11/8/2025 - Welcome to the Resistance
Welcome to the Resistance, November 2025 (Briefing Slides)
Authoritarian Consolidation To understand our situation, we need to understand power. Gene Sharp, an influential non-violent action theorist, wrote in “The Politics of Non-Violent Action” that political power is “not intrinsic to the power holder“ but emerges “from the interaction of”
· Authority – the legitimacy conferred by organizational processes and governmental offices
· Human Resources – the proportion of people who respect and obey
· Skills and knowledge - of the leader and the government
· Intangible factors – habits and attitudes, norms, ideology, precedent
· Material resources - the extent to which the leader controls resources
· Sanctions at the leader’s disposal
Authoritarian regimes follow similar paths to power by monopolizing all of these power sources. Recurring authoritarian tactics are described by many (see Snyder, Stanley, and others) as the “authoritarian playbook.” These tactics enlarge a leader's control of these power sources during a “consolidation phase” like the one we are in now.
Trump is expanding his power by asserting and assuming authority he does not legally have and by seizing control of resources – impounding funds, decimating or destroying agencies authorized by Congress, weakening our alliances, and pressuring independent institutions, like law firms and universities, to submit. This expands his authority and material resources.
He seeks to destroy tradition and behavioral norms wherever and whenever he can find advantage and weaken checks on his power. He is now actively engaged in voter suppression, terrorizing the people via ICE and right wing violence, indiscriminate use of military power, unemployment, and hunger. The goal is a world in which almost all are psychologically bound to obey. To think differently would feel dangerous and risky. That is the end state of consolidation, competitive authoritarianism or, in the extreme, fascist dictatorship.
The Resistance Consolidation must be attacked everywhere, from every angle. Legal challenges impede Trump's accretion of power. Winning elections cut away at his institutional power base. Our role in the resistance is primarily psychological – dispelling the sense of inevitability he cultivates, dispelling belief in his power and in the moral imperative to obey. This psychological work must be pervasive, influencing and reinforcing all venues and aspects of society, from our electeds to the courts, commercial enterprises, state and local governments, religious and cultural institutions, media and entertainment, and the voices of ordinary citizens.
And this psychological work is precisely what protest does. We assert the norms and tell people they are not alone, that Trump is opposed. We motivate people to vote. We expose his lies and duplicity. We work to mitigate the divisions he creates in America through solidarity and mutual support with those he is pressuring. And, we create our own community online, at protests, and events like monthly potlucks so that we can support each other and collaboratively solve problems.
We are having an impact. No Kings I and II showed the people are waking up. The rejection of the Academic Compact for Excellence by 7 of 9 universities proved Trump’s success is not inevitable. Kimmel/Disney showed there are economic consequences to capitulation, that institutional decision makers had better consider the blowback from an angry public. And last Tuesday showed that the country is beginning to turn against Trump and the GOP in general. And we are all getting better and more effective at this work.
If you take away only one thing from this essay, it should be this: sustained non-violent protest is far more effective than it appears. Several studies (Gillion, Madestan) have found protests increase voter turnout, and perceived constituent sentiment affects political decisions at every level. Arguably, the shutdown occurred now, and not in the Spring, because the public demanded Democrats take a stand. Remember this – protest by the Tea Party was puny compared to No Kings – a mere 300,000 nationwide on tax day, 2009 - but it powered MAGA to victory.
Indivisible The resistance is all-of-society effort and includes many groups with different orientations and missions. For example, ACLU and Sierra Club have different missions but both are actively resisting. Each has a different main focus, different resources, and different audience, dramatically increasing participation and resources.
Indivisible is different from most of the other groups - our focus is totally on saving and revitalizing democracy. We believe in the America created in the New Deal and that we can build a better world.
Indivisible is also different in that each chapter is independent - each determines the most effective approach based on membership, local conditions, and state/local politics. In that sense, Indivisible is a movement, not an organization, which is a fabulous strength. We are more innovative, more nimble, more able to tailor our efforts to conditions, and more resilient against any authoritarian push to restrain us.
That the national Indivisible organization - Indivisible HQ - has managed to start a movement of independent chapters with unified purpose, branding, technical training, and strategy is a testament to the wisdom and skill of the two executive directors, Ezra and Leah, and much of this essay is based on their work. Our affiliation with HQ helps us materially in our Falls Church, helps us coordinate with other chapters in NoVA and Virginia (Indivisible definitely moved the needle in last week's election), and helps us contribute meaningfully to the overall national effort.
What’s Next? We will continue to grow the movement chapter-by-chapter, through local events and the occasional coordinated day of action. Roughly 2% of the population participated in No Kings II, up 40% from No Kings I in just 4 months. At this rate we will reach 3.5% in April.
But … last week Ezra spoke of the resistance transitioning from episodic protest to “sustained operations” – which will be a major milestone in our evolution. It means building a rapid reaction capability so that our impact is clearly connected to events.
This transition is key to building a culture of defiance in society at large. Operationally, that means a resistance that can react rapidly to create immediate consequences and blowback for the regime’s cruelty and crimes.
We will influence using moral suasion and by exerting financial power through boycotts to materially change the decisions facing institutional executives. We do not seek to punish - we seek to align institutional interests and management's responsibility to stakeholders with democracy. Institutional decisions must tilt overwhelmingly towards noncompliance. We will make them part of the resistance.
Spotify is the pilot effort where we collectively learn. National picked them because they are both complicit (advertising for ICE) and exposed, with 90% of their revenue from subscriptions. Polling among selected Indivisible members indicates about 15-20% of members have paid subscriptions and roughly 85% are happy to cancel. We should also be on the lookout for additional action requests from National over black Friday/Cyber Monday.
