Make Your Damn Bed

Success often doesn't feel like success because of the backlash paradox: Authoritarians escalate violence when they  lose control, not when they’re strong. We're slowly shifting the overton window and creating mass support for the movement of the people. We're closer to success than we'd think. THE SOURCE: Bill Moyer's (MAP): https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/moyermap.html AND "Doing D...

There is no end. There is only the continuing struggle, acted out in cycles of social movements. The process of winning one set of demands creates new levels of citizen consciousness and empowerment, and generates new movements on new demands and issues. Today we're going through the conclusion of Bill Moyer's 1987 Movement Action Plan (A Framework for Effective Social Movements). Normal Times - "...

The movement needs to recognize successes achieved, follow up on the demands won, raise larger issues, focus on other demands which are in various stages, and propose larger alternatives and a new paradigm. Today we're going through step 7 (success) of Bill Moyer's 1987 Movement Action Plan (A Framework for Effective Social Movements). Normal Times - "Business as usual" - Politically quiet times t...

Today we're going through steps 6 - 7 of Bill Moyer's 1987 Movement Action Plan (A Framework for Effective Social Movements). Normal Times - "Business as usual" - Politically quiet times that the public is unaware (or feels defeated in face) of the violations of the general public's rights/values/interests. Prove the failure of Institutions - A prolonged period of increasing stress on the system....

"Rather than feeling depressed and powerless, activists now need to recognize the power and success of themselves and their movement." - Bill Moyer Today we're going through steps 5 - 6 of Bill Moyer's 1987 Movement Action Plan (A Framework for Effective Social Movements). Normal Times - "Business as usual" - Politically quiet times that the public is unaware (or feels defeated in face) of the vio...

Today we're going through steps 4 - 5 of Bill Moyer's 1987 Movement Action Plan (A Framework for Effective Social Movements). In stage 5, large swaths of activists quit because they feel powerless, despair, and generally like they've failed. Normal Times - "Business as usual" - Politically quiet times that the public is unaware (or feels defeated in face) of the violations of the general public's...

"The crisis of identity + powerless is a personal crisis for activists. After the experience of a movement in take-off stage, their view of the world and themselves is transformed. They come to realize that the problem is more serious than they had thought, the governmental institutions, powerbrokers, and democratic processes which they thought would help solve social problems were actually part o...

Today we're going through steps 3-4 of Bill Moyer's 1987 Movement Action Plan (A Framework for Effective Social Movements). Normal Times - "Business as usual" - Politically quiet times that people are unaware or feel defeated in face of the violations of the general public's rights. Power-holders lie about their intentions and the most of the public buys into the status quo. Prove the failure of I...

Today we're going through steps 1 - 3 of Bill Moyer's 1987 Movement Action Plan (A Framework for Effective Social Movements). Normal Times - "Business as usual" - Politically quiet times that people are unaware or feel defeated in face of the violations of the general public's rights. Power-holders lie about their intentions and the most of the public buys into the status quo. Prove the failure of...

We are in a war for the hearts, minds, and support of the general public. The power holders are violating our values, so we have to raise consciousness around these violations. The movement's strategy needs to accomplish the following: Publicly show that the social conditions and powerholder policies violate values, traditions, and self-interests of the general public. This includes publicly revea...

The process of achieving social change through social movements is the struggle between the movement and powerholders of the hearts, minds, and support (or acquiescence) of the general public. The powerholders advocate policies that are to the advantage of society's elites, but often to the disadvantage of the majority population and in violation of its strongly held values. Before movements begin...

"There needs to be a revival of democracy through "people power".The increasingly centralized power of the state and other social institutions, combined with the new use of the mass media to carry out the political process, has all but eliminated effective citizen participation in the decision-making process. Centralized power-holders now make decisions in the interests of a small minority, while...

"Authoritarianism thrives when people are isolated and dependent — when food, energy, housing and safety are controlled by a handful of elites. But when communities feed each other, house each other, teach each other and protect each other — they are less dependent on dominant systems, which allows them to mount a more effective resistance. Such communities, then, don’t just survive. They become u...

