by Joe Courter
And here we still are: in a rapidly unfolding coup bent on overturning what has taken so long to build. I won’t repeat what I wrote last month, but here is a link to it: tinyurl.com/Iguana2174 … it holds up well.
What are our tools? How do we connect enough of us to focus our dissatisfaction in a meaningful way? How do we overcome our fears and seeming helplessness? We need to be able to communicate, to organize resistance. This has made me think about how we used to do that. Go back in history to the nation’s founding, there were letters, pamphlets and newspapers, but principally oration at meetings or churches. Yet they got organized and got stuff done. The twentieth century had its first major change in organizing with amplified sound and then radio, words from one individual could be heard by thousands, even millions at the same time.
For good or ill, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Benito Mussolini and Adolph Hitler all became common voices reaching many millions. Radio preachers also exerted great influence, such as Father Coughlin, who went from an FDR supporter to an anti-Semitic profascist in his broadcasts. Later, television increased the power and reach of mass communication, but with TV came the live images, which were also powerful in creating critical awareness, and resistance; video of dogs turned loose on black folks in the South, thatched houses being torched by U.S. soldiers in Viet Nam.
Radio and TV also helped catalyze a progressive resistance. Music with social justice commentary, like Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie, were on the airways in the 1950s, followed by the explosion of protest music in the sixties with the rise of FM radio. George Carlin and The Smothers Brothers brought critical thought comedy to TV. But organizing on-the-ground resistance, local organizing, was still telephone trees, word of mouth, alternative newspapers, and the procured use of mimeograph machines. Massive protests were organized, and not one person had a cell phone or access to a computer! What we did have was a much more unified view of what was happening, a focus on stopping the war, on civil rights, women’s rights. Unified national organizations and strong labor unions helped. Common credible mainstream news sources helped. Our communications had limitations compared to now, but we got a lot of stuff done!
And again, here we are. What has technology wrought? An endless amount of information at our finger tips, but very little quality control. We all have the capacity to not only read and see anything, but share whatever we find with a wide audience on multiple platforms to people of our choosing or the whole damn world. Corporations have taken advantage of this and are shaping our interests and tastes with marketers to benefit themselves. Amidst all this technology are tremendous tools for organizing, for notifying and gathering people, but then what? That harder, human-driven work of organizing and movement infrastructure building, civic organizing and labor union organizing, is sorely needed to be effective. A sense of purpose and strategies must overcome the distraction and brain rot our screens serve up to us.
There is no one way for people to deal with this coup, and its effects are just beginning; each person needs to find their means of coping. Mental health is #1. Break away from corporate media and curate your news intake; many alternative, independent news sources are rising to prominence. It is okay to dial back your news intake and make room for fun and self-nurturing. If you are doing okay, find some groups or actions you want to help out with. Just getting beyond isolation and working with others is healthful. There is a League of Women Voters site mentioned on page 7 (“What can you do?) where you can find activities. There is always contacting your government representatives.
This coup will not be overturned quickly — be ready for a long slog of recovery. And indulge in fiction, too: Sci Fi, some Vonnegut or Le Guin — this kind of thing helps me, I know. And get out in nature! Go enjoy live music! Leave the house (and screen).
One big key to effective resistance will be our grassroots organizing, our staying power, and our readiness to deal with the changing political landscape. AOC and Bernie showed us people are motivated and ready with their great town halls. There are signs of defections in the Republicans from being lockstep with MAGA. Stay strong.