, with each exercise of authoritarian activity (and demonstration of utter disregard for rules, norms, and law), he keeps upping the ante.
Seems clear to me that all this is about declaring marshall law and suspending the upcoming elections, or declaring them rigged and therefore null and void. If necessary, he will suspend Congress, arrest the leaders of our armed forces, jail the Supreme Court, and generally do whatever he deems necessary to remain in power. Sadly, none of that will ever fill the black hole of his inner being.
I think it's fine to organize for the midterm elections and to support candidates who seem to represent real change. But I also think we need to plan for a future where elections either don't happen or whose results are negated.
How might this all end? Either the Orange Menace will prevail, or any one of a number of alternatives might occur. Maybe the armed forces will rebel and seize control of Washington because of the increasingly lawless orders they are given. Maybe there will be an armed confrontation between Washington's proxies (ICE, for example) and peacefully protesting citizens that is so large and bloody that it arouses the nation from its passivity. Maybe each state's National Guard refuses to follow nationalization by the President and instead defends its citizens against troops sent in by the President.
If the prospect of these possibilities is horrifying, it should be! But what's the alternative? I think it has to be massive protests, now, on a scale that can't be ignored. All the progressive groups will need to drop their (worthwhile but ultimately limited goals) for the overarching need to stop the decay of our democracy before it's too late. Together, those groups are powerful. They have money, and their united voices will produce a roar that can't be marginalized or ignored.
Perhaps, as someone else in these comments has suggested, those united voices need to declare a TOTAL boycott, NOW! No one goes to work. No one shops. No one travels. A total boycott. Do it NOW! Bring the country and its broken institutions to its knees until order is restored in Washington.
Drastic? Yes! But it would be nothing compared to the chaos and destruction of everything in which we believe if Trump and his cronies are left to do as they wish.
Time is short, and the pathways to better outcomes are narrowing by the day. By all means push for good candidates and constructive outcomes in the midterm elections. But organize now for the very real possibility that there will be no meaningful elections in 8 months!
I’m not counting on the Cabinet, nor the Congress, to avail themselves of mechanisms like the 25th Amendment. They’ve had ample opportunity to stand up against the Orange Menace to date, and so far they’ve managed to avoid any meaningful action. Any!
If the so-called "opposition" party has any chance of gaining seats in this mid-term election it had best get off it's cowardly arse and prove to the electorate that they deserve a chance because right now a lot of us are considering if it's worth voting at all come November. The blue party has to do a significant change in policy and leadership to get many of us to even look at them again. They are why we are living the shit-show of red control today. Since the 1990s, they've done noting but pivot toward red policies. I have zero expectations that will change, they are just another version of fascism and I refuse to pretend otherwise until they prove me wrong.
You are on the money. I have been so upset at complacent Democrats with no backbone. People pretending that it’s business as usual, when it has never been since the Powell memo, Reagan and the right wing takeover. Check out Opus Dei. They have the Supreme Court and are behind Project 2025. We need to act NOW! I hope it isn’t already too late.
The line we keep waiting for isn't coming because it was never going to be a single moment. It's been thousands of small erosions, each one normalized because the previous one already was. What's striking is how we've built systems that make complicity feel like survival - the mortgage, the healthcare, the job you can't lose. When collapse comes as a thousand cuts, how do we recognize which cut requires us to finally act, especially when every previous cut taught us not to?
The problem is it is too long until the general election. Trump will have us at war soon to help Putin dissolve NATO so Putin can take over his neighboring countries. This is a MAD KING want to be and must be stopped now.
The primaries start in March. They can be building momentum along with actions like this one:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/20/ice-immigrarion-minnesota-economic-protest
March is too far away. Trump is ramping up his rhetoric. He will have us at war soon.
Finally. I think I've finally found someone who is telling it like it is and telling us how we can fix it: "vote for people who inspire you. Not the candidates you think the “moderates” will vote for. Not the safe picks. Not the people who tell us to stay calm while democracy burns." If I hear one more word about "messaging" ---about how to put the best political spin on something---about how NOT to tell the truth, not to be authentic and not to believe what you say---(scream). Thank you.
