How Deep in Dictatorship Are We?

August 6, 2026

civil rights, democracy, economy, history, politics, Uncategorized

How Deep in Dictatorship Have We Sunk? Can we still get out of this?

Why Are the Billionaires Choosing Dictatorship?

Wouldn’t they rather continue the way they did things 1945-present? The fact is that they can’t. Economic pressures have become too strong. Their competitors, who were devastated in World War II, are back in serious competition. Nations that were never competitors, especially China and India, are a big problem for America’s billionaires now. Nations who have oil or other important resources are trying to hold on to them. Worst of all for the billionaires, the U.S. dollar is being undermined.

The capitalists of each nation have to keep their profits up, and the only way to do that is to expand. They reached a similar situation in 1914 and again in 1939. Both of those situations resulted in world wars. The billionaires prefer another world war, even with nuclear weapons, rather than continuing to see their power diminish.

There are really only two choices before us: destructive wars and ecological suicide on the one hand and a new cooperative spirit among people. The wealthy people who are on top today don’t like that “cooperative spirit” idea at all. So the Trumpsters are taking the only road they consider open to them: fascism.

FASCISM IS INTERNATIONAL

This week, Trump strengthened ties with kings in Sandi Arabia and Morocco while his relationships with western democracies withers. Secy of state Marco Rubio gathered 60 countries for an anti-communist convention. Elon Musk dishes out money and encouragement to fascist parties around the world.

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE: OBSTACLE TO FASCISM

Judge Barbara Lynn wrote an excellent op-ed in the Dallas newspaper. Her title was “Beware of how President Trump is gathering power.” The Supreme Court gave Trump unprecedented power and unprecedented immunity. He’s also taken a lot of power with various Executive Orders such as “National Security Presidential Memorandum 7” which intends to give him the power to arrest anybody who disagrees with him.

Lynn also talks about Presidential Emergency Action Documents (PEADS) which can be written in advance and implemented quickly. Neither Congress nor anybody outside the Trumpsters knows what’s in the current PEADS. Lynn says, “They are widely thought to include the authority to detail dangerous persons, impose martial law, seize property, censor the news, suspend the writ of habeas corpus and establish areas for confinement of persons by the military.”

Impose martial law? Isn’t that exactly what the Trumpsters are likely to do if they lose the November elections? Is there any other possibility?

I wrote a letter to the editor, even though I have no expectation that it will be published: “Thanks to Judge Lynn for summarizing some of the ways that the Trumpsters are imposing dictatorship on America. If they lose the November elections, as is widely expected, then it is a certainty that they will try to overthrow whatever restraints are left on them. The people will beat them by organizing, and we have no better opportunity than by joining the protest organizations when the Trumpsters are in Dallas September 9-10.”

If Judge Lynn had wanted to write book-length, she could have also talked about the way that the Trumpsters are taking over information sources. How they have undermined elections and are undermining them still. She could talk about the obvious comparisons between the legions of ICE operatives on our street and state police from earlier fascist governments. She could talk about the way that resistance in the upper echelons of the military have been removed. She could possibly write two books on the Trumpster’s wars and hostile takeovers around the world.

At least several chapters could be devoted to the way that the Trumpsters have restored the racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, and other divisive techniques from earlier centuries and other fascist regimes.

Unprecedented Surveillance

And Judge Lynn could talk about surveillance of American citizens. This brings me to the scandal of this week. We are just beginning to find out about Automated License Plate Readers, ALPRs. Mostly, people call them Flock cameras because a corporation misnamed Flock Safety has produced and sold the biggest bunch of the more than 125,000 of them operating in our cities today.

I probably wouldn’t have even thought about them if the Dallas newspaper hadn’t run an article about somebody who apparently used a pipe cutter to bring 6 or 7 of them down. I immediately thought of the 1960s movie hero “Cool Hand Luke.” In the beginning scene of the film, Luke used a pipe cutter to cut the heads off a series of parking meters. Parking meters were a symbol of government oppression back in those days. How I wish they were all we had to deal with now.

