Category Archives: Future Hope

Pope Francis: Smile, and Tell Jokes

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(The column below was written by me in 2018 after watching a promotional movie about Pope Francis. Over the years since, his unexpected concluding message in that movie is something I have come to believe in very strongly. The message? A smile and a sense of humor are essential elements for a person who wants to live a positive, impactful life, a life of love.

(Fellow Argentinian Che Guevera had something to say about love: “the true revolutionary is motivated by a great feeling of love.” And accounts by those who knew him indicate that, indeed, Che had a ready smile and a sense of humor. [1])

Oppression Is Not a Laughing Matter – Or Is It?

“Grant me, O Lord, good digestion, and also something to digest.
Grant me a healthy body, and the necessary good humor to maintain it.
Grant me a simple soul that knows to treasure all that is good
and that doesn’t frighten easily at the sight of evil,
but rather finds the means to put things back in their place.
Give me a soul that knows not boredom, grumblings, sighs and laments,
nor excess of stress, because of that obstructing thing called “I.”
Grant me, O Lord, a sense of good humor.
Allow me the grace to be able to take a joke to discover in life a bit of joy,
and to be able to share it with others.”
–Sir Thomas More, “Prayer for Good Humor,” early 1500’s

Last evening my wife and I watched the 2018 movie, “Pope Francis, A Man of His Word.”  It is not a critical look at the Pope, or an objective assessment of his strengths and weaknesses and what he has so far accomplished. It is an unabashed presentation of the Pope as a great man, a moral leader of the world, essentially a saint.

The ending surprised me. After an hour and a half of footage of him speaking and interacting with people all over the world, sharing his thinking and his prayers and his unquestionably genuine concern for “the least of these,” the poor, the final minute finds him talking about two things: the value of a smile and the importance of a sense of humor. Pope Francis tells the camera that just about every day he reads Sir Thomas More’s poem quoted above.

I was struck by the Pope doing this. Is he right that smiling and a sense of humor are so important?

I think there are a lot of people on the political Left who don’t agree with this. I know a whole bunch of them. They are the way I tend to be: very upset with the reality of the world in the grip of a mendacious and maddening, mega-corporation dominated capitalist system that is literally destroying the world’s ecosystems and causing uncountable suffering. How can one make jokes and be concerned about having a sense of humor in such a world?

When I was young I didn’t tell jokes. I didn’t laugh very much. I was very intense, I took myself and my beliefs very seriously. I remember once speaking at Boston College during the time of the Vietnam War and challenging those hearing me to put their lives on the line for change because we needed it so badly. I don’t know if I got through to many people listening to me; my sense at the time was that I hadn’t.

Actually, I still say similar things in my speaking and writing today, 50 years later, but over that time I’ve come to appreciate that this kind of intensity has its limitations. For example, I’ve come to appreciate the value of effective political satire which, by making fun of oppressors, exposes them in a way that can have more of an impact upon the listener than harsh, angry words.

More than that, I’ve learned that, as More points out in the line above -–“Give me a soul that knows not boredom, grumblings, sighs and laments, nor excess of stress, because of that obstructing thing called ‘I,’” — that taking oneself too seriously can lead down a very slippery and self-destructive slope.

A week and a half ago I spoke at a New Jersey activists’ climate conference. I began with one of my favorite inspirational writings, a poem by Chief Yellow Lark, “Let Me Walk in Beauty,” found in the book, “God Makes the Rivers to Flow: Sacred literature of the world,” by Eknath Easwaran. A key line in this poem is similar to More’s (or More’s is similar to his): “”I seek strength not to be greater than my brother or sister but to fight my greatest enemy, myself.”

It’s no joke; it’s a fact: sharing genuine smiles with one another and being able to laugh in the face of oppression and injustice are essential components of building a winning movement.

Ted Glick has been a progressive activist, organizer and writer since 1968. Past writings and other information can be found at https://tedglick.com, and he can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jtglick.

