All posts by tedglick

Capitalism, Socialism, Communism — and Monopolies!

Future Hope, , , ,

“Monopoly capitalism is an economic system where free competition gives way to control by a few large corporations, trusts, or cartels that dominate entire markets. This late-19th-century development shifted economic power from many small firms to giant enterprises. [1, 2, 3, 4]

“Core Features

  • Market Dominance: A tiny number of large firms set prices and output levels instead of relying on open market competition.
  • Capital Concentration: Wealth and resources centralize into fewer hands through mergers and heavy industrial-financial cooperation.
  • State Involvement: Governments often step in to protect major industries or shape policies favoring large corporate interests.
  • Global Expansion: Large firms push into international markets for resources and cheap labor, linking closely to imperialist economic policies. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]”

from AI Overview


For over 58 years I have been a politically conscious, progressive/leftist activist and organizer. Over all of this time there has NEVER been anything like this summer’s national mass media reporting and airing of opinions on the issues of capitalism, socialism and communism. The fact that this is happening bigtime in 2026 is a major development.

Why is the media doing this? From my observations I would say it is primarily because of the desperation of the Trumpfascists. Faced with plummeting poll numbers for Trump—the latest having him at about 33% popular approval and 60% or more disapproval—these MAGA’s have turned to redbaiting and ultra-negative attacks on not just Bernie Sanders, AOC, open DSA socialist candidates and others, but on all Democratic candidates as pro-socialist or communist, which is definitely not the case.

This anti-socialist/communist strategy has not stopped, and maybe even helped, the electoral victories in Democratic primaries throughout the country of people who are progressives and/or socialists. Those who are socialists (none claim to be communists) aren’t just unafraid of being labeled in these ways; they have won because they have  explained in concrete terms, with personal backgrounds to back it up, what a government not dominated by billionaires would be all about: improving the lives of working people of all races, genders and nationalities and not allowing corporate PACs and the billionaire class to dictate US government policy anymore. The hardline MAGA Republicans are clearly afraid the billionaires and multi-multi-millionaire oligarchs will lose wealth and power as our up-from-the-grassroots movement keeps growing and getting stronger.

This is a positive development for sure.

But there’s a different kind of discussion on this overall subject that is NOT happening among progressives and leftists, as far as I can tell, that needs to happen, and the sooner the better. Here is how I have come to see it after lots of thinking on the subject over a number of years:

What is most immediately before us is not the replacement of “capitalism” with “socialism.” What IS before us is the disempowerment and downsizing of the oligarchy, the billionaire class, the corporate monopolists. THAT is the issue. We should not be against people, small-scale capitalists, who are owners of a farm or a small business where they must, to survive, make a profit to meet expenses and finance improvements, including decent wages for farm workers and small business workers. As long as those owners are treating their workers with respect, not fighting unionization efforts, they should be welcomed to our people’s movement.

In part the reason for this approach is because we want to keep winning and growing, and to do that we need a broadly-based movement of the kind that we are seeing in many states right now as far as progressive electoral victories. Turning off potential allies by rigid ideological positions or adventuristic tactics is a losing approach.

But it goes much deeper than this.

I can’t see the urgently-needed transition away from monopolistic and oligarchic capitalism leading directly into a socialist society, definitely not in the United States. What IS possible, imho, for some time to come, is more of a consciously mixed economy, one that would have aspects of capitalism and socialism, both economically and ideologically. The oligarchy under such a society, with a new government of, by and for the people, a genuinely democratic society, would be prohibited from using their wealth to buy politicians, as a popular government taxes and redistributes much of their obscene wealth for societal needs like universal health care, a rapid transition off fossil fuels to jobs-creating renewables and electric cars, a much more care-oriented economy, a $25/hour minimum wage and more.

Essential to all of this, necessary if these political and economic changes are to take place, is conscious support for what is already developing in the USA: a new culture, a new way of working with and relating to others which, more than anything else, is grounded in love and connection to the natural world.

I believe that we can win. We have to.

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of two books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, published in 2020 and 2021 and both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com

For a Big Anti-Trump Turnout November 3, Talk About Climate!

