Introduction: The Battle of Perception

Welcome!

If you are here, you have enrolled in Storytellers.Indivisible or are considering joining. In this introduction I share with you my reflections on the current narratives and the changes we must promote for us to change the story from:

"We lost our democracy."

to

"We, the People are the guardians of democracy
and are fighting with all we got to save it... and winning!"

A Battle of perception

Our perception defines how we see our reality. We know from quantum and political science-- as well as our own painful democratic crisis right now-- that perception can be manipulated to distort our reality.

Socialization, trauma and special conditioning as well as other processes may install narratives in our psyche that are constantly influencing and even distorting our perception. In my work, I see when an old narrative is triggered and the person "falls into" an old limiting narrative. I see how they shift their roles. They may become a child, a helpless person or a victim, falling into the roles of the narrative they are now inhabiting. They are now in the past. And that past is keeping them from responding creatively to the present.

The same thing happens in socialization or its Shadow aspect: domestication. It also happens in indoctrination, cult psychosis and demagogic manipulation.

This is the "program" in the iconic "The Matrix" movie.

Our wanna-be dictator uses lies, violence and fear to install narratives in our head that distort our capacity to see, own and activate our own personal power as well as our people power.

In the Resource Section below, Video 1 from the Video Series: "The People Vs. Fascism: A Battle of perception," which is entitled "The Key to Victory and The Battle of Perception" explores how right now we are facing a battle of perception that is key in our ability to grow the pro-democracy movement. (COMING SOON.)

Language as Counter Story

By the way, I call the wanna-be dictator in the White House by the nickname "the Destroyer." It serves to acknowledge his fundamental role instead of a name that means "winning", is charged with the glamour of his TV fame and triggers anguish and a heavy emotional baggage in our psyche.

Instead, calling him by what he is doing to our country and democracy-- destroying it-- serves as a distancing tactic as well as a Reveal. I've tested this nickname in social media and it has gotten the most likes of any current post. People immediately recognize this. So it's a keeper.

Whenever I talk about his executive orders I call them "executive disorders." It is another Reveal. It makes people smile and even bark out a laugh. But it is ripping that blindfold off. It's not that we don't know. It's that when everyone and everything is saying that the emperor has cloth, then it's hard to believe our eyes that no, he does not; he is butt-naked.

People organically use language as counter-story. And in many nonviolent resistance trainings this use of language has names like: "Reveal," "Redeem," or "Reframe." That's what people are doing with the naming of immigrant deportations as "abductions." It's a Reveal and a Reframe that shifts the situation from the point of view of the regime to the point of view of people living in a democracy. More of that please!

Stories that backup our re-framing are powerful.

Examples:

1. Calling him the Destroyer, followed by a list of all the policies, departments, benefits and good things he has destroyed, and ending with a punch line like "so what has he built? Oh, well, how could we forget? Alligator Alcatraz!" That can work.

2. Calling his edicts "executive disorders" and then followed by how the judiciary has blocked many of them, serves to expand the lens so that instead of we picturing that he is the source of the law, we now see that he is overreaching and the judiciary is stopping him.

Story Expands the Lens

More about expanding the lens.

The Destroyer is very experienced in creating reality shows. And that is what he has been doing with his "executive disorders" staged for media consumption.

He is putting on a performance that he is already a dictator, that what he says is the law and that our country is already an authoritarian regime. He sits in the oval office and signs his Executive Disorders in a huge binder with a signature as big as his ego and as jagged as his mental health sine waves. And the mainstream media spreads this.

Visualize the cameras focusing on a scene:

The destroyer, the oval office, the great presidential desk, the United States Flag, the big official binders and his chaotic signature represent his authoritarian power. He is showing us that he is the law.
Then the little guy on the back that reads like a zombie, a character from old Kingdoms called the Town Crier. This has the effect of making us believe that we are to assimilate every word as true. (The real issue is that Trump cannot read, but his handlers have turn that into an amazing tool.)

We are watching this closed lens. This is what we see our government doing. This is what the mainstream media shows. The GOP is mute. So this constricted lens is reality. He is making us believe that his authoritarian regime is a done deal.