Most of the cameras are on poles strategically placed in high-traffic areas. They read license plates and distinguishing features of automobiles. The excuse given is that they help deter crimes, but the information they gather is shared with any number of government agencies, including the dreaded ICE.

Old timers from the Vietnam war days can tell you that FBI agents regularly walked around in parking lots near anti-war meetings. They were jotting down the license numbers. That’s how important a few license numbers are to the government’s repressive forces.

The cameras aren’t restricted to poles. They mount them on drones so they can snoop around everywhere. And what do they do with the information? Well, individual police can use the info for personal vendettas. According to the Dallas newspaper, they tracked a woman to the Colorado border in order to charge her with leaving Texas to get an abortion. When the scandal broke, they didn’t file the charges, but they could have because they had the information.

The Dallas paper said, “Dallas police conducted more than 800,000 searches of its Flock Safety data in 2025…. In 2025, almost 5,000 other agencies nationwide tapped into Dallas’ network of Flock cameras 10.3 million times… There are 670 Flock cameras across the city.”

The makers of surveillance cameras assert that they are not using facial recognition. But it is obvious that they could. Some of them already detect any Bluetooth activity that passes by them, and Bluetooth devices such as hearing aids or cell phones have personal identifiers.

Deflock.org says there are over 125,000 surveillance cameras operating in the nation. Their web site can show you where. In my area, deflockdfw.org lists city council and other local government meetings where people can protest against government surveillance.

How Deep?

We are very deep in dictatorship indeed. Assuming that the Trumpsters lose the November, 2026, elections, then unprecedented things will happen in American politics. One can understand what will happen, but not from American history. You have to look at Nazi Germany.

–gene lantz

I’m on KNON radio 89.3FM at 9AM Central Time every Saturday. If you are interested in my more personal observations, you might look at https://lilleskole.us

High Noon in Dallas

July 29, 2026

strategy, elections, history, civil rights, politics, unions, democracy

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I’ve always liked the movie “High Noon” from 1954. It seems like a pretty good analogy for Dallas on September 9-10, 2026. In both cases, a very bad guy has announced that he’s coming to town to do his bad business. The local people scurry around to protect themselves.

At first Mr Trump announced that they were holding the Republican Party’s first ever “Mid-Term Convention.” But later they admitted that there won’t be any convention, it’s just a fund raiser and a Trump extravaganza. In fact, most news reports include the idea that they are only doing it because Ken Paxton is losing his race for Texas Senate. They need something to buoy the boy.

Apparently, their big plans for fund raising were a little too big. A week or so after the announcement, they cut the price for a Trumpster ticket by 50%. In the electoral arena, nothing is going very well for the Trumpsters.

The movie was supposed to be a typical cowboy shoot-em-up, but things went wrong and they turned out one of the greatest movies of all time. The screenwriter had been blacklisted, so arch anti-communist John Wayne did all he could to destroy ticket sales. In fact, the real-life story of the production and eventual success of the movie is very parallel to the story in the movie: Values of courage and communal spirit are pitted against pure evil. In the movie, the local law enforcement personifies every cowboy hero in every cowboy story ever told.

As soon as the Marshall finds out that Mr Evil and his gang are coming, the Marshall’s bride-to-be tells him to run. In fact, she says she will leave him if he doesn’t. No pressure.

His loyal deputy, a total opportunist, tries to make a deal before agreeing to help, then he defaults completely. The old judge would like to help, he says, but his hands are too shaky nowadays. The Marshall’s old sweetheart, once the consort of Mr Pure Evil and more lately the deputy’s squeeze, is packing her bags to run. Katy Jurado was magnificent in this role.

As a teenager, I was proud to copy and sing the Frankie Lane popular version of the Title Song, but the Tex Ritter version on the original sound track, while not very accessible, was far better.

Now, I hear that tune when I think about the Trumpsters coming to Dallas.

“Oh to be torn twixt love and duty,

S’posing I lose my fair hair beauty?

Look at that big hand move!

Nearin’ High Noon…”

The townspeople here aren’t scurrying around in fear the way they did in the movie. We’re organizing.

Who, What, is “Working Class?”