Future Hope, , , ,

“Nearly four in 10 Americans say their communities were damaged by extreme weather in the past year, as climate change helps fuel high heat, intense flooding, and other events. And 57% of those US adults who have felt the effects of extreme weather in the past year are worried it’ll happen again in the next, according to the new poll from the Walton Family Foundation and Gallup. The East South Central states are most impacted, including Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee — all deep-red. Trump has come under scrutiny for cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which critics say leave the US less prepared to respond to weather events and track important environmental changes.”  https://news.gallup.com/poll/713342/say-extreme-weather-damaged-community.aspx

Let’s be frank: the issue of the climate crisis, the existential climate emergency we are in, has been a secondary issue, at best, for most progressives since the Trumpfascists took office 20 months ago. This is true not just for those of us who have other priorities but even for those of us for whom this issue has been our main one for years or even decades. That includes me.

There are understandable reasons for this, given the Trumpist regime’s efforts to destroy democracy, its massive downsizing of federal government programs, except for the military and ICE/Border Control, its invasion of Venezuela and attack on Iran, the importance of getting at the full truth in the Epstein files, and more.

Why should we, now, as a broad pro-democracy, pro-justice movement working to emerge from November 3rd with control by Democrats and allied Independents of both the House and Senate, consciously raise up the climate issue?

It’s not just because it’s one of many important issues that has been de-prioritized since Trump’s election, or even because the dominance of the fossil fuel industry is such an existential threat to all forms of life on earth as the 21st century unfolds. It’s also because right now, in mid-August, people all over the country are suffering through triple-digit heat waves, smoke from climate-crisis-magnified fires in Canada and throughout the US West, and flooding from storm after storm. The crisis is not off in the future somewhere, it is here right now.

This is also not really a “progressives vs. moderates” issue, although there are differences over what needs to be done and how fast. Indeed, the climate issue has in the past and can right now and in the future help our movement find the ways to work together most effectively. It can also broaden out our base since this is an issue that affects all of us, whatever our politics. For example, there are many experiences over a number of years of fights against new proposed oil and gas pipelines and infrastructure bringing together socialists, progressives, liberals, conservatives and even MAGA people, uniting against a common, destructive enemy.

We are seeing this dynamic right now when it comes to the issue of fossil fuel- and nuke-powered AI and Data Centers. Over the last year or so an extensive and rapidly growing mass movement has emerged to fight them in blue, red and purple areas. Indeed, for many of us, there are similarities between the fight to prevent worldwide climate destabilization and destruction and this fight against billionaire efforts to ultimately replace democratically-run human societies with something very different, very scary.

We need a massive anti-Trump turnout for the elections; talking about the climate crisis that many of us are experiencing in our daily lives right now will help that happen. And that turnout will, ultimately, be the best defense against the Trumpfascist efforts to disrupt them.

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of two books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, published in 2020 and 2021 and both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com

Nixon Then, Trump Now?

Future Hope, , , ,

“Donald Trump is running the biggest grift in American history. The unprecedented scale of the president’s corruption was exposed by the recent release of his financial disclosure report, which revealed that he made $2.2 billion since he returned to the White House. His various crypto schemes, thousands of stock trades, and financial entanglements with foreign governments such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia are practically the definition of conflict of interest. Trump made $635 million by issuing a meme coin, $TRUMP, while nearly 1 million investors in the coin collectively lost $3.8 billion. Trump’s thousands of stock trades often occur just before or after he makes market-moving decisions. . . Republicans are almost all silent as Trump and his family shamelessly exploit the presidency.” Editorial, The Free Press, July, 2026

Observing the deepening, outrageous actions and transparent and massive Trumpfascist corruption; following the repeated reports of Trump’s seriously declining health; seeing the latest polls just coming out showing Trump only having the support of 1/3 of the US American people; and remembering that on August 9, 1974, 52 years ago, Richard Nixon resigned the Presidency, it feels like it is increasingly possible that, one way or the other, Trump will be gone from the Presidency many months before his four year term is up.

As a former National Co-coordinator of the National Campaign to Impeach Nixon, the shortest and most successful organization I’ve ever been a part of, literally in existence for nine months before Nixon was gone, I’d say August 9, 1974 is an anniversary to be remembered by all of us who believe in democracy and justice. It is a way to remind the US American people that as bad as things can look, things do change. We are a long way from the early days in January and February of 2025 when we were filled with dread about what was in store for our country, our peoples, and the world.

Nixon was at one time much more popular than Trump has ever been. When he was re-elected in 1972 he had a 23% margin of victory in the popular vote and won every state except Massachusetts and DC. In 2024 Trump didn’t make 50% of the popular vote, was only 1 1/2% percent ahead of Kamala Harris, and carried many less states than Nixon did.