I'm not saying that the damage is not happening or it's an illusion. No, he is indeed dismantling our democracy and destroying our country, one piece at a time in rapid succession.

What I'm saying is that he acts as if he is already a dictator and he is the source of all law. The media won't dispel this illusion. The mainstream media rarely covers when the judiciary blocks his orders as illegal. It's not showing millions of people protesting and saying NO! The right-wing media, which is what 82% of people watch, is not showing the progressive caucus of the Democratic representatives challenging these orders.

This constricted lens hijacks our perception of reality, where we develop tunnel vision and do not see beyond what we are being fed. So if no one ways that the emperor has no clothing, then it must be true.

With the complicity of the media, the Destroyer is creating a perception that pushes the people to give up and not fight. Once they do this, they are shutting down. Their higher brain functions are not working. People can go into a primal mode of fear that is at the core of rejecting science, keeping silent and playing the infamous three monkeys: blind, dumb and mute.

As storytellers, we must change this urgently.

Through our storytelling we need to reveal that he is putting on a reality show. I've been testing this and people light up, immediately shifting from overwhelm and burdened from all his madness to a sense of detachment. They know it's true because they know that he is an expert on acting in reality shows and that basically, that is all he does. So they wake up!

Once that happens, several things take place:

1. The emotional baggage lifts up. I can see people's shoulders dropping in relief.

2. The fear that has sequestered higher brain functions eases and people can think clearly. I can often see their eyes clearing up!

3. The overwhelm of those whose attention is fragmented or feel confuse on where to focus dissolves. This is caused by the authoritarian's tactic of "flooding the zone." It throws a wrench into the nervous system. But seeing what is happening through the lens of it being a reality show means that you are not IN the show. You detach and now you are a meta-observer and can see the agenda, the whole picture and respond strategically.

4. A bit of humor does a lot of good and I can see people smiling as they recognize the META in this situation.

So this counter-story portraying his public persona and "Executive Disorders" as a reality show has a powerful effect to help people shift perception from powerlessness to empowerment.

It expands the lens of our perception-- which he is trying to contract through fear and his reality show.

Once we see that this is not objective reality, but the reality he wants to sell us so we don't push back, now we are ready to see the other reality-- that there is a 5 million people strong opposition movement. There's stuff happening all over the place!

Refocusing Attention

Now comes the next step. Refocusing attention.

After we can see that the person is not trapped in defeat, swallowing the reality show that the Destroyers is selling from his studio in the White House, now we can help the lens widen and cover a wider area.

Now that they are awakening, they may be frustrated because they don't see an answer from where they stand. That's when the question "Why is no one doing anything?" comes in.

We can now help them change their attention from the Destroyer or the former leaders (Democratic Party, political leaders, the military, etc.) to recognize that there is activity against the regime. The camera is moving from the White House to the grounds, where there are many things happening. Write outside the White House, in DC, there is a Remember your Oath movement conducting a 24hr vigil that is spreading to all states where the military is sent. There are massive "We are all DC" marches taking place. That's just for start.

The person has expanded their perception and is now able to accept a wider reality and SEE the opposition, the non-compliance and the resistance.

This is when we inform the person of the pro-democracy movement because the mainstream media is covering it up and many of the alternative or progressive channels are still focused on parties and leaders, which does not help. So it's a Storyteller job to bring their attention to what is happening among We, the People.

Therefore, we are directing these stories both to the alternative media and their audiences, who are searching for alternatives and need to understand one key fact:

A democratic backsliding or authoritarian coup is never ever defeated by a political party or a political leader (not alone). It must be defeated by We, the People activated in a massive united cross-partisan nonviolent grassroots pro-democracy movement.

Let's unpack this:

United, cross-partisan

United, cross-partisan: We need to change the partisan perspective because the reality has shifted way beyond parties. There is still MAGA of course. And there are a lot of people who see themselves as Republicans. But they are trapped in the past. The old Republican Party is no longer. This party was the party of conservative people who believed in democracy. This is no longer true. The GOP has sided with fascism and white supremacy and has enabled the Destroyer to enthrone himself as a dictator. They knew and supported Project 2025. They are not just cowards. They are executors of the fascist coup.