"You don’t need to tackle the entire regime to weaken its foundation. You need leverage points — clear, concrete places to act." I wanted to read the whole article I referenced yesterday, because it was really good. When we do a "force field analysis" it makes it easier to know what's worth our attention. The Sources: Daniel Hunter's Article: https://wagingnonviolence.org/2025/05/dont-let-the-news...

Most of us don't have the time, energy, or bandwidth to do anything extra right now, but I hope these guides can be a reminder that there are lots of different ways to engage on a practical level, on any scale. As long as you're alive, you're engaging and that's truly enough. BUT, if you have been feeling the same kind of "listless" that I have, ideally one of these tactics can motivate you (and m...

Most of us don't have the time, energy, or bandwidth to do anything extra right now, but I hope these guides can be a reminder that there are lots of different ways to engage on a practical level, on any scale. As long as you're alive, you're engaging and that's truly enough. BUT, if you have been feeling the same kind of "listless" that I have, ideally one of these tactics can motivate you (and m...

Action Plan for affinity groups: Choose an action Make a plan Support each other Make decision on actions Debrief + evaluate Affinity Group guide: https://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/affinitygroups What can I do? Choose Democracy Resource: https://choosedemocracy.us/what-can-i-do/ Counseling for Social Change: https://www.counsellingforsocialchange.org.uk/activists/ Activist Trauma Resources: https:...

An affinity group is a small group of people who come together to prepare for and take direct action. They make decisions together, and support each other during and after action. Sometimes these groups are formed just for one action, but often they are ongoing groups that organise and take part in actions over a number of years. Affinity groups are often organised along the principles of non-hier...

An affinity group is a small group of people who come together to prepare for and take direct action. They make decisions together, and support each other during and after action. Sometimes these groups are formed just for one action, but often they are ongoing groups that organise and take part in actions over a number of years. Affinity groups are often organised along the principles of non-hier...

The HOPE-PV guide offers us some tactics in safely + effectively pushing back against perpetrators of political violence. Combat the cover-up with the Reveal – Expose the injustice. Combat devaluation + Redeem – Validate the target. Combat reinterpretation + Reframe – Interpret the event as an injustice. Combat official channels + Redirect – Mobilize support and avoid official channels. Combat int...

Today we're talking about how to combat the common tactics that perpetrators of political violence rely on from the HOPE guide (linked below): Combat the cover-up with the Reveal – Expose the injustice. Combat devaluation + Redeem – Validate the target. Combat reinterpretation + Reframe – Interpret the event as an injustice. Combat official channels + Redirect – Mobilize support and avoid official...

The ideal of democracy is that it can contain ALL of our diversity and differences and channel into safe, institutionally protected representation without the use of threat and violence. Democracy depends on societal trust, free + fair elections, widespread participation, free + fair media, due process, etc. Democracy can be undermined by people using threat/violence so we must make the cost of po...

Thinking of power as an upside-down triangle is a great way to remember where power lies. Everyday individuals hold the structures of power up with their daily labor within the system. This is why mass noncooperation movements are so successful in toppling powerful dictatorships. We have to take back our power by demanding the system work for US, rather than us for it. Handling fear isn't about su...

Things are chaotic (by design) so after we start to rebuild internal trust + social trust, we can start to address our own needs, and eventually our community's. Develop boundaries, coping skills, resilience strategies. Grieve, learn to accept reality + then address what is within your control. From there, you can pick a lane. When we try to do too much, we get overwhelmed and don't accomplish hal...

Things are chaotic (by design) so after we start to rebuild internal trust + social trust, we can start to address our own needs, and eventually our community's. Develop boundaries, coping skills, resilience strategies. Grieve, learn to accept reality + then address what is within your control. From there, you can pick a lane. When we try to do too much, we get overwhelmed and don't accomplish hal...