Other than his term running out and him needing to leave in January, 2029 (ugh), if not voluntarily but because of massive political pressure and many millions in the streets, how could Trump no longer be President? He could die or be seriously incapacitated health wise and no longer be able to do Presidential duties. He could decide to resign, maybe in the spring of 2027 after Democratic control of both the House and Senate, or even just the House, makes it clear that it will be much more difficult for him to do what he wants to do. He could be removed by a majority vote of his Cabinet (25th Amendment) as they confront and act on the drag that he is on parts of their agenda and Republican electoral prospects in the future. Or perhaps something else might happen.

These are not idle wishes. They are possible because of Trumpfascist incompetence and corruption, massive voter dissatisfaction, and the growing political strength of the progressive movement, one which is working with a broader cross-section of people who hate Trump but who don’t identify as “progressive.”

Of course, the absolute last thing those of us who want Trump gone should do is slacken up on electoral work for November 3 and our street activism and grassroots organizing on all the many issues. Indeed, it is critical that as many Democrats and pro-working-class Independents as possible win their races so that votes in the House and Senate are forward-looking and positive [note: there are at least two viable US Senate Independent candidacies in Montana and Nebraska and a number of Independents running for House seats]. The higher the percentage of such folks in office the stronger our pro-democracy and justice movement will be.

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of two books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, published in 2020 and 2021 and both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com

Imagining What Could Be: “The Wind Cries Freedom”

Future Hope, , , ,

“The biggest shift in consciousness? I’d say it began in 2026. Really took off by 2028. That’s when the working-class vote for the far right started to collapse. For years, millions of people—especially white workers—were pushed into voting for reactionaries because of fear: fear of immigrants, fear of minorities, fear of losing control. Combine that with a deep and very often justified distrust of the Democratic Party, and what you got was Trumpism. But by the end of the decade that spell started breaking.” The Wind Cries Freedom: An Oral History of the Next American Revolution, by Michael Albert, p. 467

Michael Albert has written a visionary, comprehensive, thought-provoking and forward-looking book, The Wind Cries Freedom, about how, beginning right around now, during the Trump Two/resistance to Trump times, an independent and progressive national movement that came to represent millions successfully overcame, over time, billionaire and backwards-looking, corrupt power. In his book, by 2052 a Revolutionary Participatory Society is both the name of the massive national organization which had that as its objective and which functioned in a way consistent with that name. He tells the story through interviews with 18 imaginary RPS leaders and members who explain their personal motives, means, methods, debates, feelings and choices as part of RPS.

Being consistent as far as how it functioned and how it related to the masses of people in the USA is a major theme all throughout the book, “affirming a new kind of politics—rooted in solidarity, but also in joy and dignity.” p. 20   “You have to communicate in ways that people not already on your side can actually hear. That means not only presenting logical and well-supported arguments, but also approaching others with dignity and empathy.”  p. 77   “RPS sought to cultivate a different ethos—one based on mutual respect, constructive engagement, and an affirmation of diverse contributions.”  p. 109

This very different approach to politics was consciously reflected in how the RPS functioned: “Transparency was essential. Leadership roles had to be open to scrutiny, recallable, and regularly updated. Any deviation from openness, whether for security reasons or otherwise, had to bear a heavy burden of justification. Members [of RPS] needed the power to recall representatives they believed failed to reflect their interests, and internal disputes needed resolution processes that were constructive rather than punitive.” p. 160

Workplace, community and issue-based organizing, as well as nonviolent direct action and mass demonstrations, were a major part of the day-to-day activism of RPS and its members, but electoral activity was also portrayed as important, although it “should be approached with care and evaluated case by case.”  p. 164   When it came to elections, it was seen that: “the main benefits were that running could facilitate outreach to new audiences, raise consciousness, and boost morale. Winning could gain access to resources to help win more gains in the future.”   p. 424

How should working people be paid in this new society? “RPS says that a person should get income—really, their share of society’s total output—based on the duration, intensity, and onerousness of the socially valued work they do. Work longer? Harder? Under worse conditions? Do it usefully? Then yes, you get more. . . You should get compensated for your effort and sacrifice. That’s the rule.”  p. 259   “The RPS view—compensate people for how long and hard and harshly they work at something others value—isn’t just ethical. It’s also operational. It gives you the tools to be fair, not just the desire.”  p. 261

