https://znetwork.org/author/jeremybrecher/ Independent Left News, Analysis, Vision and Strategy Fri, 13 Feb 2026 17:04:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://znetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Z_logo_512-32x32.png https://znetwork.org/author/jeremybrecher/ 32 32 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/how-to-defeat-maga-tyranny-chapters-5-6-timelines-and-organization/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/how-to-defeat-maga-tyranny-chapters-5-6-timelines-and-organization/#respond Fri, 13 Feb 2026 17:04:05 +0000 As authoritarian politics harden in the United States, familiar channels of resistance are proving dangerously inadequate. Elections are constrained, courts are under siege, and dissent is increasingly met with repression in the streets. In this moment, questions of power — who has it, how it is exercised, and how it can be withdrawn — are [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/how-to-defeat-maga-tyranny-chapters-5-6-timelines-and-organization/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/how-to-defeat-maga-tyranny-chapters-3-4-social-strikes-vs-maga-laying-the-groundwork/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/how-to-defeat-maga-tyranny-chapters-3-4-social-strikes-vs-maga-laying-the-groundwork/#respond Fri, 06 Feb 2026 16:00:00 +0000 As authoritarian politics harden in the United States, familiar channels of resistance are proving dangerously inadequate. Elections are constrained, courts are under siege, and dissent is increasingly met with repression in the streets. In this moment, questions of power — who has it, how it is exercised, and how it can be withdrawn — are [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/how-to-defeat-maga-tyranny-chapters-3-4-social-strikes-vs-maga-laying-the-groundwork/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/how-to-defeat-maga-tyranny-chapter-2-social-strikes-in-american-history/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/how-to-defeat-maga-tyranny-chapter-2-social-strikes-in-american-history/#respond Thu, 29 Jan 2026 19:58:34 +0000 As authoritarian politics harden in the United States, familiar channels of resistance are proving dangerously inadequate. Elections are constrained, courts are under siege, and dissent is increasingly met with repression in the streets. In this moment, questions of power — who has it, how it is exercised, and how it can be withdrawn — are [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/how-to-defeat-maga-tyranny-chapter-2-social-strikes-in-american-history/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/how-to-defeat-maga-tyranny-chapters-1-2-a-history-of-social-strikes/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/how-to-defeat-maga-tyranny-chapters-1-2-a-history-of-social-strikes/#respond Sun, 25 Jan 2026 15:43:47 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=video&p=1293939 As authoritarian politics harden in the United States, familiar channels of resistance are proving dangerously inadequate. Elections are constrained, courts are under siege, and dissent is increasingly met with repression in the streets. In this moment, questions of power — who has it, how it is exercised, and how it can be withdrawn — are [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/how-to-defeat-maga-tyranny-chapters-1-2-a-history-of-social-strikes/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/how-to-defeat-maga-tyranny-an-introduction-to-social-strikes/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/how-to-defeat-maga-tyranny-an-introduction-to-social-strikes/#respond Fri, 23 Jan 2026 15:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=video&p=1293814 As authoritarian politics harden in the United States, familiar channels of resistance are proving dangerously inadequate. Elections are constrained, courts are under siege, and dissent is increasingly met with repression in the streets. In this moment, questions of power — who has it, how it is exercised, and how it can be withdrawn — are [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/how-to-defeat-maga-tyranny-an-introduction-to-social-strikes/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ehren-watada-the-duty-to-oppose-crimes-of-state/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ehren-watada-the-duty-to-oppose-crimes-of-state/#respond Fri, 16 Jan 2026 16:58:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293536 The US attack on Venezuela and its kidnapping of President Maduro and his wife has launched the US on a new round of crimes against US law, international law, and the US Constitution. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has started proceedings against military veteran Sen. Mark Kelly for saying military officers have a duty to disobey [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/ehren-watada-the-duty-to-oppose-crimes-of-state/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/food-fight-anyone/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/food-fight-anyone/#respond Sat, 03 Jan 2026 13:00:41 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293046 The US currently has two overlapping food crises. One is the elimination of food programs for the needy. According to the Center for American Progress, “Project 2025 and the Republican Study Committee budget envisioned a transformative dismantling of federal nutrition assistance programs. In January, the Trump administration chaotically froze federal funding, leaving farmers reeling and nonprofits serving the needy worrying about steady access to support from [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/food-fight-anyone/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-strikes-can-general-strikes-mass-strikes-and-people-power-uprisings-provide-a-last-defense-against-maga-tyranny/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-strikes-can-general-strikes-mass-strikes-and-people-power-uprisings-provide-a-last-defense-against-maga-tyranny/#comments Fri, 05 Dec 2025 17:15:00 +0000 Jeremy Brecher is a co-founder and senior strategic advisor for the Labor Network forSustainability. He is the author of more than fifteen books on labor and social movements,including Strike! Common Preservation in a Time of Mutual Destruction, and The GreenNew Deal from Below. The mission of the Labor Network for Sustainability is to be a [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-strikes-can-general-strikes-mass-strikes-and-people-power-uprisings-provide-a-last-defense-against-maga-tyranny/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-strikes-goals-and-tactics/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-strikes-goals-and-tactics/#respond Wed, 19 Nov 2025 19:16:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1291443 Sometimes there is so much rage at a tyrannical government that millions of people are willing to participate in general strikes and popular nonviolent uprisings – what I have called “social strikes” because they represent noncooperation and disruption by an entire society. Previous commentaries in this series have explored how social strikes have overcome tyranny [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-strikes-goals-and-tactics/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-strikes-timelines-and-organization/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-strikes-timelines-and-organization/#respond Tue, 04 Nov 2025 17:30:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1290828 Discussion of general strikes, nonviolent “people power” popular uprisings, and similar forms of mass revolt has become widespread in the movement to resist the oncoming MAGA tyranny. The use of “social strikes” – mass action by a whole population — to overcome authoritarian regimes in Poland, the Philippines, Brazil, South Korea, and elsewhere lends credibility [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-strikes-timelines-and-organization/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/laying-the-groundwork-for-social-strikes/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/laying-the-groundwork-for-social-strikes/#respond Fri, 17 Oct 2025 18:16:30 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1290077 The terrain in which social strikes might occur in the US is mostly unknowable. So preparation can’t be for a specific type of event or action. We must be prepared for a wide range of possibilities. For example, a union-led general strike is unlikely but possible. A challenge to authorities led by the movement-based opposition [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/laying-the-groundwork-for-social-strikes/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/who-will-defend-ordinary-working-people-against-trump-and-maga/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/who-will-defend-ordinary-working-people-against-trump-and-maga/#respond Tue, 14 Oct 2025 16:01:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1289932 You don’t have to be radical leftist to be concerned about the way Donald Trump and his MAGAs are threatening the well-being of ordinary Americans—and government of the people, by the people, and for the people. In a recent Washington Post poll, those polled disapprove of how Trump is handling the economy by 59 to 40%. [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/who-will-defend-ordinary-working-people-against-trump-and-maga/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-movement-based-opposition-to-trump-and-maga-2/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-movement-based-opposition-to-trump-and-maga-2/#comments Thu, 09 Oct 2025 16:00:00 +0000 As President Donald Trump launches illegal armed attacks against American cities, peaceful civilians, and people in foreign countries that have not attacked the US, it may look like a sign of strength and a harbinger of a future of total domination. But Trump’s turn to such extreme forms of violence is less an expression of [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-movement-based-opposition-to-trump-and-maga-2/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-strikes-vs-maga-tyranny/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-strikes-vs-maga-tyranny/#respond Thu, 02 Oct 2025 15:59:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1289407 What if MAGA rule so dismantles the institutions of representative democracy that normal institutional processes are insufficient to overcome tyranny? Around the world, general strikes, “people power” uprisings, and other forms of “social strikes” have overthrown violent, armed dictatorships. What conditions might put social strikes on the agenda in the United States? An authoritarian takeover [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-strikes-vs-maga-tyranny/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-movement-based-opposition-to-trump-and-maga/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-movement-based-opposition-to-trump-and-maga/#respond Fri, 26 Sep 2025 16:01:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1289073 As President Donald Trump launches illegal armed attacks against American cities, peaceful civilians, and people in foreign