July 20, 2026

democracy, economy, history, politics, strategy

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I wouldn’t have thought there was any confusion about the working class had it not been for a headline I saw today from the VOX news service, “Who Counts as Working Class?” You have to subscribe to read it, but just knowing that a news service has to ask tips us off about the confusion.

I also recently attended a class on “Marxism” by one of the leaders of the Democratic Socialists of America. He said “working class” is “anybody who works.” I suppose his definition was okay for his presentation, but it could lead to a lot of trouble.

For example, Donald Trump works. He has to get up in the morning, go to meetings, talk to people, practice speeches, sign stuff and all manner of “work.” But could you by any stretch of the imagination call him “working class?”

Farmers are famous for working harder than anybody. Sun to sun, they are plowing, seeding, harvesting, repairing and everything else. Under “everything else” they also administrate their farms, do accounting, banking, and supervise whatever “hired hands” or farm workers they may have at any given time of the year. Are they in the “working class?”

What about Jalen Brunson, the star basketballer of the Champion New York Knicks? I understand that he makes $37 million/year. Is he working class?

It Was a Trick Question

Brunson fits the definition of “working class” because he makes his living primarily from selling his labor power. Trump doesn’t because he piles up the money from sources other than his daily labors. (Probably not best to go into where he actually does get his money). Farmers own their farms, and that’s the main way they make their living. Some farmers and ranchers don’t work at all, they just hire a foreman or a bunch of forepersons and go live in cities.

The working class is defined by their primary source of existence — selling their labor power. The bosses get their living by owning stuff. That’s all the definitions you need, but you could split hairs all day arguing over whether lawyers, professors, small businesspersons, police, union officers, union staffers, and many others are “working class,” “capitalist class,” or just in the uncertain area of “middle class.”

I put a pretty good treatment of the theoretical side of this “class” business on line, if you really want to get into it.

Why Does It Matter?

The reason it matters is that being determines consciousness. We like to think that we’re independent examiners of everything in life and that we decide what’s “right” or “wrong” based on evidence. But it isn’t so. Our attitudes about this or that come mostly from our material situation.

For example, almost all workers are for increasing the minimum wage. Almost all bosses are against it. Almost all workers are for health care. Almost all bosses are against it. Etc.

Another good way to understand it is to look at promotions in your shop. Your good buddy who agreed with you about everything has a real change when he makes foreman. He puts on that necktie and suddenly realizes that his old friends are a bunch of lazy bums that have to be forced to do the “right thing” and work harder for the company.

Cops are another great example. Before joining the force, they related closely to their families and communities. Afterward, they have few reservations about clubbing or even shooting them.

What About the Middle Class?

In politics, the middle class barely matters. It’s just a place for leftovers who don’t fit into “bosses” or “workers.” As a group, they can’t make up their minds about anything and are liable to jump either way on any given question. Usually, they “decide” to ally with whatever class is in power.

I don’t mean to denigrate them as individuals. Some of our greatest thinkers and leaders came from the middle class. Fidel was a lawyer, so was Lincoln, and so was Lenin. W.E.B. DuBois was a professor. Trotsky came from prosperous farmers. MLK was a preacher. But it wasn’t coming from the middle class that made them great. It was their commitment, later on, to the working class.

Which Side Are You On?

The words of the great labor song explain everything and why it all matters. There are only two sides in the modern world: workers and bosses. Pick one.

–Gene Lantz

I’m on KNON.org and 89.3 FM every Saturday at noon in Dallas. I reach out everywhere possible on the internet. My background and most personal opinions are on https://lilleskole.us

ELECTION OPTIONS FOR PROGRESSIVES

July 19, 2026

democracy, elections, politics, strategy

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As the election “season” begins, activists are weighing several options:

Ignore the elections
Outreach independently
Outreach for a candidate or the Democrats
Outreach along with progressive organizations
Outreach with the labor movement

The best tactic will be the one that correctly understands the situation and anticipates what will happen.

The situation is that the Republican hold over their previous voters is slipping. Democrats are gaining slightly in the polls, but there is no clear shift in power from one party to the other. Republicans are doing everything legally possible to undermine and rig the elections. The Democratic Party’s response is to complain, but their basic strategy is the same as any other election – to get as many votes as possible.

