THERE IS NOTHING MORE FUTILE THAN TRYING TO STOP A CORPSE FROM STINKING

Operating beneath a teeming cloud of MAGA spewed bullshit, a handful of billionaires are busy dismantling America’s social safety net and civil rights enforcement. Like other autocracies, their first targets are science and education; defunding crucial public health programs, dumbing-downing education, and instituting MAGA threats and indoctrination programs to restrict critical thinking and suppress knowledge.

Image by Mr. Fish

What used to be democracy's independent watchdog, the media, has been torn apart by new forms of information technology and appropriated by profiteers [Facebook (Zuckerman), X (Musk), Fox News (Murdoch), and The Washington Post (Bezos)] who gleefully impose oligarchic restrictions on content while unlocking the doors of hate.

 Meanwhile, the Democrat Party ignores the worsening tribulations of the working class. Leftist cancel-culture reigns supreme. Woe to anyone who questions left leaning academics, "liberal" Hollywood media stars, or hypocritical Democrat climate policies that support fracking, subsidize extraction, and allow the destruction of forests.  Instead of citizen assemblies, town halls, and inclusivity, Democrat apparatchik work tirelessly to stifle debate and limit public participation, ever obedient to the elites who fund them and the professional politicians they’ve procured.

Image by Lynn Ward

There is nothing more futile than trying to stop a corpse from stinking. The two-party system does nothing more than separate us. Profound indifference is the best response. Neither party represents the people, nor functions as its stewards; instead, they’re caretakers for the elites’ material interests. How about experimenting with new forms of struggle and alternative structures that bring us together: new platforms of personal and social resilience, non-violent civil resistance, and citizen assemblies?

As we begin this long and difficult journey, consider an initial strategy resembling the art and philosophy of aikido: “use the enemy’s force against him.” What if we step aside for a short time to regroup, then continue the struggle with increased intensity? Taoist understanding tells us that “each extreme leads to its opposite.” If we can lure our opponents to go further in the direction they are already going, we might be able to guide them into extremity, then weakness or even collapse. Not only is this a valid take on the biomechanical forces of hand-to-hand combat, but it also provides a sophisticated understanding of natural systems in general. Ecosystems, atmospheres, bioregions, and even individual human physiology all strive to maintain balance. If any force or process goes too far, it will be dampened by some other force. If a process or force is allowed to go unchecked, the stability and viability of the entire system becomes at risk. 

Rather than participating in a bankrupt two-party system that’s neither democratic or fair, instead of expending time, money, and effort to support the "least-worst" of two bad choices, what if activists execute a turn or pivot to align and create parallel structures? When we think about moving laterally and blending with our opponents, it frees our minds from oppositional ruts and entrenched assumptions and opens new possibilities for action. 

 If this sounds too esoteric, how about "rope a dope" as a metaphor for 2025 resistance?  The paragraph below is taken from a recent New York Times opinion piece by James Carville.

“Half a century ago, Muhammad Ali cemented himself as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time not by punching his way to glory but by mastering the art of the strategic retreat. Facing George Forman, who was rolling off 37 knockouts and 40 wins, Ali deployed the famous rope-a-dope strategy, retreating to the ropes of the ring, evading punches right and left, absorbing small jabs, until Foreman’s battery was depleted — and in Round 8 deployed a decisive knockout blow.”