In March of 2024, I watched President Joe Biden deliver the annual State of the Union address. It was uncomfortable.

Since that speech feels like a decade ago, let me refresh your memory… it sucked. The speech was underwhelming and at times incoherent. Many establishment liberals claimed that Biden “outperformed expectations.” In doing so, they further lowered the bar for a deeply disappointing administration.

For months leading up to the speech, my faith in the Democratic Party had been cracking, but I didn’t quite understand why I felt that way.

Watching the speech, the puzzle pieces started to connect. The more Biden spoke, the more I felt like I was watching a speech delivered by a 2010s-era Republican...

Biden brushed past the economic pain felt by struggling Americans amid rampant inflation. He focused on making his case for a second term in office. He used the fall of Roe as a messaging platform—issuing platitudes about the “power of women” at the ballot box, despite having done very little to meaningfully defend them.

Subscribe now

And then there was immigration. Most administrations (including the Democratic ones) haven’t exactly prioritized the well-being of our immigrant neighbors... Obama famously deported millions of people. But the Biden admin was unique because it had specifically campaigned on the importance of human dignity to distinguish itself from the politics of Donald Trump.

And yet here were establishment Dems, using the most important speech of the year to argue for a “bipartisan border bill” which contained “the toughest set of border security reforms we’ve ever seen.”

The bill would have done massive harm to immigrant communities, setting a foundation for further abuse by future administrations. It took less than one term in power for establishment Democrats to drop their facade of empathy and push for legislation that would have made Donald Trump proud.

On this issue and several others, the Democratic establishment had leaned into the politics of Donald Trump—a complete betrayal of the immigrant communities that gave Biden the presidency.

Biden’s admin wasn’t quite as callous as Donald Trump’s in its bigotry toward immigrant communities—because establishment Dems love to hide behind niceties.

But their actions reflected a calcified neoliberal ideology that was quick to betray immigrants rather than actually do the work of defending them. The establishment delights in the idea of simply being the lesser evil—not putting in the work to actually earn votes.

Biden’s speech that night sounded great to those with a vested interest in the military industrial complex. It sounded great to other establishment Democrats. But it sounded downright phenomenal to Republicans.

Because despite claiming disapproval of Biden’s border bill, Republicans understood that it represented an enormous capitulation from Dems. MAGA had successfully yanked establishment Dems to the right on the issue of immigration—and with them, millions of liberal voters who hate Donald Trump but were unquestioningly loyal to the establishment Dems emulating his policies.

I grew up in a community of immigrants, whom Biden slurred in that speech when he called them “illegals.” It’s a word his own admin had designated as a pejorative. It’s a word meant to shrink a person’s humanity... to reduce them to a paperwork status. Biden let it slip accidentally during a shitty ad lib.

Politicians call people “illegals” when they view those people as political pawns rather than humans. That night I learned not to trust Joe Biden. I learned not to trust any politician just because they’re on “my team.”

I learned that we have to demand progress from our elected officials—not settle for their preferred mediocrity. They are not entitled to our votes.

In order to save this country, we must force the Democratic Party to be better—because they’ve proven they won’t defend us without being held to account. After all, what’s more American than a bit of tension between “We the People” and those who represent us?

Originally posted on LearningUnlearning.com

Today many Americans find themselves face-to-face with the sort of fascist authoritarianism that they once believed could never exist in the United States.

Others recognize that the US has always been an authoritarian force toward segments of the population—but that the fascist project is now expanding to subjugate all of us in the working class. It’s frightening….

But as the moment evolves, so must we. Because it’s the fascist’s dream for us to operate from a place of fear....

And it’s the fascist’s worst nightmare to know that we everyday people are capable of standing up against them.

Subscribe now

Fascism requires the fear of a subjugated population in order to survive. If enough people are courageous enough to resist it, the fascist movement falls apart.

And despite what fascists would have you believe, there are a thousand ways we can demonstrate that courageous resistance. It can look different from person to person—because we all have unique skills, privileges, and risk tolerance. But we all have a role to play.

To resist a fascist movement that relies upon our isolation… courage looks like helping other people, not only ourselves.

To resist a fascist movement that relies upon our apathy… courage looks like rejecting nihilism and getting involved.

To resist a fascist movement that relies upon our submission… courage looks like speaking up against racial and economic injustice—and not just when it feels comfortable to do so.

Neither fascism nor its defeat is inevitable. And our courage today can truly mean a much better world ten years from now. Anything can happen, but we have to fight for the world we want to live in.

Fascists want you to believe that they’ve already won… but they’re lying. Authoritarianism will always inspire resistance—and we have the unique historical privilege of helping to defeat the fascist assholes who are making life suck.

This moment and the years ahead are critical in the timeline of our lives. Our actions now will have an outsized impact on the world’s future social and political trajectory.