Albert spends a good bit of time addressing the issue of leadership. “There’s something natural and deeply human about leadership. Someone has to take the first step, speak the first word, make the first suggestion. That act of stepping forward can be vital. It can open space for others and shine a light on the road ahead. But too often leadership becomes something else. Too often, it becomes hierarchy. It becomes elitism. It becomes rule.”  p. 399   “We asked [some problematic leaders] to shift their focus. Don’t just solve the problem—help others learn how to solve it. Don’t always be the answer—help others become the source of answers. That’s what true leadership looks like in a democratic movement. . . The key insight was this: leadership must be judged by those around the leader—not by the leader themselves.”  p. 401  

There is much, much more in this long book, 480 pages long, In a number of respects the book is a kind of resource. There are many other issues that are dealt with in some way, some for a full chapter or even more where what is laid out is how the process of positive societal change was furthered in schools, hospitals, cities, religious institutions, the criminal judicial system, the media and more. Issues dealt with include how to deal with government repression, climate change, race/class/gender/intersectionality, activism by actors and athletes and war and militarism.

Michael Albert has given us an important, comprehensive series of ideas grounded in decades of “good trouble” work, ideas on how we can build upon the nationwide progressive resistance to Trumpism, turn things around and just keep going. Thank you Michael.

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of two books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, published in 2020 and 2021 and both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com

It’s the Corruption!

Future Hope, , , ,

“We who think about politics all the time rarely have a good handle on what’s going on in the lives and minds of those who do not. That’s what makes focus groups so fascinating. I usually see voters holding on to conventional thinking and subconsciously absorbed conservative talking points, and I have to figure out how to communicate with them in ways that open their minds to the possibility of bigger change. This year, I walked in hoping to find a little more awareness of the system-wide nature of our economic dysfunction, and not only were voters already there, they had continued on to the wholesale corruption of government. As a lifelong campaign finance reform advocate, I had resigned myself to the idea that voters weren’t ready to “go there” when it came to money in politics, but much to my absolute delight, they have arrived!”
          –Antonia Scatton, from “Voters are Leaving Politicos Behind,” Antonia Scatton | Substack, July 22, 2026

Until yesterday I had never heard of Antonia Scatton, who describes herself in this way at her Substack: “Antonia works with George and Lisa Greene of the Connections Lab on a mission to get the Democratic Party’s messaging back on the right track. They worked with DNC Chair Ken Martin when he was President of the Association of State Democratic Committees, to bring in-person messaging and framing workshops to state and local leadership, staff, candidates and others in key target states, along with video training and other supporting materials.”

I suppose if I had been a long-time activist in the Democratic Party, something I definitely am not, I would have heard of her long before now, but in this case, for sure, it’s undoubtedly “better late than never.” This brand-new column, published yesterday, is one that, imho, should be checked out and reflected on by all of us who are actively working to defeat the Trumpfascists at the polls on November 3.

Scatton may be someone “up there” in the higher levels of the Democratic Party, which honestly gives me some pause given my much more independent and progressive politics and personal history, but, hey, she clearly is an important part of the broadly-based movement for democracy and justice which has emerged since Trump was elected.

Here’s another important paragraph from her latest article:

“American voters’ feelings are evolving so fast that politicians and their advisors can’t keep up with them. They started at “prices are too high,” briefly alighted on “our economic system is broken” and leapt right ahead to “because our government is working for the mega-rich and not for us.” Candidates have been told that voters are mad about the cost of living and hate data centers. If they’re not talking about WHY, they risk getting caught pandering to public opinion (following) rather than articulating what voters are feeling but have not yet put into words (leading).”

And one more:

“When the voters in my focus groups talked about “corruption,” they defined it more broadly. They also meant that our economic system works for wealthy elites, not the American people, because our government is under the influence of, if not the control of, wealthy elites. Those who have accumulated extreme wealth have used it to “rig” the economy to their advantage. And my focus group voters were not alone. According to the same poll, while 97% of voters understand “corruption” in the usual sense of “officials using their position for personal gain,”94% also defined it more broadly as ‘prioritizing the interests of billionaires and big corporations over those of the public.’”