1–“Having heard so much about Guevara—his bravery, his fierce determination, his radical beliefs, his ferocity in argument, and his dominating, ruthless style of leadership—I was totally unprepared for the man. Not surprisingly, he was wearing faded army fatigues and a big white straw hat, but I was surprised to discover that he was my own age—thirty-five—and that he was charming and gentle of manner. He had soft brown eyes and a shy smile on his bearded face, and as we talked he revealed a delightfully self-deprecatory sense of humor. He looked to me like a twinkly-eyed Clark Gable with a cigar in his mouth.” 
– https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/10/06/beautiful-revolutionary-che-guevara-remembered/

Pope Francis, Presente!

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Growing up, I had virtually no contact with people who identified themselves as Catholics. Perhaps some of my friends and acquaintances in high school and college were but if so, I didn’t know it.

The first open Catholics I came to know in late 1969 at the age of 20 were people like then-Sister Joann Malone, Fathers Joe Wenderoth and Neil McLaughlin, John Grady and, eventually, Father Phil Berrigan. These were all leaders of the militantly nonviolent Vietnam War resistance movement, the Catholic Left.

These and other Catholics I came to know back then had been influenced by the South and Central American liberation theology movement which emerged in the 1960’s following the Cuban Revolution of 1959, led by Fidel Castro.

Castro had been raised in a Catholic family. In an interview in 1985 with Chilean priest Frei Betto, he spoke about the influence of his deeply religious mother and grandmother: “I always listened to them with great interest and respect. Even though I didn’t share their concept of the world, I never argued with them about these things, because I could see the strength, courage and comfort they got from their religious feelings and beliefs. Of course, their feelings were neither rigid nor orthodox but something very much their own and very strongly felt. It was a part of the family tradition.” (1)

Pope Francis prior to his being named Pope was connected with and supportive of the liberation theology movement, although he was explicitly not a supporter of armed struggle for the overturning of repressive and unjust governments. He was, however, a strong advocate for social and economic justice as made very clear in his famous 2015 encyclical, “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home.”

I re-read Laudato Si’ yesterday. There is much in it of value to all people, not just Catholics and including agnostics and atheists. In the introduction Francis summarizes the main questions the book deals with: “I will point to the intimate relationship between the poor and the fragility of the planet, the conviction that everything in the world is connected, the critique of new paradigms and forms of power derived from technology, the call to see other ways of understanding the economy and progress, the value proper to each creature, the human meaning of ecology, the need for forthright and honest debate, the serious responsibility of international and local policy, the throwaway culture and the proposal of a new lifestyle.”

Over the book’s 157 pages Francis does, indeed, deal with all of this and more.

Francis makes very clear over and over again that a central reason why the world’s economies and ecosystems are in such a critical state is the domination of government by “transnational corporations” and “powerful financial interests.” This is a good thing. Being truthful about the main source of our problems is always what those who want a world based on love, justice, peace and connection to nature should be about.

However, it is a problem that he never explicitly says that in order to create just societies and avoid economic, social and ecological collapse, the power and wealth of this billionaire class must be ended and drastically redistributed. Indeed, in such new societies billionaires would not exist. In my opinion, those who are now billionaires or multi/multi millionaires might come to appreciate how wrong they were to put the pursuit of obscene wealth and power before anything else. Some of them might actually come to realize that love and service to others is, indeed, a much better way to live.

Related to this problem with Laudato Si’ is the fact that nowhere in the book that I could find does Francis use the phrase, “fossil fuel industry,” much less call for it to be immediately and drastically downsized, moved aside so that wind, solar and other clean, renewable energy sources can take their place as rapidly as possible.

The fossil fuel industry and those banks and insurance companies who are financing their ecosystem-destroying pursuit of private profit must be named, called out, targeted for consistent, militant, nonviolent demonstrations and risk-taking direct action. They are truly public enemy number one and need to be treated as such.

As the Trump Must Go movement continues to grow and build its strength, with the next big showing of our power coming up on May 1, we can draw inspiration from the life and teachings of Pope Francis. He was a man of the people, humble, willing to take on conservative Catholic theology and speak truth to power. Let us hope that the new person elected to replace him continues and builds upon his forward-looking teachings.