Great pointers there to know how to identify the mediocre candidates who will protect and promote the current order. Trying to further their individual interests at the expense of the community
There is a middle ground between waiting until the primaries and engaging in violence -- it's called civil disobedience, and civil disobedience in the sense of undertaking a peaceful, disobedient action that encourages the authorities to exercise power in a way that inflames the masses. Does anyone remember what African-Americans had to do, the sacrifices they had to make, the extraordinary violence to which they willingly exposed themselves, to get what meager protections they enjoy now? Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, Jr., and four little girls at the 16th Street Baptist Church, among many others, paid with their lives. They almost beat John Lewis to death. Adults and children were attacked by police dogs and sprayed with fire hoses. They knew this was the only way to get it done.
But people on our side, like Renee Good and many others, are going to get hurt. I'm inspired by the defiance we've seen in Chicago and Minneapolis, but do enough of us have the courage to expose ourselves to that sort of outcome in order to make a difference?
And will it make a difference?
If enough people do it and continue to do it. When I was eight years old, I walked into my house to find my mother crying over the pictures in Life magazine of how peaceful black protesters were being treated by the Birmingham police. That changed a lot of minds in the Houston neighborhood where I lived in the 60s. But it will take extraordinary courage that white people in this country have not had to show in a long, long time.
Thousands of Minnesotans ate putting their lives on the line to push back against ICE…and Democratic Senators just agreed to a funding bill maintaining ICE funding at current levels…no restraints, no changes…nothing.
Civil disobedience is crucial, but we lack leadership that supports the protesters.
Minnesota primaries, look out those who hope to get shooed into another term.
Remember protests against the Vietnam "incursion"? It took years because the protesters started out in the minority. But they toppled a presidency.
What you’re naming is the emotional whiplash so many of us are living with. We’re told democracy is in existential danger and in the same breath we’re told to stay calm and wait. That contradiction doesn’t reassure. It numbs.
What resonates most for me is your refusal to wait for a single dramatic moment that gives everyone permission to act. History doesn’t work that way. Courage shows up earlier and quieter in how we organize, who we support, and whether we are willing to stop settling for fear dressed up as strategy.
I also appreciate that this isn’t just alarm. You point toward imagination and leadership that actually meets the moment. That matters. People don’t mobilize around panic alone. They move when they can see a future worth choosing.
This is uncomfortable to read because it asks something of us. And that honesty feels necessary right now.
The boycotts, the "stop" of partaking in this "machine" is a very powerful tool and needs to be done strategically...near everywhere. Simultaneously, more atempts towards resilience, and self sufficiency have to be undertaken. We're being weeded out of that system(machine) regardless, so it naturally follows. Parallel economies are being built.
I find this really interesting. What exactly do you see as the parallel economies? What would worry me is whether the rich will still have need for the mass. As long as they do, the mass should hold levers of influence. The problem will become really terrible if ever they didn't.
It opens a BIG topic which would take volumes of words for our exchange, so I resort to trying a "loaded" paragraph. Parallel economy(s) arise from dysfunctional ones that no longer serve us. Currently they look like barter/work/service exchanges, off-book transactions, and are primarily local and rural....involving real value items like food, living space, labor, effective healing modes, transportation, internet, currency, water, fuel. etc. The rich (have been) and are actively reducing "mass" influence in many ways, most recently by disempowerment, dehumanization, transhumanism, and endangerment of all life. The term; becoming part of the "control grid" also reduces our impact and it's a prime directive of the elite and it begins with real ID and digital currency. As we've noticed it's not so much how large our "mass" is, it's whether we can even unite or ever use those "levers of influence". Mr. Corbins column itself appears as a helpful vehicle for a lever, but I dare say, to even slightly impact this monster evil juggernaut seems futile as past efforts have either been destroyed or co-opted ( i.e JFK, MLK Jr, Bernie, Jesse Jackson, added political parties ,etc.) Thus the one solution of pursuing your own life as you want to see it, becomes the only way forward (thus those economies). If any of this rings, perhaps check out these resources for far better explanations of what's going on: Catherine Austin Fitt's has a Solari report, commentator Whitney Webb, the greaterreset. org. There's lotsa folks doing lotsa creative things to make connection to.
