Resisting MAGA and Project 2025
A nonviolent resistance strategy to preserve U.S. democracy
The structure of this post is based on “From Dictatorship to Democracy” by Gene Sharp. I recommend reading it yourself. But we’re all busy, so I wrote this up to apply his foundational concepts to our current situation so you don’t have to.
The importance of nonviolence
We are all rightfully full of anger and rage that ~49% of U.S. citizens are dumb and/or ignorant enough to vote someone back into office who attempted a coup. Yet we need to make sure that anger and rage does not translate to violence. Violent resistance chooses to compete on the only battlefield where Donald will have real strength. As commander in chief, he is hoping that we choose to resist him by fighting in his realm. Instead we must choose nonviolence, which is far more effective in achieving the end goal of resisting and replacing his attempted fascist regime.
Dangers of negotiating with Donald and MAGA
Treating Donald as just another Republican to debate with is how we got here. Democrats have failed and continue to fail to see this fact (see Biden doing smiling photo op with him recently). He is a purely selfish and narcissistic entity that does not understand fair debate- rather he bullies and lies and does whatever happens to pop into his head in the moment. Do not trust him to negotiate in good faith.
Democrats in the Senate and House need to prioritize slowing down and obstructing the legislation he attempts to force through. Use the filibuster and any other tricks at hand to obstruct him. Otherwise there may not be a country to win back in 2026.
Sources of power
There are 6 source of power that are required to rule effectively.
Authority (people believe the rule is legitimate)
Human Resource (number and importance of people who are cooperating)
Skills and Knowledge (to perform specific actions)
Intangible factors (psychological/ideological)
Material (property, natural resources, communication, transportation, etc.)
Sanctions (punishment, threats)
Of these, Donald’s Intangible power stands out as frustratingly impressive. People seem to still think of him as a successful businessman who represents anti-establishment power. Democrats have repeatedly and amazingly failed to make any sort of dent in his brand. I think one way we can start is by calling him Donald, as “Trump” just associates him with what he used to be. He has devolved and our branding of him should reflect that
He also shows an astounding willingness to levy Sanctions on anyone who disagrees with him or has stood up to him. Yet in many ways he is an especially weak fascistic figure, because he is full of incompetence and bluster.
Weaknesses of the incoming administration
Of the 17 weaknesses listed out by Sharp in his book, the two that stand out as most applicable to the newly mutated MAGA administration are:
Deteriorating efficiency and competency of the bureaucracy.
Internal institutional conflicts and personal rivalries.
Among his cabinet picks are a sex offender, an anti-vax lunatic, and a FOX “news” anchor. That he is prioritizing loyalty and extremism is not surprising, but we must take advantage of it by challenging and forcing their hand as they attempt to do their jobs. In the end I believe Donald’s genuine stupidity will be the reason our country will survive.
Additionally, Democrats have completely failed to foment rivalries within the Republican party. The Freedom Caucus is full of insane and racist individuals, but any infighting among Republicans must be exacerbated. Republicans are selfish and self-centered, let’s make that the reason their party dies.
Incompetence and selfishness are their Achilles heels. Let’s sharpen our metaphorical blades and start chopping.
Exercising Power
The U.S. is a geographically and culturally diverse country. We need to take advantage of that by encouraging local and specific forms of resistance, so that the MAGA administration has many nonviolent battles to fight on many fronts. Organize a boycott in LA, a march in Seattle, a mass outdoor sermon in Atlanta.
Here is a link to Sharp’s 198 nonviolent methods of action. Read through it, pick one you like, and start doing it to the extent you can. All of us (definitely including myself) focus on online engagement because it is immediately satisfying, but getting out in the real world and having additional effects on society is important. To be clear, places like Bluesky are an important way for us to communicate, but it’s just a start.
Of Sharp’s four mechanisms of change - conversion, accommodation, nonviolent coercion, and disintegration - nonviolent coercion is most applicable to our Donald/MAGA/fascism problem. We’ve seen with the MAGA movement that they’re effectively a cult and will not be converted. I’ve already talked about how arguing with Donald is like yelling at a slimy brick wall, and disintegration is too extreme. So we need to focus on mass non-cooperation and defiance. Do anything and everything we can to gum up the functioning of their government, which will cut through the shitty information environment to wake low information voters up to our new reality.
Next Up
The next post in this series will likely be on Sharp’s Anti-Coup. Because that’s what we’re trying to do here, save our democracy before it becomes a dictatorship.
