We on the left are having a hard time knowing what to do in this particular
and hugely significant moment. Emotionally we perch somewhere between
still being in shock, the bargaining stage of grief that does not want to
believe that this is really what is happening – to being
incapacitated by grief for all that has already been lost or will be – to
raging anger about it, a further stage of grief. We are also looking for
leaders, and right now there are no clear candidates. We are just plain
out beyond the last page of our instruction manual.
Adults in the US were raised in or immigrated into a not ideal but functional
democracy. People here are deeply trained in the idea that if change is
necessary at the national level, it must happen through the channels of
Congress and elections---the process of democratic change. Many of us have
long been frustrated by how capitalism has captured and poisoned that
process. But it was what we had to work with, and we plugged away—eithermaking
some changes in the system, trying to reform it, or trying to act around it. But
after decades of conservative think tanks having planned this coup, we now find
democracy being dismantled.
Inspiration and Strategy
We need to apply nonviolent social change tactics – but these are skills not
learned or mastered inside the democratic change process. To the
degree we know them, we know them as skills to win civil rights, end a war, or
protect the environment. We do not know them in terms of how to overthrow
a dictator or stop a fascist coup.
For those familiar with the history of the rise of fascism in Germany and
Italy before WWII, that history is predictive of the steps unfolding before us
right now. But because Hitler and Mussolini were only crushed after a long,
violent world-wide war, that history does not tell us how to nonviolently
defeat fascism before it is enthroned. Also, never before in history has
there been the sort of power that social media exhibits to replace traditional
media and to produce unchecked and biased misinformation - resulting in such
deep divisions among the US population.
However, there are many, many examples of nonviolent overthrow of dictators,
documented by activists and academics.
For example, if you do not know the work of Elizabeth Chenoweth, please
familiarize yourself with her research on nonviolently overthrowing a dictator.
A quick summary is at https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/how-to-topple-a-dictator/
While these tactics to overthrow dictatorships were successfully used in the
80's in Poland, the 90's in the Philippines, and the 00's and 10's in various
central American and African Countries, these are very small countries or
countries where the majority of the population is concentrated in a small area. All of Poland is the size of California’s
population. They often did not have even a titular democratically elected
leader before having to depose the dictator. So these recent historic
examples do not translate easily to the US. However, they do still hold
useful information.
Cory Booker in his recent historic Senate floor speech of 25 hours called on
his ancestors and mentors: Martin Luther King, John Lewis, and even Patrick
Henry. He called on them for inspiration and guidance, and with a battle
cry to fight for our democracy.
Similarly, I call out to other progressives. We need to reach into that bag
of 101 nonviolent tactics catalogued long ago by Gene Sharp, and we need to
think very strategically. As lifelong nonviolent strategist George Lakey
has long preached, a protest is a one off - it cannot win anything, no matter
how big the number of attendees. We have to have a strategy - one that builds
on itself and employs different tactics.
Why nonviolence you may query. Many
people believe violence is more effective and necessary when the stakes are
high. But the most amazing part of Chenoweth’s
research was that the nonviolent uprising were more likely to be successful,
and in a shorter time than the violent ones.
Additionally they were more likely to result in a government afterwards
that was democratic.
So Why Demonstrate?
Right now we are having a lot of demonstrations: "No Kings" on
Presidents Day; a Save Science one, and Hands Off on April 5th. A friend
of mine who has gone to few protests in her life declared: "And even
I had to go to it." I asked her why. She said that normally
she sees them as pointless, a lot of people yelling, maybe making themselves
feel better – but achieving nothing. I asked therefore why she
went. She said: "Everything is so awful. I did need to be with
people who are also upset." That, I told her, is one of the purposes
of a demonstration, to gather together those who share common cause and to lift
their spirits for the work ahead. A
demonstration is also an event to share ideas and information about the issue.
If done well, attendees can also learn next steps they can take. It is a
way to build a movement by bringing out more and more people with a voice for
change. But protest is also to build pressure on those doing wrong.
If one looks at historic examples like during the Vietnam War, the
demonstrations got bigger and bigger and spawned more and more groups against
the war and eventually pushed over into various acts of nonviolent civil
disobedience, such as burning draft cards, refusal of inductions, sit in at the
Pentagon, etc. Huge demonstrations also happened in the civil rights era. But they
were often only a stepping stone in the arch of a campaign that included
boycotts or lunch counter sit ins. However, a whole generation of late Gen
Z and early Millennials see protest as pointless because they participated
in huge protests against the Iraq war - in about a one month span of time - and
those had no effect.