But people who call themselves Republicans are now split into two factions: those who realize what is happening and have repented and those who still have their identities attached to "being Republicans" and are confused and angry because their party is no longer responding to them.

People, the media and even activists themselves often think that this movement is for Democrats. At best, they will include Independents. But we have about 8% Republicans in our marches and we want this to grow. We need a broad, cross-partisan movement if we are going to defeat this regime. We may need to stop this country for a good week or more, that's how many people we need.

Everyone needs to understand that this is no longer about political parties. This is about saving democracy. So whether you are red or blue, if you want to live in a democracy, join this movement.

Nonviolent:

Nonviolent: We need to study the impact of nonviolence in defeating authoritarianism. We must be able to answer these questions: "How can nonviolence defeat people with guns?" "What is the point of marching? It does nothing to change the regime!" "We can't win a war when the enemy has guns and we don't." "We've already done marches and nothing has changed!" "Why should I risk my job in noncompliance?"

When people are afraid, they want their fear to go away, so they want quick solutions. They go to a march and if that does not topple the regime, they may think "what's the point?" In addition, most people in the US are not familiar with the concept of nonviolent resistance. People of color and baby-boomer activists are more familiar because they went through the Civil Rights Movement. But even then, the tactics have changed. On top of that, we have been trained in perceiving power as aggression. We see bullies as "strongmen" and believe that the sword-- or in this case, the gun-- is mightier than the pen-- or in this case, peace. For these reasons they think of "winning" in terms of war.
But do we really want a war? Or can we defeat a wanna-be-dictator without one? The history of nonviolent resistance has shown it to be doubly effective than armed resistance. Its strength is that it can mobilize such a huge number of people that is simply impossible to operate the country when they resist and do not comply.
But we mostly believe that an army is stronger than People Power. This is a false belief implanted by patriarchal dominance and authoritarians. What could any army do when facing a dozen million people opposing a regime? The answer is that in many countries the military defects rather than open fire on such a huge mass of people. When a soldier in an authoritarian takeover was asked why he refused to shoot he said: "I was afraid that my family was in the crowd."
And the authoritarian looks really bad nationally and internationally if he uses violence to defeat these people who are marching peacefully. But the minute violence enters the picture, two things happen that debilitate this leverage: 1) The authoritarian has an excuse to strike back, impose martial law and hike up the violence, and 2) Only a minority will stay in the movement because most people will not join a violent opposition. Some because of fear, but many because of family, sustainability, values, religion and many other reasons. Turning violent cripples popular resistance movements. It reduces it to a small group instead of a massive movement. In fact, this is one of the reasons that popular resistance has failed. But we need to share all these points with people because nonviolent demands courage, discipline and understanding these principles.

Grassroots

Grassroots: Look at what is happening right now in our country: Big firms, corporations, mega-businesses, Media Corporations-- Many are bending the knee. Why? It's all about profits. Civic institutions are divided. Some have created coalitions and are holding on. Others are thinly resisting, like Harvard. It's holding on and has placed law suits; but several times it has wanted to cave in because of the continued pressure of this regime.
What has hold Harvard and other civic institutions in noncompliance is people pressure. Alumni, former leaders, the public, staff, members-- the people push back and the institution has to stand against the regime.
On the other hand the resistance of the people has been consistent and growing. Why? Because while institutions have federal funding, rich investors and other components that induce compliance, the people have families, values, needs, dreams and their motherland pushing them to fight for democracy.

If you look at the pro-democracy movement right now--at who is doing community rapid responses, community ICE watch groups-- it's either young people of high school or college age or people older than 40, many baby boomers. Why? The young are fighting for the survival of their generation. The old are fighting for their legacy and their grandchildren. They are (generally speaking) not rearing families. Their time is more flexible. And they may not be working a regular job. Those between 25-45 are caring for families and depend on a job. There is an entire controversy now among this people about how to practice non-compliance in those situations.

So it mainly working people, who have been pushed to desperation and are losing all benefits while facing a cost of living that they cannot sustain, who are pushing back with the support of Unions. And the young and the old. They will push back because We, the People do not want to live in an authoritarian regime. It is the people who are carrying this movement, not institutions. This presents another challenge that we need to address in the next step, about civic noncompliance. But we are not there yet.