1—p. 47, Fidel Castro and Frei Betto, “Fidel and Religion: Conversations with Frei Betto on Marxism and Liberation Theology.”

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.

Tom Paine, Revolutionist

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The Future Hope column below was published on July 5, 2020. It is essentially a review of the book, “Citizen Tom Paine,” by Howard Fast. I am posting it again five years later on the day after the over 800 “No Kings!” actions around the country, the latest in a wave of 50-state protests against the Trumpfascists that began on February 5th.

Yesterday was the 250th anniversary of the beginning of the US American Revolution at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. The success of that revolution against King George III and British colonialism inspired successful progressive uprisings into the 1820’s in France, Haiti, South America and elsewhere. Indeed, when the Vietnamese national liberation movement declared their independence from France on September 2, 1945, they directly quoted the US Declaration of Independence: “All people are created equal; they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

The American Revolution against tyranny and oppression lives!


“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

On this 4th of July weekend the name of Tom Paine, as usual, is rarely heard in official government celebrations. Yet 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 Englishman was to the revolutionary cause. This was a person who made a difference.

It is also 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 demanding that all Black Lives Matter, for a Green New Deal, for Medicare for All, for equity and equality for women, all people of color and lgbtq people, for “liberty and justice for all.”

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 worts to his brilliance as a writer, speaker and organizer, his commitment to the causes of overthrowing tyranny, ending slavery, “a way for children to smile, some freedom, some 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 in the summer of 2020. Let the city and the country come forth to meet and repulse our common danger, this decade’s King George III, and, after his defeat this November, the unjust, destructive system which spawned him. 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.

Albert Einstein, Anti-Fascist

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There are two important anniversaries at the end of this week. Saturday, April 19th is the day the American Revolution against King George III and British colonialism began 250 years ago at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts.

The American Revolution was a mixed bag, to be sure. The new United States of America which emerged from the successful defeat of England was an inspiration to other revolutions—in France, Haiti, South America and elsewhere—which advanced human society for the better. But US American independence, even as it birthed a Constitution which included the all-important Bill of Rights, allowed for the continuation and enslavement  of Africans, and it led to brutal, devastating wars visited upon the Indigenous peoples of the North American continent.

In 2025, building upon successful movements in the 19th and 20th centuries to end slavery, support Indigenous rights and sovereignty, the rights of women and more, there will be actions around the country in opposition to today’s would-be King George, fascist Donald Trump. Under the slogan, “No Kings!,” April 19, 2025 will see the latest in a series of massive and visible, coordinated national protests against the Trumpfascists

The day before the 19th is also an important day historically. On that day 70 years ago, April 18, the 20th century’s most prominent scientist, Albert Einstein, died. But Einstein was more than a scientist, the proponent of the theory of relativity. He was also a public opponent of Hitler and the rise of Nazi fascism.

A film which came out last year, Einstein and the Bomb, provides important historical information about this not so well known fact of Einstein’s life. Here is how it was explained in a review of this important movie last year in The Guardian publication:

“Einstein was public enemy No 1 in Germany. In May 1933, a brochure entitled Jews Are Watching You accused Einstein of ‘lying atrocity propaganda against Adolf Hitler’. Under his picture, it stated: ‘Not yet hanged.’

“In September, after German secret agents assassinated the Jewish philosopher Theodor Lessing in Czechoslovakia, the Nazis – who had already stolen Einstein’s savings, raided his summerhouse, ransacked his Berlin apartment and taken his violin – offered a reward of at least £1,000 for his murder.

“The next day, Einstein yielded to his wife Elsa’s pleas to leave her in the holiday home they had been renting near Ostend in Belgium and flee to England by sea. He would never set foot on continental Europe again.

“Prior to that point, Einstein had been an avowed, passionate advocate for non-violence and pacifism. But at the end of that three weeks, he gave a speech to 10,000 people at the Royal Albert Hall in London where he effectively said there is an existential threat to European civilization, and we will have to fight it.”

For the next 12 years, until the military defeat of Naziism in 1945, Einstein spoke and wrote and took action as part of that worldwide resistance movement.