It should be obvious to all that the Trumpsters running the Republican Party will desperately cling to power no matter what it takes, legal or extralegal. We already know that they resorted to extralegal measures in 2020, and they will of certainty do so again if they lose in 2026 – only with a lot more firepower. It is entirely possible that they will even try to cancel the elections. Certainly, they will not hesitate at overthrowing them.

THERE ARE REALLY TWO GREAT CHALLENGES

The first challenge is to beat the Trumpsters decisively on November 3. The second major challenge is to overcome the Trumpster effort to overthrow the electoral process beginning November 4.

The easy way to win on November 3 is to work hard for the Democrats. But they will be incapable of leadership during the assault on democracy beginning November 4^th.

WHICH OPTION IS BEST?

The first option listed above is ridiculous. The second one is best because it advances the possibility of winning both on November 3 AND November 4. But independent outreach work brings a risk of being isolated and could even endanger participants. It would require substantial participation.

The third option listed above works for November 3, but not for November 4. The 4^th option works for both, but its effectiveness on November 4^th depends on the strength of the organization supported.

The 5^th and final option listed above is effective for November 3 and November 4. Unions are the strongest part of the working class and will be the backbone of the fight that begins November 4. It is also the safest choice.

In summary, if the progressive movement has the substance to carry out an independent outreach program, that would be best. If not, working with labor is best.

Multilateralism vs Constant War

July 18, 2026

democracy, economy, history, politics, strategy

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I was inspired by an article about China’s views on the United Nations and restoring multilateralism in all international relations. They encourage the United Nations to stand up for it.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/china-un-commitment/?utm_source=planisys&utm_medium=NewsletterIngles&utm_campaign=NewsletterIngles&utm_content=13

The opposite of multilateralism is intense competition, including wars between states. I think most of us would agree with what the Chinese say in the article, but is multilateralism even possible? Maybe we need some clarification.

What’s a State? What’s a Nation?

Let’s do the easy one first. A nation is a group of people sharing some things such as history, language, religion, and culture. A good example that we often use is the Cherokee nation. Lots of them live in Oklahoma because they were forced to move there when their state was subjugated.

A state is an administrative body through which a ruling class carries out its affairs, including the subjugation of any other economic class that might get in their way. Our modern state is not run by the Cherokees, even in Oklahoma. It is run by rich capitalists who command police, armies, prisons, and border agents to control or kill anybody penetrating their turf.

Borders Are Central to Capitalism

When capitalism began, around the middle of the 16th century in England, they tightly defined their borders. They defend those borders with every kind of armament. They don’t let anybody in or out without their permission. This fixation with borders was fairly new in history and doesn’t always make sense to working people.

Mexican Americans, for example, often say that they didn’t cross any borders but “the border crossed us.” Most of the Western United States was taken from Mexico, so it’s understandable that Mexican Americans believe they should be able to cross back and forth over the imaginary lines that capitalism established.

The way to understand capitalism’s borders is to think of gangster movies where the various criminals get together and define their “turf.” If a gangster is selling drugs on the wrong street corner, he/she is punished by the gang bosses. Similarly, capitalists established their borders by force of arms.

Borders Change, Or Get Changed

Long ago, what people called “China” was considerably bigger than what is pictured above.

“China,” or the “Mongol Empire” extended well into Europe, as you can see on this old map. The Mongols conquered a lot of territory, but subsequent dynasties lost it to other aggressors.

Plenty of modern borders weren’t drawn by the capitalists who lived there. They were drawn by the great imperialist powers. In World War I, for example, the Austrian Empire and the Ottoman Empire were on the losing side. Here’s a map from before the Great War:

Their former territories, along with a lot of Africa, were carved up by the victorious imperialists. Here’s a map of the Middle East from after WWI:

The joke goes that one of the squiggly lines on the border of Iraq was caused when somebody jostled Winston Churchill’s pencil.

Keep in mind that “nation” and “state” are entirely two different things, but nothing in this world is absolute and ideal. The Cherokee nation may not have its own state, but they have some administrative powers. There are nations that were able to win their own state. Pakistan is a good example.