Obviously, this information should inform how all Democratic candidates, as well as Independents on more local levels, campaign in the next 100 days leading up to November 3rd, but some will not. Some have benefited personally from that rigged economy. Others, not so corrupted, are concerned about being attacked as socialists or communists by the Trumpists. But many, hopefully a growing number, will learn from what Scatton’s focus groups are exposing and then apply it on the ground where they are campaigning.

Then, after the House and the Senate are controlled by Democrats and a small number of Independents, we as a country can finally get down to the business of moving for real towards a truly democratic and justice-based society. It’s time!

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of two books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, published in 2020 and 2021 and both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com

Independents and Pro-Socialists Rising in US

Future Hope, ,


I don’t let polls determine my beliefs or my actions, but when it comes to US elections my experience with polling is that, generally speaking, it is important to follow them. Although some polls are significantly non-objective with a decided tilt one way or the other, most of the ones that haven’t popped up during this Trump era, which are clearly Republican-leaning, are pretty objective.

What do recent polls say about macro political trends in the USA and what it looks like with about 3 ½ months until the November 3 Big Election Day?

Here are the main takeaways from my recent research. This information comes from polls done by Data for Progress, Quantas Insights, CNN, NBC and Economist/You Gov over the last month and a half.

-Bernie Sanders has a very high rating, probably the highest for any known politician nationally right now. AI Overview reports “46% viewing him favorably compared to 36% unfavorably. Trump’s net favorability is between minus 7 and minus 16, with job approval ratings dipping further.”

Given Bernie’s visibility and leadership nationally right now in support of progressive candidates and a massive voter turnout in November, this is hugely important.

-As far as what are considered “swing voters,” according to a recent Data for Progress poll, they are for Dems over Reps by 33-21%, with 46% undecided. That is a lot of “undecideds,” and underlines the importance of serious campaigning leading up to November 3.

-According to a CNN poll a month and a half ago, 47% of voters consider themselves “independent” or “no opinion.” D’s and R’s are virtually tied, 26% for R’s and 27% for D’s. However, a recent NBC poll reported that independents want Democrats to control Congress by a 46-34% margin. Also, an Economist/You Gov poll at the end of June reported that D’s have a net favorability rating of 33%, nine points higher than R’s 24%.

-Finally, a July 7 article in the Christian Science Monitor has reported that: “A recent YouGov poll found 71% of Republicans viewed socialism unfavorably. Among independents, though, just 34% held unfavorable views of socialism, while 30% were favorable. Asked whether they would ever vote for a democratic socialist candidate, 24% of independents said they would, compared with 3% of Republicans and 62% of Democrats.”

Clearly, all of this data indicates that the political project of the Trumpfascists is failing. Their extreme, racist and regressive positions and actions on issue after issue have led to falling poll numbers and a very real possibility that they will lose control of not just the House of Representatives but the Senate this fall, if the pro-democracy movement keeps at it and does what we are called to do.

That is why the Trump regime is upping their repressive moves on a number of fronts. They clearly have every intention of doing what they think will intimidate Democrat, Independent and progressive voters, but every indication is they are doing just the opposite. And, significantly, they are losing a lot more in the courts, particularly but not only at local levels, than they are winning when it comes to election challenges.

Who knows what they will try to pull off in the next 100 or so days. Whatever it is, I believe that they will fail. I believe that we will win, and not just these November elections. The political trends in the USA are clearly away from repressive and pro-billionaire domination and towards something very different, something which will give our children and grandchildren hope for a better future. Each of us individually has to keep at it and keep rising to resist, whatever they try to do.

It is only our resistance, many millions of us, in all kinds of ways, who have prevented a fascist takeover so far. There is now a clear light at the end of this tunnel because of it. Si, se puede!

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of two books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, published in 2020 and 2021 and both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com

Communism: To Each According to Their Needs–Really?

Future Hope, , , ,

“All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.” Acts 2:44-45, New Oxford Annotated Bible

“Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. . . There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold.” Acts 4: 32, 34-35

“’From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs,’ is a foundational communist maxim. It describes a stateless, classless society where people contribute to the community based on what they do best, and receive resources based on what they genuinely need to live a dignified life.”  AI Overview

Do Trump and the Republicans know about these quotations from the book of Acts in the Bible about this core belief and practice of the early Christian church just years after the death of Jesus? Some church-going ones probably do, although I’d bet that it is rare indeed that these verses have been quoted in church on Sunday in the modern era.

The “according to their needs” phrase is more well-known, an idea that has been around for a long time, popularized in 1875 by Karl Marx in his Critique of the Gotha Program.