There can be no doubt that, were he alive today, Einstein would be outspoken and active against Trump and MAGA. This is a source of strength as we take actions and do the deep organizing which is the absolute bedrock of what can be a successful movement not just to defeat Trump and MAGA but to bring about the systemic changes needed in our wounded, struggling, but also beautiful world.

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.

Trump Must Go!

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“Millions” and “2.3 million”—these are the numbers I am seeing from national organizers of the historic April 5 Hands Off demonstrations yesterday in 1300 or more localities around the country, with some in other countries. What a stirring, hopeful, powerful day!!!

It’s time to raise our sights. It’s time for an explicit movement calling for Trump to go.

Soon after the November elections I wrote about how difficult the next two years were going to be, with Republican control of the White House, the Senate, the House and the Supreme Court. My vision was that by the time of the off-year Congressional elections Trump his co-conspirators would have exposed themselves as the frauds and liars that they are and they would lose at least the House. But the incredibly historic political uprising that we have seen in our country since January 20th, in just 75 days, HAS TO move us to set our sights higher.

We need a multi-faceted, multi-tactical, pro-democracy movement which leads with a demand that Donald Trump must be removed. He must resign or be impeached, for the third time.

How realistic is this? It’s certainly a long shot that either of those two things will happen, but the odds are a lot better today than two months, or even two weeks, ago.

The last two weeks have been brutal for the Trumpfascists: Signalgate, the double-digit loss in the Wisconsin judges race, the Wall Street and world reaction to Trump’s asinine tariffs-uber-alles actions, and then yesterday. A Reuters/Ipsos poll has his disapproval over approval numbers at 53-43%. Politically, this guy is on the ropes.

So what should come next? What’s the next big thing for this movement?

How about a general strike on May 1st?

All throughout these last 75 days and before there have been calls for and organizing for such a thing. Over 318,000 people have signed up in support of the idea at the website https://generalstrikeus.com.

I don’t believe there has never been an organized, national general strike in the USA. It is not part of our history, as it is for many other countries around the world. That’s a reason why a call for such a thing must be seriously considered by the wide range of organizations making up our massive people’s movement for democracy and by others, particularly labor unions.

On the other hand, given that history, maybe this tactic should be seen differently, as something short of a one day shutdown of most economic life in the USA but with significant, visible participation in many localities, interconnected together. Such an action would be important in and of itself while being a stepping stone, a test run, toward something much bigger a little further along.

Why May 1st?

One reason is that this will be the 100th day of the Trump Presidency. That’s a significant milestone for any President, one that the mass media will increasingly be focused on as the April days go by.

Another is that for millions of US Americans, including immigrants to the US, May 1st is appreciated as a day, historically, when working class people have stood up and taken action for their rights.

And it’s also pretty far away.

In the absence of the democracy mass movement which showed itself yesterday, I would NOT say that 25 days from now is “pretty far away,” but when the political ground is shifting the way that it now is, when the national mass media is amplifying what we do and say because we are newsworthy, we are historic, we are the ones fighting for our democracy and our country—then, things can happen much faster than usual.

History is calling for us to continue to be bold and strong. We are literally fighting not just for our children’s and grandchildren’s future but for our own, and this year. It’s time to keep thinking big and act accordingly.

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.

“A Small Price to Pay” — Coretta Scott King

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“I join you in your affirmation of life, and I hope that you have sustained the inward peace that follows a refusal to do that which one considers morally wrong, despite the consequences. Imprisonment of the body is certainly a small price to pay for freedom of the spirit.”         
     -Coretta Scott King, September 1969 letter to me in support of my draft resistance activism

Today, April 4th, is the 57th anniversary of the day Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee. King was there to support the labor strike of the sanitation workers of that town, a cause which had gathered national attention at the time. He came to Memphis to stand up publicly for their righteous cause despite warnings from many sources that there was serious personal risk if he did so.

King put doing what was morally right ahead of his personal safety. He put the greater good of humankind ahead of everything else. He was a living example who continues to inspire many decades later.

