I was fortunate to be joined today by Ezra Levin, the co-Executive Director of Indivisible, the grassroots national organization that is helping build the opposition movement and lead the No Kings protests. This was a chance to talk about the government shutdown that began at midnight, but also about the necessity of collective power to confront the Trump regime and the escalation of authoritarian control.
I’m sharing this recording with paid subscribers who were not able to join the Substack Live event. Ezra’s insights and guidance were uplifting and valuable. Let me give you a few examples.
On the daily authoritarian transgressions: “What I want people to understand is: It’s a mistake to say, ‘Wow, he’s doing this and he’s doing that…and it seems like no matter what we do, they continue to do harm.’ That is true.
“But the way that you measure the success of an anti-authoritarian movement is: One, are we bigger than we were before? Two, are we more unified than we were before? Three, are our tactics proliferating over time? And four, is the regime’s support diminishing? And on each of those, every single month, I can check the box. Yes, yes, yes, yes. We are making progress.”
The central issue of the Oct. 18 No Kings protest: “I think this No Kings Day is about the First Amendment and our constitutional rights. He is systematically cracking down on dissent and opposition and our ability to just be Americans who exercise our rights. And when your First Amendment rights are under attack, there is but one failsafe thing, foolproof tactic. We’re defending those rights. Exercising those rights: That’s what we have to do.”
On hope and the real enemy: “We need to update our politics and our practice for the present moment, which is operating under an authoritarian regime. And let me tell you, that word hope is really hard because our enemy is not Trump. It’s not MAGA. It’s not the Republican Party. Our enemy is cynicism and nihilism and fatalism. That is what kills us.”
I hope you’ll give the interview a listen and share it with others. I also hope you’ll make a plan to participate on Oct. 18 and in the days ahead to fight back against a regime that does not care about providing healthcare to Americans, upholding our constitutional rights and so much more.
