The Overview: Three Strategies the U.S. Resistance Needs Now
Crowd size grabs headlines. Structures, rituals, and defections win.
The lesson from abroad is clear: movements that endure don’t just mobilize, they organize—trading spectacle for structure, and urgency for discipline. If we want to win here, we need to learn what actually worked there.
1) Build Parallel Institutions, Not Just Protests
What worked abroad: Solidarity (Poland), Civic Forum (Czechoslovakia), professional associations + neighborhood committees (Sudan).
What’s missing here: Coordinating spaces; aligned calendars; repeatable formats; digital backbones.
Do this next:
Stand up Civic Forums/Resistance Hubs at state/metro levels (labor/faith/students/vets/culture).
Share 30–60 day escalation calendars.
Issue weekly action packets (demands, talking points, graphics).
Use union halls & congregations as physical bases; FB/WhatsApp/Telegram as the “underground press.”
Strike at the Gdańsk Lenin Shipyard, Gdańsk, Poland, 1988
2) Invest in Nonviolent Discipline & Symbolic Ritual
What worked abroad: Baltic Way; Velvet Revolution keys; People Power flowers; Baltic singing vigils.
What’s missing here: Family-safe formats; marshals; codes of conduct; repeatable visuals.
Do this next:
Normalize weekly vigils/sing-ins/human chains/window signs.
Train marshals; adopt codes of conduct; pre-brief de-escalation.
Embed cultural symbols; keep props household-simple.
Broaden formats (sector walkouts, small-town vigils).
3) Prioritize Cross-Sector Defections Over Crowd Size
What worked abroad: General strikes (CZ), church shelter (PL), insider crossovers (Baltics), refusal to fire (USSR ’91), security defections (Serbia).
What’s missing here: Systematic outreach to unexpected elites and service workers.
Do this next:
Labor beyond teachers (transport, trades, service).
Faith leaders (Black church, Catholic parishes, interfaith councils).
Public employees & professionals (nurses, first responders, federal workers).
Business & civic elites (small business owners, chambers defectors, retired generals).
Cultural figures (local choirs, muralists, storytellers).
Metrics that matter
Breadth (counties participating), legitimacy (which institutions defected), discipline (incident-free actions), narrative lift (earned media tone).
CTA: Reply with one institution in your area that could serve as a hub. We’ll post a simple MOA template next.
Up next, we’ll dig into how to build an effective structure that lasts beyond a single protest. Then we’ll explore how to anchor resistance in nonviolent discipline and culturally resonant rituals, and finally, why the real tipping point comes when we prioritize cross-sector defections over crowd size.
These are good to start, but there needs to be an Underground version of communication and organization; Because you never know who's not on our side of this fight.
We need to revive the paper zine, which combines politics, art, resistance, and guidance on action for individuals/communities nationwide.
Separately, everyone should start flying flags from Mexico, Central America, and South America on lawns, windows, lawn signs, car magnets, etc...