Are We Going to Get the Multilateralism We Deserve?

No, we’re not. The modern state, with its defined borders and defending armies, is a capitalist creation. Capitalists have to expand. That’s why they had World War I, to settle who gets to expand where.

Remember the gangsters and their turf? Do you think the gangsters actually respect each other’s “territory” for any length of time?

We may long for socialism and the eventual “withering away” of states, but right now what we have is a world full of capitalist states and a few places where socialism is trying to defend itself from them.

After World War II, when the United States was firmly in control of most of the world’s economy, they were happy to allow the United Nations to exist. They talked about “multilateralism” all the time, just as long as they were the ones in charge.

But their hold on the world economy is slipping, and that’s exactly why they have started attacking other people’s borders. No border is safe.

We Have a Chance for a United Front

July 14, 2026

chauvinism, civil rights, democracy, elections, history, politics, strategy

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Three alternatives are possible when we wake up on November 4, the day after the election:

No substantial transfer of power
Trumpsters substantially win
Anti-Trumpsters substantially win

In the first scenario, we go on with the day-by-day fight to keep from sliding completely into autocracy. In the second, we’ll do the same thing, but with a tremendous handicap. In the third scenario, we can expect the electoral fight to spill over into the streets.

In other words, the Trumpsters will do everything they can to overturn elections — even to the point of overturning the system itself. As they did in 2020, they will use everything at hand — but this time they will have at hand a lot more than a bunch of lawyers and a gang of violent loonies.

In Any Scenario, We Have to Unify

We have less than four months to pull the anti-autocracy forces together. It is not just a good way to win, it is the only way.

Against our unity effort is the mighty obstacle of sectarianism. While opposing the Trumpsters is common to many organizations and ideologies, each of them exists within its silo of isolation. Hardly any of us is open to working with everybody.

The Democrats, or course, have the simplest solution: vote Democrat. But they may be the most sectarian of all. For example, look at the way they gang up against their more progressive (and amazingly successful) candidates for office!

Today’s (7/14/26) Dallas Morning News has a strong lead editorial warning against “extremists” from the Democratic Socialist camp. I wrote them a letter asking if they were comfortable in the “middle of the road” along with yellow stripes and dead armadillos. I’ve seen dozens of articles imploring the Democrats to denounce their progressives because, they say, the American people are so reactionary that denouncing progressives is the only way for Democrats to win.

Cut off your nose to spite your face!

Who’s a Sectarian?

Almost everybody in almost every organization. We were fragmented deliberately by those who rule us, whether Democrat or Republican. We remain fragmented and have never in our history overcome sectarianism completely.

Now, we must. We can because we have to. It’s the only way to win.

How Do We Overcome Our Sectarianism?

Patiently explain.

We find ways to put aside our differences for the common goal of not becoming an authoritarian state in 2026. Texans, especially Dallasites, have a tremendous opportunity for unity because the Trumpsters are planning a gigantic fund raising extravaganza at the American Airlines Center September 9-10.

As usual, of course, every organization in town is working on separate events, but I may have thought of a way to get everybody out of our silos and working together. It has to do with the President (I’m the VP) of the North Texas Area Labor Federation, Tevita Uhatafe.

Unions may not be perfectly aligned, even with one another, but they have a better understanding of winning through solidarity than anybody. Tevita, whose nickname is “Brother Solidarity,” is the most powerful, and the least sectarian, labor leader around.

Tevita has agreed to work with me on an all-encompassing, totally non-sectarian and open, approach to opposing the Trumpsters on September 9-10.

How?

We’re going to do it on-line.

With a lot of technical help from Travis Cantwell, who joined me to put on a successful “Labor Day Breakfast” during the pandemic, we’re planning to stream anti-autocracy speakers and Q&A sessions all the way through the Trumpster extravaganza. They are charging $5,000-$20,000 for a ticket. We’re charging nothing. Talk about democracy!

We will also post every speech on YouTube so people can watch them later.

Newspersons will be the first people invited. Next, we’ll invite spokespersons from every anti-Trumpster organization that has a following.

Who?