Thank you very much for this. I'll check these sources out as I definitely relate to this and hope to be able to explore more. I've also been thinking somewhat around the issues you mention and see how everything you say makes sense. What concerns me, however, is that as far as I can gauge the ability to do these things in the parallel economies relies not only on resources, like time, but also on ownership. If one owns (mortgage free) where they live, for example, one has greater leeway when it comes to a lot of issues. But unfortunately at the moment the direction of travel is towards dispossesion for the ordinary people. Which will reduce our ability to resist and find alternatives. This worries me especially with regards to the younger generations.
We hear the phrase: "Own nothing and be happy" as especially the younger ones appear most vulnerable to be swept into the planned totalitarian state. Other scary statistics point to credit card debt in the U.S, being at an all time high....and it's way high. First thing to take care of: get out of debt...somehow. Yes ownership does facilitate our ability to choose "other ways" with the added time and resources. Otherwise, it has to feel monumental to build any kind of resilience and independence in this freedom crushing social/political world. Obviously one step at a time is a good mantra. Thank you for replying. It's refreshing to find conscious dialogue in this comment session. PS- another precious resource is Dr.Edward Group...watch anything/anywhere of his talks, tho his focus is taking responsibility for our own health.
Thank you very much fir this, Tom. Freedom-crushing is a very apt description. I think this is exactly the direction of travel, although I am in Europe, not the US. Same difference, unfortunately. I will try have a look at the sources you have liked, I am sure they will be really insightful. It’s always a question of time, though, isn’t it? The effort at the moment is to make it more difficult for people to think independently and the economic system contributes massively to this. I will follow you, so we can try to stay in touch. Hopefully there will be others who will also engage with you. I am sorry to hear that it has been difficult to get a proper engagement. It can be like that sometimes, can’t it? One feels like one is shouting in a void… hopefully as you say, we will start changing this one step at a time.
What needs to be said is what Paul Krugman published this AM--that our felon president is sundowning. He has dementia (type unknown). I know this from firsthand experience, both personally and professionally. He has been demented for some time, but he is becoming increasingly symptomatic. This needs to be understood and addressed. He still has the ability to know the optics of what is going on, but no ability to understand. His middle of the night ramblings and anger outbursts will continue until his condition is acknowledged and dealt with by those who have the power. It is time for the 25th--in fact, past time.
I agree with Margaret. I don't pretend to know the how. We can't wait until elections that may not be free and fair or happen at all.
We can be brave. I know I am.
I will stand up for it all, and although I've always thought of myself as a peacekeeper, I realize we may need to take actions outside our comfort zone. I'm not advocating for violence. I just don't think most of us know what will be required. Community building in the meanwhile (always) is essential. Other than that (and the traditional actions ie letters, calling, showing up where needed), what else?
The issue with Community organizing Val is that in my community, all dyed in the MAGA red, one stands to have his house burned down and maybe occupied and maybe it has come to that. The peace makers will inherit the earth according to the Christian text but Lord knows what sort of dilapidated piece of shirt it'll be by the time this is all said and done. I dont trust my neighbors and so my position is a precarious one to say the very least.
I get it. I live in a tiny blue bubble in a sea of red. Larger community is not necessarily of like mind, so when I say community building, I mean that I try to find the common ground greased by the wheels of kindness. It isn't a panacea for all, or Pollyanna pov, just what I know is good and right and I can do THAT. If it comes down to anything else (that may not be peaceful), I will have to assess that at the time and see what is needed. Anybody who pretends that they have all the answers is not coming from a solid place. I am with you in the conundrum at this time....
I think blue state governors should paceset a call for a series of national days of protest and renewal by declaring state holidays to support the protests and begin mobilization toward the fall elections. Our real leaders would emerge from these actions, and the US military would have a strong democratic movement to hang its hat on, should military intervention be necessary to ensure the elections. https://steveclark855.substack.com/p/think-trump-might-suspend-the-fall?r=r3976
If we fight in the streets, we will be slaughtered. No Russian revolution here. They are armed to the teeth. Pick your battles folks. 1 - Take two weeks, starting now, to prepare your flock for a shutdown, food, fuel, survival gear, etc. After that, en masse, shut down the economy. NO extra spending, no work, stop working for corporate monsters. 2 - Recruit NOT a D brand paint job, but a Coalition Party of a - Independents, b - the green crowd, c - social democracy advocates, d - surviving moderate R types who despise their ilk, e - slackers who are fence sitters who now know their ass is in the gunsights now, f - libertarians who are not corporate lackeys, g - legal patriated citizens who normally do not vote due to their fears of being singled out, like they now are, and get them registered. Before any primaries. The fat pig oligarchs need consumption to fuel their jets n yachts n brothels n orgies. SHUT DOWN THIS ECONOMY. It is rife with filth, trafficking, drug addiction, prurient sexual debauchery, preposterous energy waste. STOP USING AI !!!!!!!!! Now worse than fentanyl. Asymmetrical warfare folks. Talk to your neighbors. Corbin, get your national contacts to begin spreading the SHUTDOWN across the country. Starve the beasts. We all will suffer, but if we care, we will find ways to keep other alive.