That example meant the world to me at the time as an 18 year old trying to figure out what I should be doing with my life. I had heard Dr. King speak in person twice, once in Lancaster, Pa. at the age of 14 when my father took me to hear him speak at Franklin and Marshall College, and the second time in October of 1967 at Grinnell College in Iowa a couple of months into my freshman year. After that speech I went up front and was able to shake his hand.

I was still trying to figure it out six months later when King was assassinated. I was struggling with whether I should become an activist, do something about the Vietnam War in particular. Just a month before King was killed I had been asked by a friend in my dorm if I wanted to go to Chicago to take part in an anti-war demonstration. I remember very clearly how I struggled with what I should do. In the end I decided not to go.

What happened in Memphis literally changed my life. I mark April 4, 1968 as the beginning of my life of progressive activism and organizing because, in response to King’s death, I stayed up late that night putting together a petition to Congress and posted it prominently on the wall in one of the most frequently visited buildings on campus.

The petition was very weak. It called upon Mike McCormack, the then-Speaker of the House and Mike Mansfield, the Senate Majority Leader, to take action to address the social and economic conditions King had devoted his life to changing. After a couple of days, with signatures of over half of the student body, I sent the petition off to DC.

Ever since, I have done the best I could to follow King’s example, speaking out and organizing and taking action. At the age of 75 I have no intention of ever stopping doing that.

A year and a half after King’s killing I received a personally typed letter from Coretta Scott King, King’s widow and fellow activist for peace and justice. Someone who knew me and who spent some time with her told her about my decision to resist the draft, including a public refusal of induction into the army in early September, 1969. Just like many today trying to end the Natanyahu regime’s genocidal war against Gaza and Palestine, I was willing to risk going to jail, and later did, because of how strongly I felt about the US war being waged on the peoples of Indochina.

Substantive change, change that is desperately needed, doesn’t happen without hard work, without sacrifice, suffering and struggle.

Frederick Douglass is famous for something much deeper that he said on August 4, 1857:

“Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are those who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”

King and Douglass were not saying that our lives need to be constant work, constant struggle against the racist, rich and regressive, predominantly white men with whom we must do battle. Both of them were part of an African-grounded culture in which singing and community-building were central. The civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s was a movement where singing was essential to the ability of that movement to ultimately win major victories, after years of struggle and sacrifice. And it wasn’t just singing in churches at rallies. People sang in jail. People sang when demonstrating right next to white racists. Singing gave them power.

2025 is a big year for us, and fortunately many of us are stepping up to the plate accordingly. Our grandchildren and great grandchildren and the seven generations to come need us to keep working hard and together to defeat Trump, Musk and MAGA, doing so in a way which lays the basis for the transformative, systemic change so desperately needed in this time of deepening inequality and climate emergency.

Long live the spirit of Coretta Scott and Martin Luther King!

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.

“Love Your Neighbor” Pope/Vance Controversy

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Recent news reports brought to my attention something that I completely missed when it first happened almost two months ago: JD Vance opining ignorantly and dangerously on Jesus of Nazareth’s teachings about “doing unto others as you would have done unto you.” Less than a month into the Trump/Musk/MAGA regime, Vance said this:

“You love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country, and then after that you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world,” Vance said.

Two weeks later in a letter to US Catholic Bishops Pope Francis responded strongly to this outrageous distortion of the teachings of Jesus, explaining:

“Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups. . . The human person is a subject with dignity who, through the constitutive relationship with all, especially with the poorest, can gradually mature in his identity and vocation. The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’ (cf. Lk 10:25-37), that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.

“Worrying about personal, community or national identity, apart from these considerations, easily introduces an ideological criterion that distorts social life and imposes the will of the strongest as the criterion of truth.

“I exhort all the faithful of the Catholic Church, and all men and women of good will, not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters. With charity and clarity we are all called to live in solidarity and fraternity, to build bridges that bring us ever closer together, to avoid walls of ignominy and to learn to give our lives as Jesus Christ gave his for the salvation of all.”

You don’t have to be Christian or a religious person or even a supporter of Pope Francis to appreciate his willingness to speak truth to power, and his efforts to get US Catholic Bishops to do the same. On this issue, the Pope demonstrated timely and important moral leadership.

