Bill Hogseth

One of the most brutal days in American history, on the brink of 17M losing Medicaid, 3.2M losing SNAP, massive wealth transfer to billionaires, 20x expansion of ICE.

But the National Apartment Association (landlord lobby) celebrates this cruel bill as a "95% win for the housing industry."

Big Tents and Collective Action Can Defeat Authoritarianism The journey from individual angst to collective action takes time, vision, and commitment. It is also the pathway to victory.

“It takes more muscular forms of protest and noncooperation, like walkouts, labor strikes, and economic boycotts, to stop autocrats in their tracks…. Coordinating mass action, including organized noncooperation across different sectors and pillars, takes a commitment to big-tent organizing.”

156. Federalizing the California National Guard President Trump's Saturday night "memorandum" federalizing 2000 California National Guard troops is a tentative step toward abusing authorities for domestic use of the military, but a dangerous one.

Via "One First," my quick write-up of President Trump's "Presidential Memorandum" purporting to federalize 2000 California National Guard troops; the relevant legal authorities for doing so; and how the move is both a modest *and* dangerous escalation of what's going on in and around Los Angeles:

Jun. 7, 1920 | Ku Klux Klan Mounts Publicity Campaign to Attract Members Learn more about our history of racial injustice.

On this day in 1920, the Ku Klux Klan hired publicists to grow membership for the white supremacist organization. Within 16 months, nearly 100,000 new members had joined, and by 1924, there were three million active members nationwide.

Why the ‘Pro-Democracy’ Center Can’t Save America Donald Trump is back in the White House, and the “pro-democracy” movement that emerged during his first term is warning once again that America is on the brink.

The pro-democracy establishment talks about threats and norms, but rarely about the material conditions people are living in.

This piece isn’t an attack. It’s a structural critique of a system managing decline while blaming the public for noticing.

www.compactmag.com/article/why-...

Learning how to practice democracy at a small scale can teach us how to rebuild it at a large scale

Yesterday, over 30 people in Menomonie WI gathered to discuss, plan & commit to win tenant protections in our town

This is what it looks like to build an independent political home in your backyard

That means we must recalibrate what we expect going forward. The political conflict isn’t over, nor is the outcome determined, or democracy destined to be extinguished for good.

But let’s finally discard whatever residual notion of “It cannot happen here” is still floating around.

This is our local food pantry here in Dunn County, WI.

Last year, 5,000 people used the food pantry’s services. More than 10% of the 45,000 people who live here.

Don’t tell me this isn’t class war.

The institutional Democratic Party is guided by an almost pathological level of conflict avoidance in almost every direction. “What can we do to make the least number of people mad?” is just a bankrupt way to operate.

YouTube video by John Calabrese Bill Hogseth on Hope

The ruling class wants us hopeless. Because hopeless people don’t fight back.

At GROWW, we organize working-class people in small towns & rural areas to win real fights in western WI. Hope is a skill. We build it through action.

That’s why I stood with Bernie Sanders yesterday in Altoona, WI

Make no mistake that corporate media is a mouthpiece for the billionaire class.

When they say "personal liberties and free markets" what they really mean is "an ideology that rationalizes the suffocation of working people for the benefit of the super-rich"

DNR approves permit for controversial Pierce Co. CAFO • Wisconsin Examiner The Wisconsin DNR approved a permit allowing the Ridge Breeze Dairy in Pierce County to expand despite heavy local opposition.

Wisconsin is the Dairy State. Today, that means corporate “farms” extract wealth and leave behind poisoned wells while big dairy lobbyists & their politician friends gut regulations that keep our communities safe. If the DNR won’t do its job, then we’ll do ours. We’ll organize to protect our homes

Dems base has shrunk and shrunk and shrunk. If they want to regain relevance, might try reaching beyond the choir to those who are politically homeless. Only 23% of the electorate identify with either party. 43% identify as politically independent

You have questions. Mostly of the "What Can I Do to Resist This Coup?" variety. Choose Democracy has answers. Here's a really handy guide to the how/what/why of organizing... Share widely. Link here: choosedemocracy.us/what-can-i-do/

I love these posts. Love the quotes. Keep em coming. Do you create these images yourself?

A first excerpt from @chrislhayes.bsky.social terrific new book, published this morning:

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

I can think of no other way to properly eulogize Garth Hudson’s passing than to put on Chest Fever, turn the volume up, and allow the full-throated power of his organ intro to wash over me in waves

Yes, let’s celebrate MLK but let's not forget this simple truth: the greatest moments of change in our country have not come from a lone charismatic leader, but always from the leadership of ordinary people, organized together.. animated by their own vision of a just world where everyone can be free

Bob Zellner was 22 yo when he was a field secretary of SNCC. Raised in rural Alabama - his dad and grandpa were both Klan members - Zellner’s leadership was key in bridging divides with white southerners, bringing them into the movement, and building multiracial solidarity.

Ella Baker shared her wisdom with young civil rights activists, mentoring them to build their own independent organization - Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee - which transformed the movement via grassroots leadership, direct action, and participatory democracy

Fred Shuttlesworth was a fiery pastor in Birmingham, AL - played a key role in Freedom Rides, sit-ins, and the Birmingham campaign. Known for not backing down, he survived repeated assassination attempts "You have to be prepared to die before you can begin to live"

Fannie Lou Hamer, a sharecropper from Ruleville, MS, led the “Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party” to challenge the all-white delegation at the 1964 DNC in Atlantic City. Her testimony there sparked LBJ to call an impromptu press conference to cut off the broadcast of her speech

Bob Moses was 26 years old when he quit his job as a high school math teacher to organize voter registration drives in rural MS amid racial violence. A soft-spoken man, he was the architect of Freedom Summer, a mass-mobilization of 1,000 volunteers to challenge unjust voter laws in Mississippi

Diane Nash helped organize the Freedom Rides - a pivotal campaign to confront segregation of interstate bus travel. After riders were attacked, RFK asked her to call off the campaign, she said "We all signed our wills last night." She was 23yo.

MLK was a great man, but he was just one man. Today, I’m reflecting on the entire movement of people who struggled, strategized, took risks, faced violence, all while keeping a laser focus on human dignity, justice, forgiveness, and truth. Let’s take a moment to let their examples sink in.

The notion of there “being good billionaires who share our values” is an excellent example of why the Democratic Party is currently a failed political institution

The family of David Lynch announced that a worldwide meditation is set for Monday, January 20th, to celebrate the legendary filmmaker's life. Here's what you need to know... / #DavidLynch The family of David Lynch announced that a worldwide meditation is set for Monday, January 20th, to celebrate the legendary filmmaker's life.

The family of David Lynch announced that a worldwide meditation is set for Monday, January 20th, to celebrate the legendary filmmaker's life. Here's what you need to know... / #DavidLynch

Costco's unionized workers vote to authorize a strike Costco workers affiliated with the Teamsters have voted in favor of going on strike if no deal is made ahead of a January 31 contract deadline.

Costco workers affiliated with the Teamsters have voted in favor of going on strike if no deal is made ahead of a January 31 contract deadline.