Yes, the rise of domestic fascism is scary—but it also presents an incredible opportunity… to defeat the monsters and monstrous policy upholding systemic inequity… to model resistance for future generations… and to turn the cultural and political tide for the next century. This is a marathon, not a sprint.

We owe it to our ancestors to embrace the discomfort of accepting our place in history....

We owe it to our communities to be honest about whether we’re doing enough to resist fascism....

And we owe it to future generations to summon the courage necessary to help shape the world we wish we lived in… so that they can have that opportunity, and continue to build upon it.

Originally posted on LearningUnlearning.com

I’m starting this new tradition every January of documenting why I’m writing in the new year. Right now this little blog has almost no subscribers… and if the US continues on its current fascist trajectory, the ideas that I write about could pose great personal risk in the coming years. So why do it?

This year I’m writing because I understand better than ever that each of us has a role to play in resisting that rising fascism. And for some reason I have the sense that my role involves advocacy through writing (ironic since I’m not a very good writer—perhaps I’ll get better through this work).

I’m also not a particularly wise or intelligent person when it comes to matters of social justice or liberal democracy or history… so I don’t have the expertise needed to speak on these topics “correctly.” What I do have is good intention and the ability to learn, and share what I learn.

This little blog sits at the intersection of my personal learning journey and my desire to help spread egalitarian ideas. That seems like a sweet spot—a chance to bring others along for the ride. Perhaps in my pursuit of knowledge I can help others grow the same way I’ve been helped.

Subscribe now

If you’re paying attention and thinking critically about what’s happening in the United States, you likely have the sense that we’re on a pretty dark trajectory.

Top presidential advisors are overtly employing white supremacist tactics. Some have even openly touted their desire to achieve domestic genocide against Latinos (albeit using meme language to partially obfuscate their evil). A feckless corporate Democratic Party fails to demonstrate any real opposition (so a new generation of progressives must fight the uphill battle of replacing them).

Meanwhile, leaders in both parties (and all Republicans) have co-signed the fascist project of funding ICE, which increasingly serves as the president’s own militarized domestic terror force. And the United States continues to uphold apartheid and genocide in Palestine even as the Imperial Boomerang swings back to us here in the US. Things are not looking great.

We’re on a path carved by late stage capitalism, fueled by the greed of the billionaire class, destined to implode, and likely to destroy countless lives before it finally falls apart. But this growing fascism will fall apart—whether through its own inherent contradictions or as a result of everyday Americans rising up and defeating it.

Because like the capitalist fervor that upholds it, fascism is ultimately destined to fail. It seems our place in history is such that our life’s work should be to fight fascism at every turn until it does—to look out for our neighbors, to minimize harm, and to proactively pursue justice and equality in clear defiance of the ruling minority. More than at any other time in our lives, it’s not about Left vs. Right… it’s about Up vs. Down (the ultra wealthy vs. everyone else).

I have tremendous hope and confidence that there is light at the end of this tunnel that looks like genuine democracy in the US and a more equitable human experience for eight billion people around the world—even if I don’t have a ton of confidence that I’ll see it in my lifetime.

I’m writing in 2026 because of that broad hope, and because tomorrow isn’t written—we have to work to make things better, but we can make them better. And we should do so using whatever methods make sense… sometimes that looks like a silly little blog.

Originally posted on LearningUnlearning.com

I consume a lot of media about politics and political culture. Throughout the last decade, the voices that I trust to help me contextualize our political moment have evolved—they’re more studied, more rooted in community, and more empathetic than the people I used to listen to. The media I’m focusing for this series of short posts is a perfect confluence of these qualities—it’s the incredibly timely podcast Apathy is Not an Option by the SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center).

We live among waves of misinformation and mountains of AI slop. Widespread corporate capture of media is reducing journalistic institutions to reactionary propaganda machines... the 2025 US media ecosystem is a shit show.

Apathy is Not an Option stands in stark contrast to all the bullshit. It focuses on the ongoing fight for civil liberties and democracy in the United States. By analyzing 20th century victories, this show literally maps out the ways in which the current fascist threat can be defeated.

The people who make this show are infinitely smarter and more equipped to resist fascism than I am... you should check out the show firsthand! But I hope documenting my thoughts can help others contextualize and apply some insights. This series of short posts highlights the key lesson I’ve learned from each episode of the show.

Check out the podcast

For many working class people, the rise of the MAGA movement throughout the last decade has felt... ominous. Like the long-feared return of some ancient evil in a Hollywood fantasy trilogy. Unbelievable but also far too real.

During that time, a lot has been said about the second A in MAGA—make it great again. The mythical past at the center of the MAGA mythos is pitched to the Republican base as a time when the economy worked for them—an era that Trump claims he’ll revive. Ironically, supporters envision the domestic economy of the 1950s, when the greed of the wealthy upper class was held somewhat in check by the progressive policies of The New Deal.