Pro-democracy Movement

Pro-democracy Movement: We need to be careful when we speak of the movement. Calling it a democratic movement can be interpreted as being for Democrats. That's the old way of thinking and people have not changed it yet. Even alternative media is making this mistake. They are calling this a democratic movement, and talking about democrats--without clarification. But if you join online conversations you will soon see that this is a point of confusion. And since we want a broad, cross-partisan movement, we need to make the difference clear. We are not a Democratic movement; meaning it's not by and for members of the Democratic Party. We are a cross-partisan pro-democracy movement that welcomes people of all denominations as long as they 1) want to save democracy and 2) are not white supremacist. The leaders are mostly progressive. I am an Independent. But the movement welcomes everyone. In fact, we need more leaders that can talk to those who identify as Republicans but believe in democracy.

Also: the labels "right or left" are only manipulations and archaisms at this point. There are really, truly two forces facing each other right now: white supremacists backing a fascist authoritarian regime Vs. everyone else who is not a white supremacist and who wants to live in a democracy. This was captured at the exit in a "Fight Oligarchy" movement when a journalist asked two Republican men why they had attended. They said that they needed answers and Bernie Sanders offered them. And they said that they could not go along with the hatred that was going on. One man said: "I don't care if someone is straight or gay. Love is love." And another said: "I could care less for the color of someone's skin when we are all in this together."
The term MOVEMENT is key here. Scattered protests and events won't defeat an autocratic government. First, because without coordination and intentional collaboration there cannot be a united strategic focus. And it is this clear focus, when brought forth by a mass of people, that carries the weight of the will of "We, the People." There needs to be coherence and strategic focus on the events and messages. A movement has this quality-- even when this movement is decentralized and the more than dozen grassroots organizations do their own events and local organization. But they meet, coordinate, discuss priorities, do polls and surveys to check what their members feel it's a priority and understand what works and what does not work to defeat an autocrat. If you notice, there are activities that one group organizes--let's say Indivisible of 50501, and the others will promote, but it's not a coordinated effort. Then come the time for massive priority issues, and these are organized by all with their members and coordinated among the grassroots leaders. That's when you can see the difference because the attendance jumps from thousands to millions. This level of mobilization creates momentum, and that is what a movement needs to do.

At a deeper and wider lens, at a spiritual and evolutionary plane we are upgrading to Unity Consciousness.

Massive

Massive is relative, but political experts who have been following democratic backsliding and autocratic takeovers for decades confirm that the number that changes the game and turns the tides is 3.5% of the population.

What has been proven to work by extensive studies and experiments in the political science of revolution is this:

When 3.5% of the population unites in a cross-partisan massive nonviolent pro-democracy movement where people are mobilizing consistently, practicing non-compliance and constantly creating strong resistance, the authoritarian coup will crumble.

For more information, read the work of Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan.

So we are opening the lens, yes. But we are also changing the heroes of the story. They will no longer be the BIG GUYS.

Now we discover that the whole town: the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker are the heroes. We are the heroes of this story.

That not only changes the focus. It does not only change the perception. It changes the story.

Conclusion

We need to change these current narratives that are keeping people from getting activated to fight for democracy in order to grow this unified, cross-partisan massive nonviolent grassroots pro-democracy movement into a much broader movement that goes from 5million to 11million citizens consistently practicing noncompliance.

And storytelling in its many forms is the best and fastest resource we have to do it.

Through our story-sharing, we need to:

Change attention from leaders and parties as saviors to the 5million people strong movement that is already rising, fighting for our democracy.
Inspire, uplift, clarify, educate, empower and engage people in joining this movement.
Activate people out of passivity and into noncompliance.

If this resonates with you, then welcome!

In the modules below I will be sharing resources, stories of people's victories and narrative-changing scripts with you. I'm just starting here so be patient.

Also, once we get enough people for a Startup Team, we will begin meeting in Zoom monthly to share the information we have gathered, discuss new approaches and support each other.

For now, feel free to email me with any private issue by using the "Contact" tab in the menu above.

For general questions, leave them in the comment thread below each module. This is a private membership and course site, so it will not be searchable outside this community.

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