RESISTANCE: THE ARC OF THE MORAL UNIVERSE LANDED US HERE. NOW WHAT?

It’s the dog days of summer. But the Trump administration has not slowed down its pursuit of autocratic power, blatant corruption, and wanton injustice. I want to take this moment, however, to maybe catch our breaths and re-ground ourselves in why we are fighting. And then map out the fight.

THE ARC OF THE MORAL UNIVERSE

It’s a bit of a cliché to refer to MLK’s “Arc of the Moral Universe” quote (https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/11/15/arc-of-universe/). But it’s apt. Our current miasma is part of a much bigger picture. We would do well to recognize that.

Here’s the question we’re answering right now: Is it possible to have a truly multi-ethnic democracy?

It’s a big question, arc-of-the-moral-universe big.

People forget how radical a notion it is to have a truly multi-ethnic democracy. Since democracies were being established, they have been codified - and consequently dominated by - a single ethnicity. Often it was an even narrower base than just ethnicity. It included only a specific gender and religion.

Democracies CAN be expanded. I mean, the US started with only white, male landowners being allowed to vote, and look at us now. But expansion takes work and there’s no guarantee of success. No one gives up power willingly, as Frederick Douglas reminded us.

So, is it possible to have a truly multi-ethnic democracy?

Americans aren’t the only ones who will face this question. We’re just the first ones to the post. The world population is mobile in a manner that it never was before. We are the first ones in history to face this question as a reality, not an abstract. When you look at other democracies around the world, they are acquiring ethnic diversity, and there is resistance to it, but their minorities are small and they are still very much founded on a single ethnicity. France, Germany, Spain, and other European democracies fit this description. The UK is probably closest to us in diversity. But even they are far behind. India has minorities, but is still totally dominated by Hindus. And Japan, well, say no more.

For the US, ethnic diversity is right here right now. I hate the term “majority minority.” It implies that people of Cuban descent and Native Americans and African Americans and people of Chinese descent and all the other people that share this nation have the same concerns and interests and problems because they are “minorities.” Just stating it like that reveals how ludicrous it is to think that way, and, worse, to fear it, to fear that this is some emerging monolithic superblock of citizens about to disenfranchise white people.  And yet, it is a tribute to the extent of our diversity that the right-wing outrage-for-profit communications machine can use the term to scare people and pit them against each other. Everyone sees our country’s profound diversity. Some celebrate it. Some fear it. But everyone sees it.

So, once again, is it possible to have a truly multi-ethnic democracy?

Americans – you and I - will get to answer this one for the world. If we stop Trump’s autocratic takeover and put in place real protections for people’s rights, real economic justice for the disadvantaged, and real social programs for everyone, then the answer will be “yes.” In short, if we are to be successful long term – and that’s the only success that matters – the world on the other side of this chaotic disruption cannot look anything like the one that led us to it. But that’s another newsletter.

THE ARC OF AUTOCRACY IS, WELL, SHORTER

So, enough with the arc-of-the-moral-universe perspective. Be inspired. But then take action.

What do we do? There’s a template for that.

Gene Sharp (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Sharp) was an American academic who studied autocracies and how people overcame them with non-violent struggle. He recognized two weaknesses of autocracies.

First of all, autocracies are brittle. It takes a LOT of resources to enforce the autocratic order, to enforce obedience. The only reason autocracies are even possible is because most people ‘obey in advance.’  They just want to get on with their lives. They take the path of least resistance as long as they are comfortable enough. This makes it possible for the autocrat to focus resources on the minority of people who resist.

Sharp’s second realization is that autocracies are supported by various “pillars” in society that keep the economy going, that keep the profits rolling in for the oligarchs, that keep the products on the shelves, that keep the airlines flying, and a million other things.

Freedoms may be constrained, rights may be curtailed, the Constitution shredded, but as long as these pillars cooperate, the economy will continue to function and things are comfortable enough for enough people that they don’t resist. They may limit the books you can read, the movies you can see, the places you can travel, they may disappear resisters, jail activists, and coerce politicians, but things remain ‘comfortable enough’ for enough people that opposition never outgrows the autocrat’s ability to manage it.