The Trump/Republican attempt to brand the democratic resistance as “communist” opens up possibilities for us around the country to talk with others, including MAGA others, about all of this. So many people in the USA have been propagandized to believe that “communism” is what Russia turned into after Stalin became the top leader of the USSR in the late 1920’s.

The USSR in the 20’s was struggling with the devastation of World War I, the efforts for three years by the capitalist countries and supporters of the former Czar to overthrow the new revolutionary government, and an overwhelmingly peasant society with not much industry and a small industrial working class. It would have been a miracle of the highest order if they had been able to build anything close to the early Christian and early Marxist visions referenced above.

Stalin’s ascension to power and the brutal and destructive ways that he used it, as well as the USSR’s political dominance over communist parties around the world for the next 30 years, made it much easier for rich capitalists and powerful corporate leaders in Europe and the USA to paint not just the USSR but the very idea of communism as an evil thing.

The progressive/independent/socialist/pro-democracy/justice movement of tens of millions in the USA is nothing at all like the Trumpfascists and their apologists in the media are painting it. The overwhelming majority of those part of it are truly defenders of democracy, democracy of, by and for the people, not the billionaire oligarchs. We believe that, yes, the obscene riches they have gained off of the labor of others should be taxed and redistributed, so that poverty, hunger and homelessness are eradicated and we give leadership together with others in the world who believe in the same things for their countries. We want a world whose ecological systems are not dying, literally dying, because of the dominance of the polluting oil, coal and gas companies over the US government and too many other compromised government leaders.

As we keep building this movement in the US, through electoral action (especially right now) grassroots organizing around issues in workplaces and communities, and nonviolent demonstrations and direct action to press forward with our peace, justice, democracy and climate action agenda, we can be certain the oligarchs and their hatchet men will say and do many outrageous things, many hurtful things. But I can’t see them defeating what is now rising in the USA. Many of us have learned from our past mistakes, our internal fights among one another, the white racism and male sexism and elitist classism that have kept us back. We are advancing.

So let them sling around their “communist” epithets and all the other ridiculous words to try to throw us off. We have proved over the past year and a half that the power of an organized and unified people’s movement is so much stronger and hopeful than anything they can concoct.

Four months. Four months to talk with people all over about the issues, to be prepared to combat Trumpfascist election disruption efforts, to win expected and unexpected victories so that, as brother Bernie Sanders has put forward, come January of 2027, with the Republicans defeated in both the House and Senate, our peoples’ freedom movement just keeps going forward.Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of two books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, published in 2020 and 2021 and both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com

Tom Paine: Revolutionary, Abolitionist, Indigenous Ally

Future Hope, , , ,

“There is nothing more common than to confound the terms of the American Revolution with those of the late American war. The American war is over, but this is far from being the case with the American revolution. On the contrary, nothing but the first act of the great drama is closed.”   1787, Benjamin Rush
     -the beginning of the book, Citizen Tom Paine, by Howard Fast, 1943

The writings below are primarily from a column I published on July 5, 2020. It was a review of the book, Citizen Tom Paine. I am writing this updated version of it again now in connection with the upcoming 250th anniversary of the 1776 USA Declaration of Independence.

Are there going to be any July 4th events later this week anywhere in the USA that raise up the name and the importance of Tom Paine? Perhaps, but probably a very small number. This will be the case even though, without Tom Paine, it is likely that the war of independence against British colonialism that forged what became the United States of America never would have succeeded. That is how important this poor, struggling, working-class, English immigrant was to the revolutionary cause. This was a person who made a difference.

It is rare, from my experience, that the name Tom Paine is voiced among those in 21st century USA who see themselves as revolutionaries or on the political Left. I understand why this is the case, but I think there are very good reasons why we should be raising up his name as we continue to build our growing, 21st century, revolutionary movement for “liberty and justice for all.” A very big one is because he is one of the few well-known leaders of that popular uprising who was not a landowner, who was one of the “common people,” and who opposed both the enslavement of African people and the horrific treatment of the Indigenous nations of the lands which became the USA.