One bright driving line is the media covered the Vietnam War and the Civil
Rights protests. They barely and grossly under-reported the anti-Iraq war
and pro-Palestinian protests. The George Floyd protests were only covered
because they grew bigger and bigger and followed a murder that captured the nation.
For demonstrations to matter now, they will have to grow in size and
frequency and be sustained over time. We will have to figure out how to capture
the media or create our own. I noted one relatively small April 7th
demonstration that got mainstream press was a die-in at Wall Street with quite
dramatic tomb stones naming everything that is being lost.
On April 1, Cory Booker very movingly said in his marathon speech before the
Senate, "The Constitution is only a piece of paper unless we live it
and protect it." We are all the way fully into Constitutional crisis
in the past week as the President has refused to obey the directions of either
Congress or the Courts. This is a constitutional crisis in a country that was
designed with a careful balance of power that appointed to each of three
branches unique powers designed to keep checks and balances on any one branch
to prevent it from usurping too much power. So now we will wait to see if
the military enforces the rule of law – the requirement that the President
follow the Constitution and obey Congress and the Courts when they operate
within their roles. But really we cannot
just wait – we have to act.
Non-compliance and Over-compliance to Evil
One of the first principles of nonviolent resistance is noncompliance with
evil laws and decrees. Examples are men refusing conscription or even the
requirement to register for the draft. Another during the civil rights
movement was the non-compliance with Jim Crow segregation laws: refusing the
ban on segregated lunch counters by presenting for service; going into
segregated places like swimming pools and joining in; and, famously, refusing
to sit at the back of a public bus.
The flip side of this is over-compliance with a rule or law for the purpose
of jamming the system and rendering it meaningless. For example, in 1980
when men were required to register again after a decade-long break in the
draft, women registered, causing the Selective Service and the FBI to have to
spend time sorting out what registration was valid from that which was
invalid. Perhaps one of the most famous and moving case is when the Nazis
required all Jews in Denmark to wear yellow stars on their coats, the Danish
king and quickly then the Danish general public began wearing yellow stars both
in solidarity but because their over-compliance rendered meaningless the
attempt to single out Jewish citizens.
How might we apply non-compliance or over-compliance to the current
situation? One of the difficulties in
the present moment is most of the horrors are a lot of US laws being violated
or attempted to be eliminated by presidential order, which was not the founding
fathers’ intention for presidential orders. Also a lot of federal
employees are being fired and their departments being eliminated. While it
is clear to progressives what is wrong with this, it is less clear what to
do. Those who are actually being fired can attempt to non-comply up to
the limits of being barred from buildings. Supervisors can refuse to fire
people. ICE officials could refuse to arrest immigrants. (Although realistically
by having taken ICE jobs in the first place they are unlikely to take such
conscientious positions.) However, certainly schools and hospitals and
employers can refuse to cooperate with ICE as is already taking place
throughout WA. How might you apply
non compliance or over compliance to the current situation?
Boycotts
It became very clear at the presidential inauguration with all the
trillionaires standing behind Trump and the insane role of one of the richest
men in history in the DOGE nightmare, that this is a takeover of the US
government by the multinational corporations and the oligarchy that runs
them. They are acting quickly to enact laws and strike down others that
will create an ideal business environment for their further profit and to
reduce protections or wage gains for workers.
An important strategy of nonviolent resistance is to understand the sources
of power for oppression and to weaken those sources for the oppressive
power. For example, in the 60’s during the civil rights movement in
Montgomery, Alabama, the organizers knew that progress was being blocked by the
power elite in the town, which were about a dozen owners of white-owned
businesses. So the civil rights organizers instituted a boycott on white
businesses. The African-American community refused to spend one penny in
those business for just nine weeks--well timed, busy Easter season weeks. The
white business owners made concessions that led to the end of the
boycott.
Other boycotts have been made against products, like the boycott in the late
70’s and early 80’s against Nestle to get them to stop selling baby formula in
countries where, when mixed with contaminated water, it was killing
babies. Thirty-five years of consumer products made in South Africa,
combined with many other tactics, eventually led to a change of power that
could bring about the end of the apartheid system.
Therefore, a powerful way for us to say “No” to the trillionaires running
the show means boycotting their companies and their profits – to vote with our
wallets. Many have expressed frustration that no one voted for Elon Musk
and thus they feel they cannot vote him out. Yet his stock has dropped by
42% (and still continuing) since his involvement in this far-right takeover
started. Boycotts against Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Walmart will also
be necessary. While inconvenient, there is a feeling of freedom from no
longer giving any of your life energy to those folks. Some have been
convinced that Amazon now has such a tight grip it is not possible to shop
without them. I assure you from my experience of a personal 15-year boycott of
that company, that it is possible. What companies will you no longer support?