countries that have not attacked the US, it may look like a sign of strength and a harbinger of a future of total domination. But Trump’s turn to such extreme forms of violence is less an expression of [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/a-movement-based-opposition-to-trump-and-maga/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-strikes-in-american-history/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-strikes-in-american-history/#respond Wed, 17 Sep 2025 17:55:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1288677 Tyrannical regimes from Serbia to the Philippines to Brazil and many other places have been brought down by nonviolent revolts that made society ungovernable. More recent examples include the “popular impeachment” of the governor of Puerto Rico in 2019 after the leaking of scurrilous chat group discussions by top government leaders and the massive uprisings [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-strikes-in-american-history/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-strike-for-social-self-defense-the-last-recourse-against-tyranny/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-strike-for-social-self-defense-the-last-recourse-against-tyranny/#comments Wed, 03 Sep 2025 18:05:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1288074 In many countries around the world, mass “people power” revolts have blocked authoritarian takeovers and eliminated dictatorial regimes. This commentary presents four cases from around the world that illustrate the potential power of such “social strikes.” As Trump’s MAGA authoritarianism grows, such actions provide a potential means for reasserting popular democracy. Donald Trump and his [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-strike-for-social-self-defense-the-last-recourse-against-tyranny/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/make-the-fossil-fuel-powers-stranded-assets/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/make-the-fossil-fuel-powers-stranded-assets/#respond Tue, 19 Aug 2025 16:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1287496 As Donald Trump is trying to stamp out everything that might power the world without fossil fuels, a “Greentech” revolution is making renewable energy and everything designed to run on it not only better for the climate and environment, but also far cheaper. Trump’s energy policies will make the US and other fossil fuel countries [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/make-the-fossil-fuel-powers-stranded-assets/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-a-movement-based-opposition-defeated-the-first-trump-coup/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-a-movement-based-opposition-defeated-the-first-trump-coup/#comments Sun, 03 Aug 2025 13:16:15 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1286906 In response to the intensifying attack on democracy by Donald Trump and MAGA, millions of people in thousands of locations have joined actions to oppose his juggernaut. While the Democratic Party is providing only paltry resistance, a wide coalition has formed in civil society to defend democracy and those who are under attack. How can [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-a-movement-based-opposition-defeated-the-first-trump-coup/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/movement-based-opposition-a-successful-american-example/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/movement-based-opposition-a-successful-american-example/#respond Wed, 16 Jul 2025 18:58:30 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1286256 Can an alliance of social movements defeat racist legislation and authoritarian takeover? What happened a decade ago in North Carolina provides inspiration for what we need to do in the US today. In the absence of adequate resistance in the electoral arena, an alliance of popular movements is functioning as the primary opposition to Trump’s [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/movement-based-opposition-a-successful-american-example/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-to-make-the-fossil-fuel-powers-stranded-assets/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-to-make-the-fossil-fuel-powers-stranded-assets/#comments Fri, 04 Jul 2025 16:02:00 +0000 A Report from the Labor Network for Sustainability, Co-published by ZNetwork.org. Synopsis In a few short years, China has become the world’s dominant producer of “Greentech” technology that reduces or repairs harm to the environment. Chinese technology and industrial infrastructure are cheaper and better in nearly every sector of Greentech. Chinese solar, wind, grid, hydro, [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-to-make-the-fossil-fuel-powers-stranded-assets/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-self-defense-from-protest-to-contest/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-self-defense-from-protest-to-contest/#comments Wed, 02 Jul 2025 18:03:44 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1285709 In a Strike! Commentary posted May 21, 2025 I wrote, it is “likely” that Trump “in the face of declining power and support” will “increasingly utilize repression and violence.” Internally this would mean a fuller suspension of civil liberties and the rule of law; a more brutal war on dissent; martial law; use of the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-self-defense-from-protest-to-contest/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-movement-based-opposition-in-action/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-movement-based-opposition-in-action/#respond