Why not get the most outstanding anti-Trumpster speakers? Since it’s on-line and free, we should be able to get Zohran Mamdani, Mayor of New York. We should be able to get dynamic labor leaders like Randi Weingarten of the AFT or Shawn Fain of the UAW.

We should be able to get the most critical candidates, but we shouldn’t stop at electoral politics. Let’s also invite the Palestinians, the peace movement, the communists, the retirees, the feminists, the gays, the church leaders — any single spokesperson for any single organization with a following against the Trumpsters.

That’s the way to unity! That’s the way to win!

–Gene Lantz

I’m on KNON.org radio 89.3FM at 9AM every Saturday. I post all over the internet. My personal web site is https://lilleskole.us.

Don’t Bother Arguing

June 25, 2026

democracy, history, politics, strategy

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You may have recently seen a long CPUSA response to criticisms from a person or organization named “Geese.” You may have also seen even longer criticisms and responses that were apparently generated when “Geese” seized on a resignation letter from someone quitting the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

Anybody could have demolished the Geese criticisms in a few paragraphs. By writing a long theoretical defense, they gave “Geese” a lot more credibility than they deserved. All of these criticisms and responses are, at best, unlikely attempts to convince readers. At worst, they are wasting time and resources that could be used in building the working class.

CPUSA has always had a number of anti-communist critics pretending to be “more left” or “more pure.” Nearly all of these groups can trace their origins back to CPUSA, even though their reasons for splitting may have waned over time. Gus Hall spurned them as the “Phoney Left.”

WELCOME THEM

I think we should be more welcoming toward the young people just discovering political action. Most of the errors that these come-and-go revolutionaries make are just because they are new. A lot of us, when we were new, had delusions of “unity of the left,” electoral sectarianism, armed struggle and other shortcuts. Those of us who are serious about a better world got through our immaturity.

OUR SITUATION AND THEIRS

Nearly all of the young insurrectionists today owe their newfound consciousness to the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign of 2016. After that election, they went their different ways. Some remained devoted to electoral work alone. Others joined groups that they considered to be “more revolutionary.”

All of them, and all of us for that matter, are struggling to understand a fast-changing political landscape that is almost entirely new to us. The best example is Democratic Socialists of America, the organization that benefitted most from Sanders’ campaign.

It is entirely natural that newly-conscious activists gravitate toward DSA. Hardly any of them are even aware of its historical commitment to reformism and are working, day by day, to change it into a vehicle that coincides with their hopes. DSA doesn’t have a political platform. It isn’t even a political party. It is a relatively large group of mostly young activists who are seeking their way.

PERSUADE, DON’T ARGUE

Arguing with so-called “leftists” is not a good use of our time and resources. If they are sincere and honest, and don’t give up, we’ll be able to have reasonable discussions with them sooner or later. Until then, let’s be the adults.

–Gene Lantz

Fear: Autocracy’s Tool

June 7, 2026

chauvinism, civil rights, democracy, history, politics, strategy

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The Nazis did not control Germany because they coerced every resident. They did it with fear. The Trumpsters today do not have the capacity to coerce the American population. They are hoping to do it with fear.

The gigantic turnouts at national demonstrations proves that fear isn’t working for the Trumpsters. Nevertheless, they will keep trying because it’s all they have.

Progressives must stand up to the fear campaign. Our defense is the American people. The overwhelming majority of Americans believe in fair play for all, including protesters and activists.

The Ku Klux Klan did not stop African Americans from voting in the South by coercing them individually. They did it with fear. The courageous leaders of 1954 were successful in overcoming the Klan because they were able to reach the American majority. The key, for them, was television. It worked.

Television continues to work for those seeking justice, but the internet is a close second. The more our ideas and activities are presented to the American people, whether through mainstream media or through the internet, the safer we are. In other words, the more effective we are in outreach the safer we are.

An unfortunate incident in Alvarado, Texas, last year derailed the thinking of some activists. When the Trumpsters took advantage of the errors of some well-meaning activists, some learned the wrong lessons. I have personally heard otherwise-rational North Texans say that we should start going underground or stockpile weapons. I can almost hear the Trumpsters laughing, because they think their fear campaign is succeeding.

