I have no plan. Only a few concepts and tactics.

Print newsletters keep coming to mind. Perhaps that’s me romancing a bygone era where sweat equity gets you distribution and readership, even if it’s just a single page. Then again, print has never been cheaper for the common-man, and sitting on top of global digital distribution would create an impressive reach.

We can also start making “conservative alt accounts” in social media, in order to penetrate those spaces. Build a profile that gets you into echo chambers that you don’t want anywhere near your real life. At the very least, before all these damn photo ID features and laws go into place.

There really needs to be a playbook for dismantling propaganda, and how to handle people that are programmed to parrot talking points. Like some kind of conversational aikido.

Social media rides on optics, tagging, and vibes. It might be possible to co-opt the style and tagging of existing content, say Newsmax, and provide a palatable lean for recent topics for a conservative audience. This is nothing like going full-bore "The Onion"¹, but rather, providing a positive framing or just undercut the lies that are in the same space. Report the exact same stories - move for move - just without the hyperbole, lies, and vitriol. Facts should speak for themselves. Buy a blue suit and rip off their look.

In fact, more positivity online in general might be a big help to everyone. The algorithm rewards engagement, and while rage bait is 100x easier to create, stuff that makes people feel good (e.g. kittens) gets good traction too. Granted, that’s a high-effort and talent-focused operation - not for everyone.

Lastly, it’s possible that we could see a great firewall go up around the US, or find de-facto censorship and de-platforming a huge problem to any attempt to better organize digitally. Once you’re a legit problem, the ban-hammers will come out. I think it prudent to be prepared to use mesh networking, radio, sneakernet, private couriers, (again) print, anything that works around a complete fascist takeover of the internet. Fortunately, the bandwidth and storage requirements for truth and information are shockingly small. It won’t take much.

Edit: Lastly, attend rallies and protests and fucking network. You won’t find a better place for like-minded people that actually want to do something about all this.

1. InfoWars has it right by laying out a massive all-onion buffet, but man is that a tough watch.

As far as I can tell, this may be accurate. I’ve observed that we (USA) have a taboo around discussing what happens in the bathroom. I’ve pushed back on this and, anecdotally, have uncovered that this is all too common an experience. I wound up testing myself for food allergies and sensitivities and learned that there’s a whole range of foods that my body can’t handle. As I share my situation, I find more and more people that are waking up to a similar situation.

One thing comes to mind: overcome or circumvent “the algorithm.”

Retreating from spaces like X and Reddit has had one big drawback: we are choosing to not engage with people that have bought into propaganda and right-wing rhetoric. There’s no winning anyone over or changing minds if you’re not there to speak.

At the same time, those spaces have elevated the generation of echo chambers to an art. Social media algorithm drive feeds of all kinds of media that strongly reinforce this. Breaking into those spaces would be a useful ability to bring change. Again, we can’t even begin to address that kind of a problem if nobody is there.

Alternately, we need a vehicle that can go around all of the above. What does that look like? I don’t know. Alternate media like print perhaps? Or maybe just an outrageously good youtube channel? Pooling some cash and buying advertising space? Anything would be better than nothing.

Beat me to it. Life got really good when I could upgrade from the small kitchen B/W set to a color one.

That’s my understanding too. It’s like empathy just ends at one’s own line of sight. If I can’t see it or touch it, there may be something wrong with it. It’s infuriating.

I fucking love these.

My favorite is the Waffle House: https://wandering-nobunaga.com/stories/a-waffle-house-at-three-in

There’s something about watching a luxury import brand fast-track enshitification faster than everyone else, including economy options.

I misread that as:

The most profitable thing you can do is seize someone readily available […]

… and realized that also tracks.