Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Putting a stop to fascism

Many people have recently messaged me on Facebook saying they feel powerless to resist Trump. Some people have told me in person they cannot openly resist due to their jobs or their family situation. This got me thinking about putting together a list of a variety of ways to resist, both openly and clandestinely. The beginning of that work is below. It is by no means complete or as comprehensive as it could be. Please add ideas and resources yourselves. It’s basically in list form. I will continue to refine as you tell me more resources. I’m thinking this is one step in building a coalition of resistance. There are many groups and organizations that are doing this work, some who have been doing so for 50 years. Frankly, the Sioux Nation and other Native Americans has been doing it for hundreds of years. No need to start from scratch.

First, I need to clear up at least one of the many blatant lies the GOP has perpetrated to distract us from facts. There is already a law prohibiting the use of federal money to fund abortions; it's called the Hyde Amendment. It has been on the books since 1976 and was recently codified https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/142/text
Defunding Planned Parenthood is the Tea Party’s attempt to control women’s bodies and to further deny women of color and poor women adequate health care. They are lying when they say it’s about not funding abortions BECAUSE THAT WAS ALREADY LAW!!!

Also, no one who is pro-choice is pro-abortion. The point is that women have the right to control their own bodies. The GOP, conservative Christians like Pence and Ryan in particular, use language about abortion to distract from their real agenda which is to return women to the status of property. This cannot and will not be allowed.

In terms of thinking about organizing resistance, there is the always reliable Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rules_for_Radicals. You can purchase it at https://www.amazon.com/Rules-Radicals-Practical-Primer-Realistic/dp/0679721134 Interestingly, the Tea Party used this book as part of its long term strategic planning to take over the Republican Party. We can use the same strategies to take over the Democratic Party or to put up a viable radical third party. It clearly worked for them.

Here is the evolving list of resistance strategies:

Tax Resistance
Consequences of not paying taxes: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/this-is-what-happens-if-you-dont-pay-your-taxes

·                    Legal ways to resist taxes
o   Loopholes
o   Reducing taxable income
o   Pay under protest - include a protest letter with your payment

·                    Illegal ways to resist taxes
o   Tax evasion
o   Redirection – donate $ to charity
o   Refusing specific taxes like the telephone federal excise tax used to fund war
o   Refusing to pay at all, quietly or by open declaration

 Marches
Phone calls
Letter writing campaigns – swamp them with paper
  • See above for Senate and House info
  • Here is Paul Ryan’s home address:
    • 700 St. Lawrence Ave. 
    • Janesville WI 53545
General strike
Boycotts - hit them in the wallet
Direct action (ex. Bree Newsome)
Donate to activist groups such as:
Boycott corporate media or at least hold them accountable
  • The six corporations are Comcast, News Corporation, The Walt Disney Company, Viacom, Time Warner, CBS Corporation
Find and use independent news sources - use MORE THAN ONE
Participate in citizen journalism - start a blog
Create/Sign petitions
Bear witness – video and post police actions
Develop a rapid response team
  • All you need to do is commit to calling, texting or e-mailing an urgent notice to 5-10 of your friends, family members, neighbors, co-workers or classmates whenever an urgent matter is before us – Michael Moore




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