Another terrible example is the one-or-two deluded people who dress up in military-looking outfits and carry weapons to demonstrations. I plead with them to get rid of their weapons or leave, but they don’t. They are risking everyone around them. They are either seriously deluded egotists or they are outright provocateurs working directly for the Trumpster cause! They should be treated as provocateurs because, effectively, that is what they are.

There is no doubt that the Trumpsters will threaten some individuals because that is how they spread fear. In those cases, the best defense is not a weapon. The best defense is one’s phone. If I were threatened, I’d rather have a cell phone with Facebook Live than a dozen machine guns!

–Genelantz19@gmail.com

Sense and Data Centers

June 7, 2026

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Tech is ripping the people’s movement apart.

Environmentalists and community organizers are currently pushing for moratoriums on data centers. Unions, especially the Building Trades, are supporting them.

By the end of June, 2026, the AFL-CIO national convention will have debated data centers. The Texas Democratic Party will, too. The Texas Organizing Project will present a movie and a talk by a leading North Texas politician who is usually thought of as the most pro-worker. The Texas AFL-CIO will continue a procession of discussions, investigations, and tentative proposals. Several leading politicians, including the Democratic candidate for Governor of Texas, have already declared their opposition. Some unions have chided the Democrats. Some union leaders, building trades and Teamsters, have signed up for one of Governor Abbott’s commissions.

The Dallas newspaper says that Texas follows only Virginia in having created the most data centers and is likely to take the lead. Texans in areas not known for political activism are flooding into county political meetings to protest. A few county commissioners here and there have taken action. One tech company is suing a county official for $10 million dollars because he voted for a moratorium.

It’s Worse

It’s not as bad as it looks. It is far worse.

The outraged masses have hardly even begun to look at the long-range purpose of data centers. After data centers have gobbled up all our knowledge and culture, they will focus their computers on their main purpose – taking away people’s jobs. The information industry and tech jobs are already suffering. Former taxi drivers are counting the driverless cars on our streets. Driverless trucks are already coming into Dallas from Houston. Big tech companies have computers developing tens of thousands of “agents” – each of which has a specific job replacement target.

Artificial Intelligence is creating a second industrial revolution. In the first one, a group of weavers organized to destroy automated looms. They added “luddites” to our dictionaries, but they didn’t stop the first industrial revolution.

And Worse and Worse

The big tech companies are doing much worse things than destroying our livelihoods. They are also running wars. Thousands of satellites guide automated drones and missiles to administer death everywhere on behalf of whoever controls them.

I haven’t seen anything about this from the Communications Workers of America, but many of their jobs will be sacrificed when, not if but when, satellites replace our cell phone system. Just last week, the Federal Communications Commission relaxed some rules to allow more satellite communications. So far, satellite phones are primarily on airlines and in rural areas, but the software is in place for a total takeover.

Who’s In Charge?

Elon Musk is fascism’s poster boy. He is likely to become the world’s first trillionaire, and it is primarily because of his close relationship to reactionaries in politics. He runs the satellite system and has a partnership with T-Mobile.

But nearly all of the big tech corporations have gone to bed with the Trump Administration, because government contracts are the quickest and biggest way to riches.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with automation and progress. The problem is who “owns” it and who is using it, and who is getting shafted by it.

What’s the Answer?

The answer to big tech, Artificial Intelligence, and automation in general is to take the ownership away from a few greedy parasites and let it be democratically run by the people. But of course, that’s the answer to everything, isn’t it?

A temporary “answer” to automation is to shorten the hours of work. That could be done by amending the Fair Labor Standards Act, a Communist idea from the 1920s, to mandate a shorter work week and a higher premium for overtime work. The old CIO slogan was “30 for 40 with no cut in pay.” That was a good one that people could understand.

Another idea that might be even easier to understand is early retirement. If we amended the Social Security act to allow an improved Medicare for all and better Social Security payments, we might advance the slogan, “Retire at 50.” That would work.

As for the satellites, war, fascism and Elon Musk, we’re going to need a better system.

–genelantz19@gmail.com