Howard Fast’s book is not a biography of Paine; it’s a work of historical fiction. But it presents the truth about the man, from his very real personal weaknesses and warts to his brilliance as a writer, speaker and organizer, his commitment to the causes of overthrowing tyranny of all kinds, “a way for children to smile, some freedom, liberty, and hope for the future, men with rights, decent courts, decent laws, men not afraid of poverty and women not afraid of childbirth.” (p. 77)

Paine saw himself as a revolutionist. This was his life’s work. In a fictional exchange with fellow revolutionist and doctor Benjamin Rush, in a discussion about revolution, Rush articulates what was historically new about what was happening in the American colonies in the 1770’s: “The strength of many is revolution, but curiously enough mankind has gone through several thousand years of slavery without realizing that fact. But here we have a nation of armed men who know how to use their arms; we have a Protestant tradition of discussion as opposed to autocracy; we have some notion of the dignity of man [mainly white men]. . . but now we must learn technique, we must learn it well. . .Six months ago you were rolled in the dirt [assaulted] because people knew what you were writing; two weeks ago a man in New York was almost tarred and feathered because he planned to publish an answer to [Paine’s] Common Sense. That’s not morality; that’s strength, the same kind of strength the tyrants used, only a thousand times more powerful. Now we must learn how to use that strength, how to control it. We need leaders, a program, a purpose, but above all we need revolutionists.” (pps. 116-117)

Paine was a particular kind of writer, one who was immersed in the cause of independence, on the front lines of deadly battles, spending time in the bitter winter encampments of the nascent continental army, organizing, encouraging men to stick with it, inspiring them and pointing out how important what they were doing was. “This was all Paine had ever thought of or dreamed of, the common men of the world marching together, shoulder to shoulder, guns in their hands, love in their hearts.” (p. 124)

Fast paints a picture of Paine writing the first issue of The Crisis, a newspaper published during the war to present facts and strengthen morale: “The men gathered around him. They read as he wrote: ‘These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country, but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered. . . If there be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace. . . Let it be told to the future world, that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet and repulse it.” (p. 145)

That’s a good last line, relevant for us right now. Let the city, the suburbs and the rural areas come forth this November 3rd to meet and repulse our common Trump/MAGA danger, this decade’s King George III and the Redcoats, and, after their defeat at the polls, let’s keep going to replace the unjust, destructive system which spawned them with something very, very different. It’s just common sense.

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of the recently published books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com.

Revolutions 250 Years Ago and Today

Future Hope, , , ,

“What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy— a thin veil to cover up crimes.”
–speech by Frederick Douglas, July 5, 1852, Rochester, NY

“[The 1775-1787 US revolution] led to the expansion of European American settlement across the continent in the decades afterwards, a process which nearly wiped out the Indigenous peoples who have lived here for many thousands of years. Estimates are that 90% or more were killed either by disease or violent military action to force the survivors onto reservations so that the Europeans could take the land and the resources underneath it.

“Like so much else about this country, this 250th anniversary of the beginnings of what became the United States is a decidedly mixed bag.

“On balance, though, I see value to connecting the political uprising against the Trumpfascists with the uprising by revolutionary European Americans 250 years ago. Not by coincidence, the success of this revolution was followed by the French Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, the Bolivar-led South American Revolution and eventually, in the USA, the Civil War that led to the end of the legal enslavement of African people. It led to the success of the women’s suffrage movement over 100 years ago, the rise of industrial unionism, the Black Freedom movement in the 60’s which forced an end to Jim Crow segregation, anti-colonial revolutions throughout the world, the rise of Indigenous resistance and societal leadership, the LGBTQ+ movement, an environmental protection movement and more.”
–Revolution?, a March 22, 2025 Future Hope column

Is it right to connect what happened 250-plus years ago with what is happening right now, in 2026, as a broad cross-section of US society resists the Trumpfascist efforts to impose repressive dictatorial rule? Yes, there are many similarities. Indeed, the US pro-democracy forces, if successful, will have much more immediate impacts worldwide.

The world is seeing that we in the USA are alive and well and rapidly becoming a mass movement that has the potential to bring about major, internationally-welcomed, desperately-needed changes in the USA at this turning point moment for human societies and all life forms on earth.

Some who are participating in this movement do not see themselves as “revolutionaries.” More accurate for them would be something like, “patriots” or “democracy lovers.” And some are involved primarily because of the personal and family impacts of Trump regime policies which have made their lives materially more difficult.

But IMHO, the word “revolutionary” best describes what this pro-democracy movement is developing into, in part because it has been building for many years–it is not a “flash in the pan”–and in part because the Trumpists are so destructive in their efforts to turn the clock back to the 1950’s or even further that many millions of us have risen up in a whole variety of ways.