Each of us is part of one or more pillars, and so long as any of us just goes about our lives because we are ‘comfortable enough,’ we are complicit with the autocrat, and, frankly, a disappointment as an American.

To the extent these pillars can be eroded, however, to be made unreliable to the autocrat, to require more resources to manage than the autocrat has, the autocrat will be defeated. This means that we must – as individuals, groups, organizations, and institutions – decline to cooperate, to refuse to comply with requests, demands, or orders from the autocrat.

In concrete terms, this means we all need to take action on multiple levels. I get that we have to feed our families, heat our homes, and pay the rent. “Normal” life must and does go on. Don’t feel badly about that. But we also need to resist and fight. We need to attend – and be loud at – protests and rallies opposing the autocrat. Refuse to shop at stores that are corporately supporting the autocrat. Move your money out of banks and into credit unions. That is personal non-cooperation.

Then, identify what other pillars you are part of or adjacent to and get THEM to stop cooperating. Get your church or other group to make a public statement opposing the autocrat’s unconstitutional actions. Organize school friends to spark a campaign of writing to your alumni association demanding that they take a stand against the autocrat. Meet with your neighbors and start working together to demonstrate your non-cooperation. However you do it, just don’t let your comfort seduce you into being complicit.

And then get ready for the big push.

WHERE THIS HAS TO GO

The ultimate noncooperation is a general strike. General strikes took down autocrats in Poland (Solidarity), Serbia, Ukraine, and in many of the republics that got independence with the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s (the “Flower Revolutions”). Europeans are familiar with the general strike. It’s been used in multiple European nations to unseat an autocrat or to force a wannabe autocrat out before he gets the chance. They know what fascism looks like, and they know how to defeat it.

Here in the US, … not so much.

A true general strike is not just everyone walking off their job one day. It's:

◦                      Work stoppages across multiple industries

◦                      Consumer boycotts of non-essential spending

◦                      Mass refusal to participate in capitalism as usual

◦                      Mutual aid networks to keep people fed, housed, and supported

◦                      Rolling strikes or sector-specific walkouts

◦                      Public disruption (marches, occupations, etc.)

It's a coordinated, prolonged refusal to keep society running for the benefit of the autocrat and the ruling class. You don't need every worker to strike at once, that's a myth. You need strategic disruption and sustained refusal across enough pressure points to hurt profits and control.

It will be the unions that decide if and when to call a general strike. There are no other organizations large enough, prepared enough, and educated enough in the dynamics of calling a strike to do this. So, if you are not part of a union – as I am not - you do not have a lot of influence on this.

What we CAN do is prepare to deliver support when the unions decide that they’ve had enough of autocratic control.

When union workers go on strike, the striking workers are going to need:

·      Support (our presence) in the streets and on picket lines;

·      Money for rent, health care, utility bills, and other daily life expenses;

·      Food and other supplies;

·      People they trust to watch their kids, walk their dog, run errands, or dozens of other daily tasks while they take their turn on the picket line;

·      People to amplify the union message and publicize what is going on and why.

If you are not part of a union, you should be planning – preferably with friends and neighbors - for how you will help support this ultimate display of noncooperation. And you should be planning NOW. Reach out to unions. Start building up a food pantry for strikers in your community. If you have a food coop, consider how the coop can meet some of these needs. If you have teens who can run errands, walk dogs, babysit, etc., bring them into the conversation NOW. Maybe even have them organize their friends!

We don’t know when a general strike is coming. Maybe in six months. Maybe in six years. We do know that when it happens, it will be our last best chance of overthrowing Trump and his ilk. If we are not prepared to support and amplify a general strike, if we are just going to cooperate with the autocrat and sit it out, then our chances of getting our freedoms and rights back are diminished. Now is the time to erode Trump’s pillars of support. Now is the time to plan to support a general strike.

The arc of the moral universe needs some radical bending right now.

And we are just the people to do it.