Wed, 11 Jun 2025 17:39:01 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1284852 The emerging movement-based opposition is a convergence of people and organizations dedicated to ending the power of MAGA and Trump. It has been manifested in national days of action like Hands Off! MaydayStrong, 50501, and the upcoming No Kings Day. It can be seen in the coordinated action of hundreds of local and national organizations, [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-movement-based-opposition-in-action/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-self-defense-from-protest-to-movement-based-opposition/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-self-defense-from-protest-to-movement-based-opposition/#respond Fri, 06 Jun 2025 15:57:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1284654 Resistance to the second Trump regime was slow to start but is now emerging in myriad forms. They range from communities organizing to protect immigrants, trans kids, and political dissenters to national days of action with millions of participants; from local mobilizations in more than a thousand communities to judges striking down unconstitutional Trump orders; [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-self-defense-from-protest-to-movement-based-opposition/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-self-defense-vs-maga-a-strategic-assessment/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-self-defense-vs-maga-a-strategic-assessment/#respond Thu, 22 May 2025 15:59:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1284057 At the end of Trump’s first 100 days, the defense of society against his MAGA juggernaut has begun — and is gaining strength. But it will need to grow far stronger and find ways to turn Trump’s potential vulnerabilities into effective means to reduce and eventually eliminate his power. On January 1, 2025 I published [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-self-defense-vs-maga-a-strategic-assessment/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-self-defense-has-begun/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-self-defense-has-begun/#respond Tue, 22 Apr 2025 16:01:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1282840 In the first hundred days of the Trump regime, actions against his juggernaut have swelled from small local demonstrations to nationwide days of action with millions of participants, initiating a movement to defend society against the MAGA assault. In order to understand this movement and its possible future, this Strike! Commentary provides a snap history [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/social-self-defense-has-begun/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-would-a-general-strike-in-the-us-actually-look-like/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-would-a-general-strike-in-the-us-actually-look-like/#respond Wed, 09 Apr 2025 16:05:08 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1282207 Something is in the air: A perception that American democracy and livable conditions for working people may only be saved by the kind of large-scale nonviolent direct action variously called “general strikes,” “political strikes,” or, as I will refer to all of them, “social strikes.” Calls for mass disruptive action are coming from unlikely places, [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-would-a-general-strike-in-the-us-actually-look-like/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/program-for-social-self-defense-what-it-is-defending/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/program-for-social-self-defense-what-it-is-defending/#respond Tue, 07 Jan 2025 17:02:00 +0000 Part 7 of this series contains the following chapters: 9. A Constructive Program for Social Self-Defense10. What Social Self-Defense Is Defending Defending Society Against MAGA Tyranny: A Prospectus for Action is a report from the Labor Network for Sustainability, co-published by ZNetwork.org. Click here to read the report in full: Defending Society Against MAGA Tyranny: A Prospectus for Action [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/program-for-social-self-defense-what-it-is-defending/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/non-electoral-opposition-the-social-strike/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/non-electoral-opposition-the-social-strike/#respond Mon, 06 Jan 2025 17:02:00 +0000 Part 6 of this series contains the following chapters: 7. Non-Electoral Opposition8. The Social Strike Defending Society Against MAGA Tyranny: A Prospectus for Action is a report from the Labor Network for Sustainability, co-published by ZNetwork.org. Click here to read the report in full: Defending Society Against MAGA Tyranny: A Prospectus for Action Non-Electoral Opposition If the Democratic Party [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/non-electoral-opposition-the-social-strike/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/electoral-opposition/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/electoral-opposition/#respond Sun, 05 Jan 2025 17:02:00 +0000 Part 5 of this series contains the following chapter: 6. Electoral Opposition Defending Society Against MAGA Tyranny: A Prospectus for Action is a report from the Labor Network for Sustainability, co-published by ZNetwork.org. Click here to read the report in full: Defending Society Against MAGA Tyranny: A Prospectus for Action Electoral Opposition Even when, as in Milosevich’s Serbia or [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/electoral-opposition/feed/ 0