It's Not Dark Yet

What we expected to happen, happened. I'll save my recriminations of the liberals for another time. Let's talk about what we do next. We'll get into this at length soon, but for now:

Breathe. A defeat like this one is unique in that the fight is lost but the punches don't come until later. We have time to mourn, organize, practice, gather supplies, train–all the things we need to do. And, to be clear, we have a lot to do. Start by taking stock of where you are and what you have–and I mean that literally and metaphorically. Panic is going to help no one. Pour some oil on those waters.

When you've gathered yourself, start thinking about what you're good at. Are you a good writer, speaker, artist? Can you build houses? Can you cook? Do you have a good throwing arm? We need every kind of skill you can think of in the fight going forward. You have something to contribute. Own that fact. You may think there's nothing you can do but I'm going to drop a quick bomb here: our challenge is not to weather the latest iteration of fascism. We have got to destroy this white supremacist, capitalist, life-sucking, world-destroying civilization and replace it with one that holds all equal. Just surviving today means other don't survive, means you have to survive again tomorrow. To quote Station Eleven, "survival is not enough." We've got to fucking live. That means we need everybody, you included, to fight and build a better world. We need every kind of skill you can imagine.

If you want more from me on this subject, run back through old letters here–I've written about this a couple dozen times:

A Trump Dictatorship & Beyond

I knew it was coming, you knew it was coming: it’s time again that we talk about Trump. In addition, I think that we need to discuss the entire political apparatus in the United States, because many of our concerns don’t disappear with the end of the Trump threat–they

When / IfEric Shonkwiler

The Christian Nationalist Manifesto

I’ve mentioned Project 2025 a time or two before, and fairly recently at that, but we haven’t delved very deep into the beast and it’s high time we did, especially in light of a recent find. The Bucks County Beacon has uncovered a document in their research of Project 2025

When / IfEric Shonkwiler

An Atlas of Collapse: Authoritarianism in the US Pt. 2

Imagine two groups of people, supposedly diametrically opposed, spaced out on a football field. Let’s call them Red Team and Blue Team. Both groups represent, together, the majority of Americans. We’re currently zoomed in on both teams, and the space between them on the field. The whistle blows. Both teams

When / IfEric Shonkwiler

Cop City, Jackson, and the Expansion of Policing

A couple weeks ago, allies of the Weelaunee Forest came together from across the country in a week of action, beginning with a music festival. A number of activists simultaneously started a different kind of action by setting fire to a construction site for Cop City, burning equipment and throwing

When / IfEric Shonkwiler

An Intermediate Lesson on Surviving the Rise of Christo-Fascism

Grim in a different way this week, but with perhaps a thin glimmer of actionable hope? In the olden times of this newsletter we talked about safeguarding yourself and your home against the soon-to-come packs of roving fascists. That information is still pertinent, unfortunately, even if most of us haven’t

When / IfEric Shonkwiler

There are also a lot of really good resources out there for folks just waking up to the cause. Margaret Killjoy's Live Like the World is Dying is a podcast covering a lot of what I cover here, and more. Her other podcast, Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff, covers a lot of historical folks fighting the good fight and will inspire you.

Robert Evans' It Could Happen Here is basically foundational to thinking about the dark days ahead. The first season is by now somewhat outdated but still worthwhile to shake you out of your paradigm. His Behind the Insurrections was also a good historical primer on how people tear down a functioning government, or try to, in order to wreak fascist havoc.

Start reading up on mutual aid organizations, and look for ones near you. Read books on mutual aid and dual power--there are a million, so I'll compile that list later. There are hundreds of good social media accounts you can start following.

Again, we'll talk a lot more about this, and talk practically, too. For today, and maybe tomorrow, just take a breath. This country has not fundamentally changed: it is, and has been, a white supremacist shitshow. It's time we changed that.