We must throw everything and the kitchen sink against this administration and the oligarchy…in a deliberate and sustained strategic effort. To “shut the economy down” is too general and vague, after all we have to eat and shelter ourselves; we need to work and earn to do so. On the other hand, a rolling weekly/monthly boycott of target corporate offenders would send a strong message and shake up Wall Street: say start with Amazon, then Chevron, then Target, then Chase, then Walmart, on down the list, then start again. Agree, AI is a corporate trap, it’s already replacing humans, opt out. Dump/limit social media too; it’s an open door into our privacy a pipeline for propaganda.
What I proposed is 'limited' shutdown. The corporate oligarchy. Not mom n pop. If the oligarchs refuse to feed the little ones, then overwhelm will destroy them. The goons cannot/will not go everywhere. They invade one neighborhood, and get cut to ribbons, they will think twice. Cut the guts of the oligarchy, not the local folks. Invent new/old ways of providing needed goods. We outnumber them 100 to one, at least. Many in the military Will NOT kill for them.
I think we are essentially saying the same thing. However Mom & Pops, from bodegas to restaurants to small fabricators serving corporations, are interrelated with large corporations. Beyond direct dependence on their supply chain control, if a factory shuts down, M&P businesses are the first to fail because corporate (e.g. Amazon) workers eat out and shop locally. We must keep an eye out for downstream, unintended impacts of our action. I recommend we target hurting large corporation stock values and venture capitial firms, and expose their true public images. Hopefully, that would influence their operations to make them better "community citizens" who act responsibly, rather than as irresponsible actors in the interest of profit alone and nefarious political/ideological agendas. Hmmm, same thing I would say about these so-called political leaders.
I recommended this 3 months ago. If we had done it then, prepped and set up alternative sup ply lines, we already would have shut down the economy after two months of prep and one month of action. Now we are faced with much more misery. The economy is our only tool. We have no other. Consumption rules the corporate reality. Few stock buys, fuel, food, medicine, etc. There is no way out of this - none. Many will suffer. You have any alternative short of capitulation, which will then result in death for those who do, they have no value (in the negative) to the oligarchs? They are already dead in their eyes. Now, 26 years later, after all those years of catastrophes, we really are fucked.
Regrettably, most Americans couldn't make a $400 check good. They have to feed the monster in order to feed themselves.
A $400 check is 'Alms for the poor' at Christmas time. It is a slap in the face to hard working decent people. Talk about living in game of thrones..
Analyze your expenditures. Most, sans aberrant drug use, can cut expenses. We are not so helpless that we cannot find the ancient ways of survival. Feed no monsters. They shut the electric off, you adapt. They shut off 10k or 100k, they die. We run their companies, duh???? They ARE A HANDFUL of USELESS TRASH. Think this through. You wanna die??
Ha ha." Two flavors of managed decline" I love that. I read somewhere this morning that Trump has enriched himself by a mere 1.5 billion dollars since his return and thats just what's traceable. Lord knows how much he's actually amassed while everyday american struggle for even basic amenities. Eight months sounds like a really long time especially given what's already happened in such a short time. Schmidt says its fear mongering when considering no more fair elections and maybe so but the mixed messages im getting from democrats like you mention is confusing the issue. My heart tells me that this is about to get a lot uglier and sooner than 8 months.
You lambast the Democrats who are telling us that we need to focus on the elections this year rather than wait for some magic solution to our problems. Then you tell us to do the same thing. You are trying to gain popularity by spreading discontent with the people who have been elected to resolve the problems, rather than finding the ways to bring the opponents of the Republicans together to win the election. That’s not going to work for you or for the Democrats. We need to promote local leadership to address the local manifestations of our national problems. Build local issue centric groups and help their leaders connect with the National Party so the Party supports those local objectives. We need ten thousand leaders across the country, not a few new leaders in DC. And those ten thousand leaders need to win the election this year for Democrats and democracy. That is how we will win. We need your help in pulling this together. Say yes to Democracy.