As I’ve gone through life I’ve increasingly come to view this particular teaching of Jesus of Nazareth as both an ideal I should very consciously, daily, strive for, as well as a needed approach when it comes to building organizations and movements that are about systemic political, economic and social change.

In my 21st Century Revolution book I said this along these lines: “There are many aspects of a winning strategy, but the one that I have come to believe is most fundamental, the one that is the key link to the social transformation process so urgently needed, is this: building and deepening a way of working together and developing organizations that is collaborative, respectful, democratic to its core and which, as a result, is truly transformative, built to last.” (pps. 22-23)

In other words, we need a way of working which puts love for others at the center. And this is true for each of us in the way we go about our organizing work whether we are Christian, religious in some other way, agnostics or atheists.

Vance speaking about his “concentric circles” approach to loving others is, however, of value. It helps to deepen our understanding of what is motivating him, Trump, Musk and other leading MAGA’s, with corruption and dishonesty at obscene levels among the billionaires and power-hungry politicians who lead this retrograde movement.

Fortunately, not all who voted for the MAGA’s in 2024 are this far gone. Polls and other developments, like the recent victory of a Democratic State Senate candidate in Lancaster County, Pa. in a district held by Republicans since 1889 (!), are concrete evidence of some MAGA disillusionment. Our job as progressive organizers is to do the visible and activist movement-building and outreach right now to keep this momentum going. Next up for all of us should be taking part in the massive and extensive April 5th Hands Off action this Saturday.  

We must hold fast to the vision of a world where, yes, “do unto others as you would have done unto you” is a guiding principle of how human societies are organized. We’ll only get there if we live our lives accordingly.

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.

Revolution?

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I wonder how many people reading these words know the significance of April 19th to US Americans, and others, to all of us worldwide who value democracy and justice for all.

What is April 19th? It’s the 250th anniversary of the beginnings of the US American Revolution. On that day in 1775, in Concord and Lexington, Massachusetts, farmers and other working people stood their ground against redcoat British troops doing the bidding of King George III. It was the day of “the shot heard round the world” which eventually led to a victory in 1781 over the mighty British Empire after six years of war.

It also 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 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 trade unionism, the Black Freedom movement in the 60’s which forced an end to Jim Crow segregation, the rise of Indigenous resistance and societal leadership, the LGBTQ movement, an environmental protection movement and more.

Trump and his co-conspirators want to take us backwards at least 90 years, to the time before the rise of industrial unionism and the CIO in the 30s and the existence of programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Their agenda is truly and profoundly un-American, and the mushrooming popular resistance movement should begin saying that loudly and clearly. We, our broadly based movement of movements in all its political, racial, gender, age and other diversity, are the “next one up” in the never-ending struggle toward a more just, peaceful and ecologically-connected world.

Revolution or Reform?

As is the case with any authentic mass movement that has a chance of winning, there are differing views on a range of topics, even as we are united on many, many issues and a generally progressive worldview.

One very big one is whether what we are striving for should be viewed as defense of, as well as needed reforms to, the existing institutions of society or whether what we must be about should be viewed as revolutionary in its ambitions.

For myself it’s the latter.

A few days ago longtime progressive author and activist Michael Albert wrote about this issue of “reform or revolution.” He explored what his experiences have taught him about the difference between them. He called for a resistance movement today which had the maturity to appreciate that we need to develop a way of working so that all of us can join together in this existential battle for the future. Here’s how he summed up his main thoughts: “So, a reform and/or revolution bottom line: No to reformism. Yes to sustained reform struggles. No to mindless revolutionary posturing. Yes to wise, visionary long term commitment. As resistance grows and as views proliferate, stay together. We need each other.”

Several years ago I wrote a book with the title, 21st Century Revolution: Through Higher Love, Racial Justice and Democratic Cooperation. In it I laid out what I saw as necessary to bring about the changes needed. As I concluded the book I quoted these words of a longtime friend and fighter for justice, the late Fr. Paul Mayer: “What history is calling for is nothing less than the creation of new human being. We must literally reinvent ourselves through the alchemy of the Spirit or perish. We are being divinely summoned to climb another rung on the evolutionary ladder, to another level of human consciousness.”

