✊🏽 Resources for the Resistance

Published 2025-03-06

Like many Americans, I am deeply troubled by America’s slide into an authoritarian and fascist government. I have started collecting the following resources as I strive to understand the history of how we got here (because none of this is new), where we are going, and what I can do about it.

Definition of Terms

First, it is helpful to have a definition of terms. These terms are often thrown around as badges of honor or slurs of accusation, with little regard to their actual meaning. Within the context of this site, I try to use these words as accurately as possible. Words have meaning, and using them correctly is important. All definitions sourced from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Apple’s macOS dictionary, and A Brief History of How We Got Here.

Authoritarianism
the enforcement or advocacy of strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom.
Autocracy
a system of government by one person with absolute power.
Capitalism
an economic and political system where private citizens own and control the businesses, property, and capital (means of production) for profit.
Communism
a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.
Democracy
rule of the people.
a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives. Keyword “eligible”, not always all of the people get the right to vote. In America it wasn’t until 1870 when African American men got the right to vote, and 1920 for woman, and not until 1965 when the Voting Rights Act tried to protect minority voting rights—and it has been under attack ever since.
Despot
a ruler or other person who holds absolute power, typically one who exercises it in a cruel or oppressive way.
Fascism
an authoritarian, intolerant, and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.
Oligarch
a very rich business leader with a great deal of political influence (particularly with reference to individuals who benefited from the privatization of state-run industries after the collapse of the Soviet Union).
Oligarchy
a small group of influential (and often, but not necessarily, wealthy) people having control of a country, organization, or institution. Sometimes confused with plutocracy.
Nazi
a person with extreme racist or authoritarian views.
a person who seeks to impose their views on others in a very autocratic or inflexible way.
historical a member of the far-right National Socialist German Workers’ Party.
Plutocracy
a country or society governed by the wealthy.
an elite or ruling class of people whose power derives from their wealth.
Socialism
a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.
Totalitarianism
a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state.
Tyranny
a cruel and oppressive government.

Books & Long Form Content

Origins of Totalitarianism
Published in 1951 by Hannah Arendt, parts of this book read like it was written today. None of this is new.
Democracy Awakening
By Heather Cox Richardson. A call to action about the precarious state of American democracy, charting its historical challenges and current threats.
On Tyranny, Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
By Timothy Snyder. “A ‘bracing’ guide for surviving and resisting America’s turn towards authoritarianism.” — New York Times
The Road to Unfreedom
By Timothy Snyder. A chronicle of the rise of authoritarianism from Russia to Europe and America.

People or Resources to Follow

Heather Cox Richardson
Her newsletter is all about patterns in history, understanding today through understanding where we came from.

“Historians are fond of saying that the past doesn’t repeat itself; it rhymes. To understand the present, we have to understand how we got here. That’s where this newsletter comes in.”

What The Fuck Just Happened Today
Matt Kiser’s newsletter is second-to-none in summarizing what is happening today. With the intense chaotic deluge of changes coming out of the Trump Whitehouse, Matt’s “Today in one sentence” summaries are an artful strain the use of a semicolon to contain all the chaos in one sentence.
Politics Girl, Leigh McGowan
I love her approach, “when you understand you care, and when you care you vote”. Her YouTube shorts are a great starting point for connecting with her content. And she has a podcast, book, and you can learn more at her website.
Project 2025 Observer
A community-driven resource tracking the progress of Project 2025.
POTUS Tracker
A real-time tracking platform that monitors the President of the United States’ location, schedule, signed legislation, and executive orders.

Articles & Short-Form Writing

A Study Guide to Authoritarianism - The Atlantic

Fascism Anyone? | Free Inquiry

The tech oligarchy has been here for years

‘Reboot’ Revealed: Elon Musk’s CEO-Dictator Playbook
The playbook written by Peter Theil’s in-house philosopher, a playbook that Elon Musk is implementing.
Italian Tyranny: An Anti-Fascist View
An Atlantic article from 1925 serving as a reminder that none of this is new. You can view the entire original free as a pdf.
Don’t Believe Him
“Trump is acting like a king because he is too weak to govern like a president. He is trying to substitute perception for reality. He is hoping that perception then becomes reality. That can only happen if we believe him.”

How to prep your mind, Ryan Holiday

How to stay sane AND informed

The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide
Originally published in 2017 as a series of social media posts, compiled here at this page, signed —With love, your Eastern European friends.

Professor and authoritarianism scholar Ruth Ben-Ghiat answers questions about dictators and fascism.

Christianity’s Role

Christian Nationalists are one of the primary voting bases for authoritarianism, giving rise to Trumpism and opening the doors to bigotry, hate, and tyranny. It is worth understanding how a religion professing mercy, love, and compassion has been twisted to bring so much hate and evil, and why they are so intent to legislate their morality on all of us.

Taking Action