Well, no suprise, the Rebublican senators have decided that even their own rules no longer apply to them. This in your face action tells us a number of things. First, that those on committees understand that no Republican senator will oppose this breach of the rules. Second, that going forward, any procedural rule standing in the way of the Republican movement will be ignored. Reichstag time.
It is all well and good to protest. The protests over the last week and a half are effective and heartening. However, they will not be enough. Nor will letters to office holders, phone calls, or ant other of the ordinary ways by which people seek to affect the behavior of their elected representatives.
In the past, I have suggested economic means of fighting totalitarian rule, especially under Bush. But, while a general strike would be very effective in this battle, it, at the present time, lead to more chaos. This would give the Trumpists more cover for their activities. However, I suggest that targeted economic sabotage may be very productive. By this I mean concentrated action against specific corporations for specific periods of time together wth periodic refusals to by anything that not absolutely necessary. We must brutally distinguish between our wants and our actual needs. We must buy locally whenever possible. Finally, we must slow everything down. The circulation of money, our work, our driving, our travel.
How will this work? The Trumpist have shown that they will ignore the law, procedure, common understandings among people and organizations and basic humanity. It is clear that the Trumpists are a radical right wing cabal seeking an ideological purity that is direct in opposition to d mocracy and which will ignore the Constitution whenever it suits their purpose and they can get away with it. Thus, the usual political, social and intellectual methods of action are no longer available to the citizens of this country. Economic methods are powerful for a variety of reasons. Refusing to spend money on unessentials is not illegal, and cannot be broken up by police action. Such action is widely distributive, and can be carried out by those who see the danger, but are unable, for family or employment reasons to protest, write or call. Further, because the economy is so integrally complicated, refusal to spend together with targeted boycotts,may result in effect sooner rather than later.
Yes, there will be some pain felt by a lot of people, ourselves include. But not nearly as much if the Trumpists are successful in their goals. Further, it seems that the top one percent may be in a far more delicate economic condition than the rest of us. Reducing the flow of money is likely to pinch the Trumpist and their allies substantially more than the rest of us.
How long would such action take? Not known, but may be not as long as waiting until the next election cycle. Indeed, such economic action may help insure that there is a next election cycle. Bannon wants to tear all of our institutions and ways of life down to allow the creation of some new, unclear and unformed way of life. We cannot, in good conscience allow that to happen. Maybe a focused slowdown and set of boycotts can avoid the necessity of a general strike. Certainly, the usual democratic methods have been rendered impotent.