JANUARY 20TH WALKOUT
2pm everywhere
Women's march, 50501, Indivisible are promoting this nationwide action
Stop watching legacy media
Stop spending
Right on, Corbin, except I have no faith that we'll actually have elections in 8 months. Trump is a horribly damaged (psychologically) human being who will never be able to muster enough power to fill the abyss of his missing self-worth. That's why, with each exercise of authoritarian activity (and demonstration of utter disregard for rules, norms, and law), he keeps upping the ante.
Seems clear to me that all this is about declaring marshall law and suspending the upcoming elections, or declaring them rigged and therefore null and void. If necessary, he will suspend Congress, arrest the leaders of our armed forces, jail the Supreme Court, and generally do whatever he deems necessary to remain in power. Sadly, none of that will ever fill the black hole of his inner being.
I think it's fine to organize for the midterm elections and to support candidates who seem to represent real change. But I also think we need to plan for a future where elections either don't happen or whose results are negated.
How might this all end? Either the Orange Menace will prevail, or any one of a number of alternatives might occur. Maybe the armed forces will rebel and seize control of Washington because of the increasingly lawless orders they are given. Maybe there will be an armed confrontation between Washington's proxies (ICE, for example) and peacefully protesting citizens that is so large and bloody that it arouses the nation from its passivity. Maybe each state's National Guard refuses to follow nationalization by the President and instead defends its citizens against troops sent in by the President.
If the prospect of these possibilities is horrifying, it should be! But what's the alternative? I think it has to be massive protests, now, on a scale that can't be ignored. All the progressive groups will need to drop their (worthwhile but ultimately limited goals) for the overarching need to stop the decay of our democracy before it's too late. Together, those groups are powerful. They have money, and their united voices will produce a roar that can't be marginalized or ignored.
Perhaps, as someone else in these comments has suggested, those united voices need to declare a TOTAL boycott, NOW! No one goes to work. No one shops. No one travels. A total boycott. Do it NOW! Bring the country and its broken institutions to its knees until order is restored in Washington.
Drastic? Yes! But it would be nothing compared to the chaos and destruction of everything in which we believe if Trump and his cronies are left to do as they wish.
Time is short, and the pathways to better outcomes are narrowing by the day. By all means push for good candidates and constructive outcomes in the midterm elections. But organize now for the very real possibility that there will be no meaningful elections in 8 months!
The alternative? - the 25th Amendment. I'm 99% sure that without Trump, the whole sick enterprise collapses.
.. still, it's true (as Corbin has asserted) that we can't "go back". We need new leaders and a new direction.
I’m not counting on the Cabinet, nor the Congress, to avail themselves of mechanisms like the 25th Amendment. They’ve had ample opportunity to stand up against the Orange Menace to date, and so far they’ve managed to avoid any meaningful action. Any!
... and when do our military leaders fulfill their oath to "defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic" ?
Soon…hopefully!
If the so-called "opposition" party has any chance of gaining seats in this mid-term election it had best get off it's cowardly arse and prove to the electorate that they deserve a chance because right now a lot of us are considering if it's worth voting at all come November. The blue party has to do a significant change in policy and leadership to get many of us to even look at them again. They are why we are living the shit-show of red control today. Since the 1990s, they've done noting but pivot toward red policies. I have zero expectations that will change, they are just another version of fascism and I refuse to pretend otherwise until they prove me wrong.
You are on the money. I have been so upset at complacent Democrats with no backbone. People pretending that it’s business as usual, when it has never been since the Powell memo, Reagan and the right wing takeover. Check out Opus Dei. They have the Supreme Court and are behind Project 2025. We need to act NOW! I hope it isn’t already too late.
The line we keep waiting for isn't coming because it was never going to be a single moment. It's been thousands of small erosions, each one normalized because the previous one already was. What's striking is how we've built systems that make complicity feel like survival - the mortgage, the healthcare, the job you can't lose. When collapse comes as a thousand cuts, how do we recognize which cut requires us to finally act, especially when every previous cut taught us not to?