Asking for a friend
Edit: wording
Water the tree of liberty with the blood of the tyrant
If your friend is willing to make the effort to combat this, she should get organized. She should find like-minded people, act locally to gain political power, and create a stronghold where the illegitimate government will face resistance. She should base this around ideological lines, rather than willingly subscribing to what experienced members in established political elites in her country are trying to make her say or do. She should write down whether values are and make sure to keep them close at all times, knowing that she just might be successful and that power corrupts.
She should not give up hope, but she should give up the belief that others will change anything for her. She needs recognize that her country is already broken, and she needs to act to be the change.
She needs to recognize that she’s not powerless. She can make a difference.
Likewise, she needs to recognize that it’s a long and painful process. It needs to start locally, and it might always stay local. But that is fine.
She needs to realize strength is in the community. Building the community of like minded people working for local action is crucial. She’ll be disappointed in them at times, but she’ll just have to keep going. There’s power in community.
At least that’s what I think I’d advice her. But I don’t know your friend or her situation, obviously.
She says she grateful for your thoughtful response and did not intend to be rude but asked if you had any examples of this working. I told her that would be rude because you’re a very kind thoughtful person so don’t mind her.
She’ll be happy to hear that it has worked on numerous occasions throughout history! After the fall of Fascism in Europe, people in many countries got together and created strong welfare states in the post war period. Some were more successful than others, but even in the ultraconservative UK they managed to create a national health service that hs proven difficult to kill off.
Sadly, I’ll have to break to her that the fight never ends. The second you stop fighting for progress, some asshole will pop up and try to instill feudalism again. After a generation or two people tend to forget the ongoing nature of this threat, and it seems we haven’t managed to come up with ways to permanently get rid of it, despite our best efforts following the French and American revolutions.
Maybe the time has come to go back to the drawing board, and rethink some of the decisions that were made back then. Jefferson said every generation should have its own constitution. Maybe he was right.
The Underground Railroad comes to mind.
First all, glad your friend recognized this.
I found this article to be a prescient good grounding: https://wagingnonviolence.org/2024/11/10-things-to-do-if-trump-wins/
I’m finding local communities to participate in (potlucks, picnics, movie night, anything that doesn’t spend more money). Sending holiday cards to my neighbors, anything to connect and integrate because what comes next will test all our bonds.
Israel?
A lot of the initial popularity of Isis in Iraq was due to very similar factors. This was an uprising of a complex mix of people and goals. Most involved at first were established leaders who were patriotic and tribes who were oppressed by the new and invalid government.
This of course was airbrushed in the west and countless thousands were killed by Americans during the uprising.
Syria was destabilized due to the mass death.
The main takeaway here is that force often seems like an answer but that can go badly
“and the only thing that would expidite its destruction is a violent revolution”. feels like sorta a leading question to me.
Yeah, kind of incorrect too. I should edit it, “to say and violent revolution would only expedite it’s destruction.”
