If you’re familiar with the actual story of David and Goliath, then you’ll know there is a very important aspect as to his choice of weapons. King Saul—an amazing analog for the Orange Tyrant of today—tried to give the young David his own armaments. David refused, knowing that he had neither the strength nor the experience to use them. Instead, he would rely only upon his sling and God’s grace. For God had delivered lions and bears to David’s hand by that same method and so he trusted that God would be with him going forward.
So there he stood, unarmored, with only a sling and a few stones versus a giant brute of a man wielding some great weapon of destruction. The odds were against him, but with one accurate strike to a critical area, the warrior—that great dealer of death—fell defeated. No one was willing to stand in battle before Goliath, because of his power and skill. David, though, he didn’t just fling himself into the fray, he changed the game. He realized that he had something that would evade his opponent’s weapons and which could bypass his armor.
So how do we do that? How do we change the game? I’ll tell you what won’t work; what we’ve been doing for decades. Begging our “representatives” to do the job that we pay them for, when we all know full well that they only get elected because of corporate money. We will never outspend the billionaires, in a system designed by them and for them. We know it and our elected officials know it. Especially not when most of those politicians are multimillionaires themselves.
We need to remember that we are not the American Serfdom of Washington, we’re the United States of America. The current fascist government got to where it is through the states and that’s how we take back power. They eroded education in history and civics and critical thinking, built tax havens and pollution hubs for rich corporations, and passed extensive voter suppression laws; all through the states. They gerrymander districts and keep voters in the dark about when elections are taking place, who’s running, and what the issues are.
Make no mistake, until we secure a free and fair political system, nothing else gets solved. That’s not going to start with Congress or even with the President. Though the Judicial still stands, it won’t solve this either. Despite their past efforts, the Judicial is not meant to pass laws, they’re to rule on current laws by the Legislative and policies by the Executive. There is a way, though, for us to fix this. Literally, for us, the people, to fix it. I’m not talking about calling your congressperson, I’m talking about insisting on change at the state level.
Represent Us have put together a simple, but comprehensive piece of bipartisan legislation; it’s called the American Anti-Corruption Act. It ends big money influence on politics, ensures our right to vote, and provides ranked choice voting to allow other parties to run. This last is especially important, because with that we will break the extreme juxtaposition of our two-party system that can’t get anything done. We will have individualized parties that represent us better and which can create coalitions for a better, smarter, more able government. The best part is, we don’t have to wait for our politicians to vote themselves out of power, we can do this ourselves.
This changes everything. This makes the good cop, bad cop, roadblock dichotomy of Congress irrelevant, because we will be able to elect meaningful representation. Of course, we could also bypass a lot of nonsense by creating our own party, which would likewise make the idiocy of corporate Democrats and Republicans irrelevant. Big Money can only buy elections so long as the people are voting according to advertisements instead of an educated position. Civic engagement can change that and—if done right—a new party could lead the charge and galvanize people to get educated and get active.
Still, this anti-corruption bill is a smaller ask that still has a big affect and paves the way for radical change. We can use citizen-initiated ballot measures to get this passed right now. We don’t have to wait for elected officials to pick it up. In states where officials oppose it or where ballot measures are not available, we can and should be using recall elections to remove them from office. We should be putting real representatives into office that will champion this measure and push for citizen lead ballot measures in states that don’t have them.
In states that have neither (such as Texas), it will take widespread civil resistance and disobedience efforts to fight for those rights. The fascists aren’t going to just roll over and let us have this. That’s why I started this substack by talking about civil resistance training. Freedom isn’t free; we have the rights we insist upon and ONLY the rights we insist upon. If we want a better future for ourselves and our children, then we’re going to have to stand up and make it happen. I for one will not be able to look my girls in the eye and say, “I love you,” unless I have fought with everything I have to give them a better future than fascist oppression, neoliberal exploitation, and total climate collapse.
I know there are million of Americans who feel the same way, but just don’t know what to do (other than holding a protest sign). Well, this is the vehicle to our freedom. Jump in, we’re building a movement. Share this message far and wide; we have the solutions, we can enact them ourselves, let’s make this happen together. That means getting uncomfortable; speaking to your maga relatives, you coworkers, your neighbor whose name you don’t even know. It means getting out of your safe space and walking the line. Maybe even putting yourself at risk, like those who have been unjustly treated by our fascist regime. I know not everyone can make that sacrifice, so just do what you’re able and together we can make it through.