In the end, it all comes down to the personal, how each one of us does the best we can, as lovingly as we can, as resolutely as we can, as clearly as we can, day after day, to help create a world for our children and grandchildren and the seven generations coming after us very different than the one we are living through right now. We cannot let them down.

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.

Dealing with Government Repression, 2025

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The attempted deportation of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, met with dramatic and widespread resistance, is one of the first, high profile, specifically targeted repressive acts by the Trump regime, but it won’t be the last. There is no question about their intention to create a permanently repressive and dictatorial government, a government of, by and for the overwhelmingly white and male billionaire elite and those sucking up to them for their own personal gain.

Fortunately, this is not a popular government. Polls taken a few days ago by CNN, Reuters and Quinnipiac put Trump’s favorable ratings at an average of 44% and unfavorable ratings at 53%. On the economy CNN has him at 44-56%.

Trump’s declining popular support and the rise over the last 40 days of a powerful, visible, resistance movement that shows every sign that it will continue to grow and expand (April 5th!) is part of why Trump spoke at the Justice Department two days ago.

His speech made clear the Trumpfascist intention to use the FBI, other federal agencies and the courts to try to silence those who oppose him. In the words of a Reuters story, “Trump has moved swiftly to exert control over the Justice Department (DOJ) since returning to office, challenging a decades-old tradition that the top U.S. law enforcement agency operates with a degree of independence from the White House.”

The Brennan Center for Justice released an analysis in late January of what Project 2025 put forward as far as how the DOJ should function under a Trump regime. Here is some of what they said;

“Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick for attorney general, spent much of her Senate confirmation hearing attempting to allay concerns about the weaponization of the Justice Department, but she avoided direct questions about Trump’s pledge to prosecute specific adversaries. Trump has already signed two executive orders tasking the attorney general to conduct investigations into the previous administration.

The politicization of the DOJ could occur in multiple ways.

“While not explicitly outlined in Project 2025, removing barriers between the DOJ and the White House could allow the president to exert more control over individual prosecutors and investigators as they evaluate cases and choose whom to prosecute. The president campaigned on the promise of investigating and prosecuting those he perceived to be his rivals. Political appointees like the attorney general could be removed if they refuse to pursue politically motivated investigations. . . 

“The White House could assert more direct political influence on DOJ operations by removing expert civil servants, including people with decades of experience as prosecutors and investigators who have served under administrations of both parties. They could be replaced with ideological loyalists who lack key institutional knowledge that is essential for the daily operation of many law enforcement agencies. Indeed, dismissals and transfers of top justice department officials has already begun. . .  

“The relationship between the White House and the Justice Department envisioned by the authors of Project 2025 would breed a culture of impunity. Although the document does not touch on pardons, by bringing the DOJ under its close control, the White House could order officials to turn a blind eye to criminal behavior committed by friends of the administration. The combination of the promise of pardons and the presidential immunity granted by the Supreme Court increases this risk.”

Successful Resistance

There are a number of things which are essential to successful resistance to government repression. When I say “successful” I don’t mean that there won’t be casualties on our side, people behind bars, some for months or years, or people physically attacked and injured or worse, or job losses or greater economic hardship. It is clear that under a Trump/MAGA regime this is all likely to some degree.

Several things which can lessen all of those negatives are these:

-good legal representation in court. It is good to see the way that many lawyers and progressive legal organizations are stepping up to challenge, in most cases successfully, the Trump executive orders issued so far;

-a loving community of support. This can be within an organization, within the local area where we live, via social media or other forms of communication, and/or just within a family. We all need to do our best to help foster and strengthen these necessary support networks;

-broad community support when repression happens. If people and groups that are attacked, in whatever way, are not seen as, or do not come to be known as, honest and genuine human beings trying to be a positive force, it is going to be hard to rally and manifest the breadth of support probably necessary. Indeed, if we are such people already, attacks on us can immediately or over time serve to undercut support for the repressors, strengthen our movement of movements.

