Ep 334 - Trumpism: Accommodation, Collaboration, or Resistance

Episode 334 of RevolutionZ assess three reactions to Trumpism, their causes, their effects, and their lessons for activism. The episode gets personal and in-depth to make a case  that collective resistance that envisions positive change rather than mere survival can transform these "worst of times" into the "best of times," and to indicate some features it might involve.The three reactions to Trumpism the episode considers are first passive accommodation like some students and faculty obeying their Trustees, like some lawyers obeying their bosses, like some non-profits self censoring their web sites and budgets, and like some householders  bemoaning but not fighting Trumpism; second, active collaboration like some university trustees bowing to Trump, some law firm partners kissing Trump's ring, some elected officials marching with Trump in violent array, and I guess the Proud Boys too; and then, third, there is resistance, growing and diversifying.Accommodation often reflects fear and exhaustion, but it also and perhaps mainly rests on beliefs that fighting corporate and political power is futile and in any event even if it won some change the gains would lead back to similar problems. Accommodation, afflicting tens of millions, can and must be respectfully overcome. In contrast, collaborators actively enable Trump's agenda despite and even due to knowing its effects. They lack empathy for those harmed. Collaboration must be overrun. Finally, to be really effective,  resistance must not just oppose Trump but offer positive alternatives that can inspire sustained involvement. Resistance wins by raising costs to elites until they abandon their agenda. Movements can accomplish that when they connect specific struggles to broader solidarity. Before signing off the episode indicates various program-like steps that resistance can continue unfolding, refine, and augment but then the  episode raises a troubling concern. Where are the young people in this movement--not a relative few but a great many? Hopefully they are meeting, talking, practicing, and preparing to explode onto the scene soon.Support the show