Creating the World We would Rather See
The sad over-reliance on rallies and marches reflects a misunderstanding of
how big movements effected change in the past. Yes, they did all use
rallies and marches, but just as one of a mix of tactics. And again, Elizabeth
Chenowith's research shows the most successful movements used a mixture of
movements. An important principle of non-violence is taking actions that
show the world that should be. History offers some good examples of
protest actions that embodies the changes the protestors wanted: the lunch
counter protests in the 1960’s made the point that African-Americans wanted to
be served in public venues; the early twentieth century women who tried to vote
before it was legal; and Gandhi’s defiance of the British salt tax by making
his own salt during the 1930 Salt March. There are literally hundreds of
creative and powerful examples of this principle. Can we continue
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies because it is what we want? Can we
continue to embrace Trans people because it is right? Resistance does not
all have to fight and struggle - some of these acts of creating the world
we want can be full of fun and joy.
Alternative Institutions
When this principle of creating the world we want is taken far enough, it
takes the form of making alternative institutions and the alternative
institutions increasingly holding the real power. The most obvious
examples might be cooperatives, worker-owned work places or credit unions which
model a form of worker/consumer ownership that is not dependent upon
multinational chains. (If you have not already done so, dump your
corporate bank or store for credit unions and coops.) An interesting form
of this is when the first Trump administration was trying to control the
National Parks. Resistance sprang up in the form of an Alt Parks Facebook page
where disgruntled staff planned their resistance anonymously. They were
forming an alternative Parks Dept. Currently the Democrats in Congress
are having to hold alternative hearings because the Republican -controlled
Congress will not give official space for any Democratic initiatives.
Spend some time dreaming - how can you live right now in the world you want
rather than the nightmare which is being created?
One day when I was mad about reading that the Trump Administration’s
removing all acknowledgements of People of Color war-time units in past
generations from military museums, I dreamed of other museums or any place we
as people have control over, such as churches and schools, displaying that same
removed material. This would show that honoring is a choice we still have.
General Strikes
One of the most powerful tools throughout history used by the people is a
general strike. A general strike is the refusal to work, not at just one
company for workers’ better wages or conditions, but a nation-wide strike by
all workers. It is a refusal of the population to do any work until
something ends. The general strike by the Solidarnosc movement in Poland
was used to respond to the imposition of martial law and forced an
election. In Iceland on Sept 24, 1975. the "women's day off"
strike saw 90% of women refuse to work at home or in paid employment to force
changes for women's rights and equal pay. The next year an equal pay law
passed. In a bold act of solidarity with the Ukraine, long shore workers
around the world in 2022 refused to unload any Russian goods, thus doing
economic harm to Russian in retaliation for their invasion of the
Ukraine. What act of violation of the US Constitution would you lead you
to join a strike?
Overthrowing Dictators
It is most important to understand that Chenoweth identify dozens of
incidents over the last few decades of dictators being nonviolently removed
from office. One of the best-known examples is the "People Power
Revolution" that removed President Marcos from office after two decades of
corrupt wielding of power in the Philippines, the last eleven of which were
under martial law and suppression of free press. Opposition had
grown for several years after the assassination of his electoral opponent, and
because the economy was very bad due to his policies. People began
wearing yellow to show solidarity with the opposition leader, and finally in
the last days of his reign people flooded the streets of the
capitol. There were so many people that the entire capitol was in
gridlock. No one could get around. The tanks that had been sent to protect Marcos
could not get through to the presidential palace. The generals looked out
from the palace on a sea of citizens that way out-numbered the soldiers, and
they told Marcos that they could no longer protect him and to flee in a
helicopter from the roof of the palace And so his rule ended.
There are many similar stories of the end of dictators’ reigns. I have
been frustrated for months trying to apply this to our gigantic country.
We cannot all to go to Washington, D.C., where there would not be enough food
and lodging for people. I live almost as from D.C. as you can get, except
for Hawaii and Alaska. But I have
finally realized. When a general strike shuts down all airports, train
stations, ports and highways throughout the country, it will have the same
effect as bringing the capital city to a stop.
In the meantime we all need to be studying up on the history of nonviolence
and techniques, strategies and tactics of nonviolent resistance to
evil....because apparently we will need them. George Lakey has suggested
everyone get together a pod of eight of your best buds and call it a bridge
group, a kitting club, or a book group but actually be discussing all of this
and figuring out together what you can do. That sort of decentralized and
grass roots action is impossible for any dictator to strike down and is exactly
how resistance operated in all Nazi- occupied countries. Start thinking
now with others how to apply tactics of resistance.