In January 2025, high on confidence, Trump allowed himself some honesty. He said America was last “great” in 1896—a time of mass suffering for the working class due to the extreme greed of a handful of wealthy elites.

MAGA is working furiously to turn the clock back by at least a century. Through the years, I’ve learned a lot about their fascist methods, but it’s always felt like I was missing something. Could MAGA’s cultural tenets of greed and vengeance actually be enough to sustain such a massive societal regression? What holds it together?

Subscribe now

For me, the first episode of this show made clear MAGA’s strategic centerpiece. Its specific organizing principle is pursuit of the destruction of the Civil Rights laws passed in the 1950s and 60s. That’s why MAGA exists—that’s the whole point.

Every one of the fascist movement’s goals—including authoritarian rule—hinges upon its ability to neutralize or overturn our Civil Rights laws (and a handful of constitutional amendments).

Racism and misogyny have always been the wealthy elite’s best tools for dividing and conquering the working class. Our Civil Rights laws frustrate their efforts. With our pesky legal protections gone, the wealthy elite would be free to dial up racist policy and keep us focused on fighting one another instead of those in power.

Life for the majority of Americans is already defined by economic anxiety. We are already beholden to billionaires. They slash our social safety nets. Our taxes subsidize their companies to line their pockets. Their endless greed is propagandized as noble capitalist ambition… meanwhile, working families struggle to choose between groceries and rent.

If MAGA is successful in its goal of Civil Rights destruction, the wealthy elite will accelerate today’s pervasive economic injustice in ways we can hardly imagine… unlimited wealth and power for a select few… and a lifetime of pain and poverty for you, me, and everyone we’ve ever loved.

Recognizing this central goal of the MAGA movement feels like a big unlock... understanding its tactics makes me better at resisting its bullshit.

All power is up for grabs. But it sure seems like power is attracted to those who proclaim that the future is theirs... and then fight relentlessly to make it so. There’s no reason that we in the working class can’t be that delusional and courageous. Power can be ours once again.

Our present-day Civil Rights were once willed into existence by organized communities of everyday people like you and me. If MAGA strips away our rights, there will be pain… but we’ll rise up once again and reinstitute what was taken from us. We’ll make our rights more robust and resilient than ever before. We’ll learn from the victories and shortcomings of the 20th century, and we’ll pass hardened new laws against fascist overreach that protect our communities from corrupt billionaire interests. We can do this and so much more.

There are more of us than there are of them—there always will be.

Originally posted on LearningUnlearning.com

Indigenous resistance against imperialism and white supremacy is global and ongoing. This topic is a universe all its own, and has been for a very long time. With this post, I want to caveat that I don’t know shit, but I’m trying to learn. I hope that documenting my thoughts can help others—but if you want the good stuff, you should watch the interview yourself and hear directly from Peltier.

I don’t know much about Native American resistance against white supremacy. I know some things about the history of that struggle—but those few things which I’ve understood logically, I’ve never understood emotionally.

Like many Americans, I’ve spent much of my life intellectually and spiritually stunted by colonial myth and the allure of individualism. When I was growing up, my empathy toward the Native cause was heavily influenced by whether it felt relevant to my daily life—and often, it didn’t. I’m not proud of this, but it’s important to recognize it so I can unlearn that self-centered framing.

Today’s rising fascism has led me to assess history through a less selfish lens. Ironically, while I’ve been working to de-center myself in my understanding of the world, this interview with Leonard Peltier has made it abundantly clear that the topic of Native resistance actually is quite relevant to my daily life. It’s always been relevant — my life has always passively benefited from Native resistance.

That’s because—like struggles for women’s suffrage and those of the Civil Rights movement—the centuries-long fight for rightful Native sovereignty reinforces all other fights against fascism by pushing back against precedent-setting fascist overreach. Given the chance, fascists who target Indigenous people will also target me... and anyone else who doesn’t fit cleanly into their fascist mythos. This means that the Native cause has been shielding me from fascists my entire life.

Subscribe now

Through various books and video essays, I’ve been learning about some of the many courageous activists whom the State has punished for their resistance to injustice. So many elements of Peltier’s story parallel the experiences of other activists. As I learn more of their stories, I’m realizing that the State always seems to use the same violent means to suppress their dissent. These stories contain recurring themes.

It’s becoming clear that activist’s fights for human rights are all connected, waged against a common enemy. Their enemy is the disproportionate power held by the ultra wealthy capitalist class which seeks to subjugate the human experience for profit. That ‘ultra wealthy’ part is pretty important of course—it allows those in power to proliferate white supremacist ideology for the purpose of dividing and conquering the working class.