The changes needed are clearly systemic, not some reforms here and there that have little effect on who runs the country today: the “billionaire class”, the “Epstein class,” the “corporate elite,” the “ruling class,” etc.

It’s very simple, actually. What this revolutionary movement is about is the creation of a US government and society truly “of the people, by the people and for the people.” In such a society we would be about racial and gender justice and equal rights; for the right to organize and unionize on the job; against militarism and for a justice-based peace; for detoxification and protection of our natural environment and a rapid shift from dirty and dangerous fossil fuels and nukes to clean, renewable energy sources; for immigrant rights, reproductive rights and an end to mass incarceration; for a Green New Deal; for quality medical care for all no matter what their age; for a true living wage for work done; for tuition-free public higher education and student debt cancellation; for substantive taxes on the billionaires and multi-multi-millionaires and major cuts in the US military budget with conversion of war industry production to peaceful purposes; and more.

Love, that’s the word. We need a government and society which makes love for the earth and its peoples central. That is what this 250th anniversary of the USA has to be about for those of us in the pro-democracy movement. Not should be about, but has to be about. This is our time!

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of two books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, published in 2020 and 2021 and both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com

Election Protection, Movement-Style, on November 3

Future Hope, , ,

All objective analyses and data point to the Democrats numerically defeating the Republicans on November 3 in at least the House of Representatives and possibly the US Senate. It is a realistic possibility that on November 4th we will wake up to learn that one or both houses of Congress will no longer be under Republican control come early January.

Without a doubt, IMHO, this is the most important issue before progressives and decent-minded people in the USA right now and up until November 3.

The Trumpfascists are making efforts to reverse their massive unpopularity, not by changing their policies but by using a variety of tactics. They lie about who the Democratic candidates really are and what they stand for. They go all-in on the “culture war” approach. They do all they can to both suppress the vote, particularly the votes of Black and Brown and Indigenous people, and/or to create such confusion and division over the way that elections are conducted that they can then somehow parlay that into maintaining control of at least the Senate. We know they will again try to enlist the support of a majority of the US Supreme Court for their nefarious and regressive purposes.

And of course they are clearly enlisting most of the billionaire class and their filthy money in this endeavor.

Arrayed against these regressive, backwards-looking political and financial forces are 1) public opinion, which is strongly opposed to most Trumpist policies and 2) the efforts of both independently organized groups all over the country in every state and the Democratic Party.

As has been true for decades, there are important “election protection” efforts to frustrate the anti-democracy and un-American groups’ efforts. Common Cause is probably the most well-known. Another one is https://protectthevote.net. Here is how they summarize their efforts:

“Every election year, we recruit, train, and deploy thousands of Election Protection volunteers across the nation. These trained, nonpartisan volunteers serve as voters’ first line of defense against confusing voting rules, outdated infrastructure, rampant misinformation, and needless obstacles to the ballot box.

“With misinformation running rampant on social media and thousands of proposed new anti-voter restrictions, we need our programs to match or exceed that effort in every election this year. This is simply an unprecedented time for our elections, and that’s why we’re asking for your help today.”

Two other important initiatives are https://goodtroubleliveson.org and https://blackpowerwarroom.com/freedom-summer.

Even more is needed this time. This time, the democracy mass movement which brought out over 8 million people in 3,300 localities in all 50 states on March 28 must be prepared to come out into the streets, specifically outside polling places, with our phones and cameras and info about who to call if and when the anti-democracy, racist groups attempt to suppress the vote.

Almost all of these groups will be made up of backwards-looking white people, predominantly white men. At least one government agency, ICE, could also be involved. These anti-democrats will likely be particularly at polling places where the forces of reaction determine they have the most chance of winning hotly-contested election campaigns for the US House and/or Senate, primarily in “red states.”

Perhaps I will be wrong about ICE’s involvement. Perhaps voting rights lawyers will be able to enjoin their direct and overt, or any other, involvement; I hope so. But we must get prepared, appreciate that the power of the people, organized, connected through social media and signal groups and with links to objective mass media sources, must visibly, intelligently and nonviolently show itself as needed at early voting and election day polling sights in late October and on November 3. Truly, the people, organized, must not be defeated this time!

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. He is the author of two books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution, published in 2020 and 2021 and both available at https://pmpress.org . More info can be found at https://tedglick.com