How To Resist Every Single Day

What to do while you’re not protesting kings

Two wooden Adirondack chairs facing a wide open grassy field with trees in the background, under a partly cloudy sky.

Call it the slide to authoritarianism, fascism, or an oligarchy — call it whatever you want. Either way, we’re losing our democracy by the minute.

  • We can’t rely on a hero to swoop in and fix this.

  • We can’t rely on our institutions.

  • We can’t rely on the elections.

  • We can’t rely on Trump’s decline in popularity.

  • We can’t rely on memes, hashtags, likes, and reposts.

  • We can’t rely on the resistance.

Yep, I said what everyone is thinking — we can’t rely on the resistance. It’s okay to say it - saying it out loud is empowering. Admitting it allows us to adjust.

This isn’t to say the resistance doesn’t matter. It does — deeply — and it needs to continue. Everything matters. Protest marches, boycotts, town hall meetings, art, legislation, and court decisions all make a difference.

But there’s a fundamental difference between the resistance and the right-wing extremists. The resistance is necessarily reactive; it rises in response to attacks and often achieves only temporary or sporadic victories — think Jimmy Kimmel’s return or the “No Kings” marches (find one here). The right, on the other hand, is deliberate, well-funded, coordinated, and relentless. If they’re not actively undermining democracy, they’re planning their next steps. They work every hour of every day — and they were long before Trump’s election.

Between our wins, Trump and the right march on — quickly. We react when we can, but the results show the resistance falling further behind by the day. The right is steamrolling Democrats, government agencies, the courts, the media, education, and even truth itself. It’s moving faster than we can track, let alone counter.

While we wait for the next march, join a boycott, or share content within our echo chambers, the right lunges ahead. We’re not matching their effort

It’s Whack-a-Mole vs 3D Chess.

The Missed Front Line

The resistance isn’t the problem, but it’s only half the fight. History tells the same story. The Resistance alone didn’t win World War II — there was a front line as well.

There was also a front line when the right attacked America — we just didn’t see it. The front line was in the minds of Americans. The weapon of choice was propaganda. It was on cable and radio, in the mouths of pundits, politicians, and priests. Social media algorithms and hundreds of millions of dollars supercharged its effectiveness.

That front line persists today. The right still fights there. And we still ignore it. We know what Fox News and other right-wing voices did to our friends and family, yet we’ve convinced ourselves that what was done cannot be undone. This is a quiet, tragic self-sabotage.

People’s minds change all the time. They were designed to — it’s well-understood science. We bitch and moan about the right’s attack on science, but we’re ignoring the very science that will save our democracy.

The reason we decided Trump supporters are unreachable is that we relied on our traditional conversations (mostly arguments). What we didn’t realize is that while the right was changing our friends and family, they were also changing how we needed to talk to them. The how is important.

How the Front Line Helps the Resistance

The front line doesn’t replace the resistance — it strengthens it.

It’s time to fight back and reclaim those who were captured by the right. Our weapon will be conversations — quiet, one-on-one talks with the Trump supporters we know. Bad actors exploited people’s capacity to change. Now it’s our turn to help folks open up to change again.

The front line is your opportunity to fight back every day, keeping pace with and countering the right. Working toward and having these conversations fills the gaps between the marches and the boycotts, keeping the movement alive.

Start filling those gaps. Learn the science. Learn how to approach and have these conversations. Develop the right mindset. Think about the people you might talk to — their lives, values, vulnerabilities, and your shared history. Spend some time playing out these conversations — their responses and how you might reply.

There’s no better way to use our “resistance downtime” than to build a skill that helps people move away from Trump — and from the manipulative voices that led them to him. Each of these conversations brings us one step closer to a healthier, more humane society. Besides, who doesn’t want to see Sean Hannity and Jesse Waters lose influence?

Admittedly, many of us have no interest in talking to Trump supporters. Our past attempts have been frustrating and even shocking at times. But remember, we understand why those conversations failed, and we know how to make them better. And remember too that there are experts and resources ready to help.

The Trump Regime isn’t Waiting — Why are You?

Strengthen the resistance through learning — and then use what you’ve learned in honest, respectful conversations with your Trump-supporting friends and family. These conversations aren’t replacements for the resistance; they’re extensions of it.

Here are some resources to get you started.

This site, Reclaiming The We, provides the rationale and motivation for these conversations along with guidelines, a framework, and additional external links to help us improve them.

Smart Politics, led by Karin Tamerius, is loaded with resources: quick-reads, videos, in-depth discussions, etc. Use their ChatGPT Angry Uncle Bot to learn and practice.

Leaving MAGA shares the stories of those who have left MAGA as well as advice for these conversations. Founder Rich Logis is dedicated to getting this information out to as many people as possible.

The Listen First Project has a 10 Tips reminder sheet

Braver Angles has a set of resources, including a 40-minute lesson for talking to your family.

Reunited States will walk you interactively through the basics