A Moment In Time: Organize Right Now
History is not written yet. But we have to get ready.
Moments in time can change history, depending on who is most prepared to meet them. As an example, before Hitler seized power in 1933 there was a crack in the Nazi-industrialist alliance that could have saved Germany, and the world, from the worst conflict in human history.
Much like the billionaire class today, led by Silicon Valley, the heads of German industry in the 1920s didn’t like Hitler’s populism or his “vulgarity” but they were more afraid of trade unions and socialists, and of democratic reforms. Here were a few of the wealthy Germans who funded Hitler and lobbied for him.
Fritz Thyssen (steel)
Emil Kirdorf (coal)
IG Farben (chemical/pharmaceutical cartel)
Krupp family (weapons & steel)
Later: Deutsche Bank, Siemens, Daimler-Benz
But by late 1932, despite the Nazis surging in popularity to a plurality (37%), they still did not have a way for Hitler to seize power completely. At the same time, the elites were beginning to get nervous. The SA, the Brownshirts, were creating mass violence and Hitler was demanding the chancellorship without compromise.
So, Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher proposed splitting the Nazi Party to retain order without empowering Hitler, and approached the business leaders with his plan, who could have used their leverage to make it happen, and almost did. Instead, Franz von Papen, Knight of Malta, intervened and said Hitler could be “contained.” So the industrialists caved.
But if Schleicher had been just a little more forceful, or the Socialist Party a little more organized, the Nazis might have faded into history, instead of creating a new benchmark in mass savagery.
As in America, it all happened steadily and relatively slowly in Germany over a decade, until that critical moment. Then it went fast. The side that was more motivated and organized, the Nazis, defeated the liberal establishment—and we all know the rest.
I mention this story because when I asked the question a few days ago about how far Epsteingate will spiral, I honestly didn’t expect it to go quite so fast. Sooner than they want, some very influential people will be forced to think about how far they are willing to cooperate with this fascist authoritarian government.
For example, Paramount, the owner of CBS, who already settled with Trump over insane allegations of election interference at 60 Minutes, fired Stephen Colbert, not as an appeasement to Trump, but to join him.
Trump’s mental deterioration and panic is taking us to uncharted territory. We have the president of the United States pushing AI generated QAnon memes with Q himself, Mike Flynn, calling for the arrest of former president Barack Obama.
We have congress members like Andy Ogles and a shocking number of others openly going full QAnon and cheering for extrajudicial arrests.
The MAGA-QAnon alternate reality can be summarized by this meme by former attempted comedian Rob Schneider. It is a black hole of rage and desire for retribution. And it’s a way to alleviate the cognitive dissonance of the Epstein scandal. They need to feel good again and Trump will give it to them by any means necessary.
We are only one-eighth of the way through this regime, according to the Constitution, but Trump can never, ever give up power now, especially not with Epstein hanging around his neck. Every move he is making is designed to make it impossible for elections to be fair, or to happen at all.
Nevertheless there is still a semblance, albeit illusory of a free country. And we are not powerless. What we are, generally speaking, is scared and apathetic. No one wants to stick their neck out. The big news from the feckless Democrats is that they are doing “postmortem” which will be ready in a “month or two.”
It is hard for me to understand how an organization devoted to communications and influencing people can be this awful at optics, or politics. And it’s hard to imagine what they need to learn from the 2024 election at this point. So, while people like Ken Martin and Chuck Schumer are still in charge, I am still out.
As my readers know, I have been doing a lot of testing and reporting on AI—what’s it’s useful for, and what it’s not, along with some remarkable analyses of Stephen Miller and Donald Trump. I also recognize the downsides. But we must fight on the battlefield that exists, not the one we hope for.
So, instead of a retrospective postmortem, I asked ChatGPT to predict what our democracy will be like in 2028. Here’s what I asked it.
You are a futurist with a world-class understanding of history. You have a deep understanding of American government and the current plans of the Trump administration, including the plan to expand ICE, cut welfare, and expand tariffs. What is the state of American democracy in 2028?
Here is the result, an honestly petrifying look at the shell of a nation that will remain in 3 1/2 years.
The evaluation of the AI, which I concur with, is that there are effectively three possibilities, with democracy surviving intact being the faintest.
1. Entrenchment
A stable illiberal regime may become entrenched, with the country settling into chronic constitutional crisis short of outright revolution. The United States, once an exemplar, becomes a cautionary tale for other democracies.
2. Crack-up
A major domestic or international shock—economic collapse, insurrection, military defection, or a catastrophic cyberattack—could trigger regime instability. This could result in a period of tumultuous, possibly violent realignment whose trajectory and outcome are unpredictable.
3. Democratic Revival (Less Likely Without Organized Resistance)
There remains a faint but real possibility of renewal. If a broad-based coalition can seize the moment—most likely via the courts or assertive state governments—a reform era could emerge. However, this would require mass mobilization, unity across disparate social groups, and a willingness to reconstruct the American political system from the ground up. The path will be fraught and the outcome uncertain.
So, what can people actually do about this? I spent quite a bit of time working with the AI on resistance strategies which leverage the existing battlefield in a number of different ways. Here is a document with ten different concepts, including how to organize and fund them.
Finally, I had ChatGPT build a comprehensive strategy for using the systems of the enemy to help defeat it. I abhor crypto, but like AI, it is foolish to operate without the full spectrum of available tools in times like this. We must use their own weapons against them. Here is that document.
As someone who has tracked the MAGA-QAnon monster for five years, we are entering into new territory. The fury over Epstein, and Trump’s handling of it, is making this regime paranoid and desperate. The Mad King is teetering.
We must take the initiative and get ready. There will be more moments to take advantage of—but not if we’re unorganized. We have to be better than this.
No one is coming to the rescue. Suit up.
If you are able to help me continue my work, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription. It really means a lot. Thank you!
Here are a few benefits to upgrading:
Live Zoom call each Sunday
Substack Live AMA every week, video posted for paid subscribers
Ability to comment and access all content
Wonderful, supportive community
Helping independent journalism fill in the gaps for our failing media
Thank you for reading and sharing my work. Grateful for your support.
If you’d like to help me with expenses, here is my DonorBox. 💙
If you’d like to help with my legal fees: stopmikeflynn.com.
My podcast is @radicalizedpod & YouTube — Livestream is Thursdays at 4PM PT.
Bluesky 🦋: jim-stewartson
Threads: jimstewartson
Tiktok: @jimstewartson
Donald Trump is coming apart at the seams. The “Epstein Files” issue is helping to drive his disintegration but he’s been falling apart for a long while. Meanwhile the two contending “MAGA”camps, Authoritarians and Oligarchs, are trying to ride that nag over the Project 2025 finish line. At some point soon, though, they’re likely to decide that Vance will be a more viable steed and they’ll find a way to “retire” Doddering Don. They may be worried, though, that if the Epstein Affair goes much farther everyone is going to be revealed as a filthy pedophile. So my prediction is that the current standoff won’t last much longer.
Jim, I looked at the crypto download. What's to prevent MAGA/Q/Musk and Co. from doing exactly that to run their Nazi takeover? Or are they doing it already?