Defeating the Oligarchy Dissolves Fascism
Let's Revoke our Approval
POLITY - a voice for action occupies a bit of different space in the world of fierce, courageous people who are the front line of defense for the democracy we love.
It is written as a service to you: to educate, to inspire, to re-assure you that we have a path to defend this glorious democracy.
It’s your tool to the most impactful information of the moment.
We Can Handle the Truth
It’s useful in this time of constant upheaval to remember to be truthful - in public writings, with each other and with ourselves. We are living through a massive coup attempt on our democratic republic. We feel a multi-level assault on our values, our senses, our place in the world order, our sense of decency and community, and the actual cost of everyday living.
Our bureaucracy is battered; our federal services are under unprecedented stress to maintain their commitments to us; we no longer feel safe in our own cities.
Our foundation is being torn out from under us.
Because we are assaulted on so many levels, it’s increasingly hard to know what defensive - and protective - action to take. Many millions of us want to actively defend our country.
We look to historians who know all the signs of authoritarian takeovers for answers. We look to prominent political figures to lead and lay out plans to amass millions of people. With the exception of Senator Sanders and Representative Ocasio-Cortez’s direct confrontation of the oligarchy, leaders aren’t emerging fast enough - which is what we’re waiting for.
Defeating the Oligarchy
Steve Anderson, author of Substack’s Reclaim the American Republic, distills what’s happening around us with clarity and digestibility.
Steve makes a critically important distinction in what we face: fascism vs oligarchy.
Defeating oligarchy dissolves fascism.
How? Steve: “Weaken the oligarchy, and you undercut both the funding and the narrative pipelines that feed fascism.”
Capitalism creates conditions just comfortable enough for people not to take action. Often, those flailing their arms and signaling alarm may not be getting through the layers of comfort Americans use to protect - and insulate - ourselves. Overwhelm at the daily onslaught makes it that much harder to take action.
Take action we must. Steve Anderson: “The choice is whether to remain spectators or to function as the system’s final line of defense before the breach.”
Here’s a recent innocuous example of how the oligarchy seeks to control and manipulate us:
I posted a review about an appliance store in two places:
Google Maps and,
Google Keep (on my laptop) to make it easy to grab the text on my phone for a separate appliance store-generated request for feedback.
When I went to copy/paste my text into the link on my phone, it had already populated into the appliance store review space. I had done nothing. No typing, no cut, no paste. Think that through. This is Google Chrome retaining text I typed elsewhere… and the appliance company’s host site, podium.com, anticipating what Google has in its ecosystem.
Do you see what the Google oligarchy does? It monitors every letter you type, every thought you have, every breath you take - and builds a minutely detailed profile.
I stopped using Google Chrome for search many months ago in favor of Brave. Like many, I still feel locked into several of Google’s services - Gmail, Notes, Calendar. I have made an informed choice to use Google Services, not Google Search which builds an exponentially deeper personal profile.
How do we defeat the oligarchy? Stop using Google Chrome - and as many other Google products as you can.
Please add
and Reclaim the American Republic to your information consumption. We need deep, active guidance on how each of us contributes to the successful reclaiming of our democratic republic.
It’s mine to do, and yours. The great news is that recapturing our democracy is doable, but it will take all us of drawing lines to defend our sovereignty and our privacy.
Steve Anderson is among the people who will help us get there.
Remember: those people are among us, and they are us.
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