All this shit is connected, and it’s becoming more obvious every day as oligarchs and politicians brazenly flaunt their wealth and slash at social safety nets.

I encourage you to watch this interview firsthand. I learned history here that I knew basically nothing about—including details of the government’s formal push for assimilation and cultural destruction via Indian Termination policies.

Increasing my exposure to this history is helping me contextualize our current moment of 2025 Star-Spangled Domestic Fascism... I’m less scared when I understand these things as part of a bigger picture. I have more hope when I learn about the successes of activists like Peltier. The more I learn, the more I find myself genuinely hopeful about the future.

An important factor in my educational journey has been coming to terms with the fact that Israel is conducting a genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza—and that as a tax paying American, I am being forced to fund it. During this interview, Peltier describes the ongoing genocide of Palestinians as mirroring what was done to Native people in the Americas. This seems obvious in retrospect, but hearing it from Peltier hit me hard. In Palestine, we see so clearly how all the global struggles for freedom are so connected.

We have shit to fight for in 2025... we have work to do. Many activists like Peltier have known this their entire lives, while normie people like myself are just starting to wake up to these realities. Peltier’s interview helped me take another step in the right direction. Maybe it’ll help you, too.

Originally posted on LearningUnlearning.com

Right now in US politics there are some corrections happening among the MAGA base and throughout the broader American public. With near complete capture of the US government, MAGA is experiencing some “what goes up...” syndrome.

Small pockets of the base have begun to publicly question and even disavow Donald Trump. The public’s confidence in the Republican Party to improve the economy for the working class is starting to fall apart—rising inflation is back and probably won’t ease up anytime soon.

Subscribe now

And the admin’s obvious lies about the Epstein files have in small ways started to unite working class Americans from across the ideological spectrum. Everyone wants answers and no one is buying Trump’s attempts to distract from his own Epstein ties.

Meanwhile, a new Gallup poll shows that people’s feelings about immigration are becoming less reactionary, less overtly racist. As Americans come face to face with the dark realities of mass deportation, they’re realizing they don’t like it. This shouldn’t be too surprising—everyday people were never going to like fascist ideology applied to their everyday life. Americans hate that shit.

At least for now, the cruelty and false promises of Trump’s increasingly bold domestic fascism seem to be shocking some people awake.

But progress isn’t inevitable—without the unifying element of class consciousness, Americans are likely to resume the spiral into widespread acceptance of Trump’s racist, fascist ideology.

To make the most of this moment, we have to set aside our differences and realize that every one of us in the working class is on the same team.

Ever since the 2024 Election, I’ve been thinking a lot about how our politics are super organized around party allegiance—we treat politics like team sports.

In 2024, Kamala Harris was emboldened by the Democratic Party’s “vote blue no matter who” sentiment. She bet on undeserved loyalty, with a campaign that failed to center working people—and she doubled down on support for the genocide in Gaza. Obviously, that was a losing strategy.

When politicians believe they deserve votes purely because of which “team” they represent, they start to cozy up to the corrupting influence of big money interests. After all, voters are pledging support no matter what.

Party-based “teams” free politicians from the fundamental responsibility of actually delivering for their voters. Establishment Democrats and Republicans are not exactly the same—but they are becoming more alike every year because they are spoiled by party allegiance and becoming more corrupt as a result.

The disdain that our politicians feel for everyday people reveals that “team” politics do matter—but that the teams aren’t what you think they are….

Forget about Democrats and Republicans. The working class is one team. The billionaire class (and the politicians that serve them) are the other team, including many Democrats and all Republicans.

When we in the working class realize that these class-based teams are the real driving force behind US politics, things start to make a little more sense. It starts to become clear why establishment politicians never deliver on their promises.

So here we are, July 2025—

• The fascist MAGA coalition is dealing with some self-inflicted wounds

• And party-based “team” loyalty threatens to distract us from taking advantage of that weakness

Any MAGA voter who is starting to question Donald Trump’s fascist ideology… is my potential ally. To advance my goal of making a better society for both of us, I’m more than willing to set aside bitterness I once harbored against them based on party allegiance. The truth is, we’re both being screwed by the ultra-wealthy… and we have more power together.

Some in Trump’s base are coming to terms with the reality that their lives won’t improve under MAGA fascism.

The only way we gain ground in this fight is to work with them—to prioritize class unity above party allegiance.

Defeating political corruption, and MAGA fascism, will require millions of working class people setting aside their party loyalty in favor of class-based solidarity. This can actually happen.

Even in America, fascism is not guaranteed failure or success. Fascists would love for you to believe that everyone around you is a fascist at heart—but the truth is that most people are actually decent, but distracted or manipulated.

Regardless of who we voted for, we are all better than MAGA. And our real team—the working class team—is stronger together.