Fight Against Authoritarianism Will Be Up To Us

The best & most reliable local advocates and fighters against authoritarianism will be rank & file residents of Harris County and rank & file Texans. People with autonomy from elected officials, political advocacy non-profits & unions will be the most free to speak and act. Entanglements with the mainstream political system that is itself the source of the authoritarian threat, will inhibit the ability of people in those networks to speak & act. Our freedom is up to us.

There will be many different approaches over the next four years. Work will be needed both inside and outside the mainstream political system. A mainstream political system run by Musk/Trump in Washington
and by hard right Republican Party here in Texas is an authoritarian system, or something moving quickly towards authoritarianism. 

You can certainly be a reformer and a useful advocate within that system. What you can't be is someone who can tell the full truth. In addition to calling out the far-right doing so much damage, we must be able to address what is not working on our side. 

Our systems had four years after January 6th to stop Trump. And then also to stop him after he was convicted of 34 felonies. For four years, he worked to undermine our faith in democracy with endless false claims the 2020 election was stolen. Still Trump has been returned to the Presidency. These systems don't work. People dependent on them for their livelihood will not be our strongest champions. They can't say everything that needs to be said. They can't act in all the ways that may be required. 

My dad would sometimes use the horse racing betting term "horses for their courses."  It meant some horses were best in a long distance race, others in a sprint and others on a rainy muddy track.

What is your approach to the challenging days ahead? What are your strengths? What is your appetite for the fight?  Who are your people? Where are you most comfortable? To what extent are you willing to go outside your comfort? There is no right or wrong answer. There is just the need to keep at it and stay the course even in this nightmare. 

I'm on the Egberto Willies Politics Done Right Show every Thursday from 6 AM to 7 AM for the Houston Democracy Project segment. You can hear the show on the radio, stream it on KPFT or watch later on Egberto's YouTube channel.​​

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