I was a defendant in two major political trials during the Vietnam War, one in Harrisburg, Pa. and one in Rochester, NY. Because of the successful integration in both cases of good legal representation with effective community organizing leading to widespread and visible popular support, the Nixon Administration lost in the Harrisburg case and did poorly in the Rochester one. Though eight of us charged with six felonies were convicted there, a jury’s “recommendation of leniency” in sentencing and broad support within the Rochester community led to sentences of from one year to a year and a half. Prior to trial we fully expected to spend 5-10 years in prison because of what we had been caught doing overnight inside a federal building: destroying Selective Service files for young men about to be sent to Vietnam, finding incriminating documents within the {J. Edgar Hoover) FBI office and disrupting the offices of the US Attorney.

It is truly a lesson of history: politically smart and legally strong responses to attempted efforts to harass or jail us can immediately or over time serve to undercut support for the repressive government and strengthen our movement of movements. Si, se puede!

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.

Outreach: Not Just a Tactic But a Mindset

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Six weeks into the Trump presidency it is important to recognize that the rapidly growing MAGA resistance movement is turning out big numbers of people in the streets, beginning to engage in strategic nonviolent direct action, having an impact on Democratic members of Congress, and so far winning most of the court cases brought against the Trumpfascists. There are good reasons for us to feel stronger and steadier than we were on January 20th, unsure and afraid of what was going to be attempted by Trump/MAGA.

There’s no question that as Spring arrives this burgeoning resistance movement will continue to build and grow, and that is grounds for hope. But there is another area of work for this movement that cannot be forgotten and that must increasingly be integrated into all of our other tactics: OUTREACH.

Here is how I wrote about this a month ago: “It is not enough for us to do all of the above with only those who are already critical of Trump (half or a little more of the country, likely to grow as the MAGA policies do their damage). We need to do outreach to and with these many tens of millions, for sure, but we also need to look for opportunities or make specific organizing plans to interact with Trump voters, including in rural areas, and voters who didn’t vote because they’re turned off to both parties.”

I know from personal experience doing canvassing to defeat Trump last fall in eastern Pennsylvania that many of these folks have strong feelings, for example, about the dominance of the US economy by billionaires and the growing class divide. Another example is the opposition among many conservative landowners to oil, gas and CO2 pipeline companies being allowed by governments to use eminent domain to take their land. And there are other examples.

Here’s one very small example of what we need to do: Last week I was in the town of Pearisburg in southwest Virginia to support young people who had taken direct action to try to stop the MVP pipeline over the past year and a half. 12 of them were facing court trials that day over charges that could have led to years in jail; fortunately, none of that happened. At one point, outside a packed courtroom of supporters, a man in a truck stopped by a group of us who couldn’t get into the courtroom and were hanging out in a parking lot behind the courthouse. As he got out of his truck he was wearing a “Trump 2024” hat. A couple of us told him loudly that he should leave, but others of us, me included, went up to him and started listening and then responding to what he was saying. The main thing he talked to us about at first was the EPA and how some of the things they were doing were actually negatively impacting the soil, which in a rural area is clearly an important issue.

As it turned out one of us was a soil expert, and she agreed with some of his criticisms. He may not have been expecting that. He ended up continuing to talk with us about this and other things for what seemed like almost an hour.

We need more of these kinds of interactions. Local resistance groups, for example, could begin to integrate door to door canvassing or street leafletting into their organizing plans. A petition on a relevant issue, like planned cuts in Medicaid or something related to local or state government, should be the issue on which to have these in-person discussions in neighborhoods known as ones where Trump did well on November 5th. This is work that white people who have an anti-racist consciousness, in particular, need to be doing, being willing to address that issue if and as it comes up in conversation.

If we’re going to make inroads into those working-class and middle-class communities that put Trump in office, door to door work can’t just happen when people are running for office.

Outreach must become not just a tactic but a mindset. We should welcome opportunities like the one some of us had in that Pearisburg, Virginia parking lot and look for how we can do more. This is immediate, strategic, absolutely essential work.

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.