Do Not Obey. In Advance or Otherwise.

Do Not Obey. In Advance or Otherwise.
Dandelions are everywhere.

If you’ve ever wondered what it would feel like to live in “the time that looms around the corner of today” where The Dandelion Insurrection begins … well, this is the closest parallel I have ever seen. At the start of the book, a fist thumps down upon the table and Valier shouts, “That’s it! They’ve gone too far.” He and his family are upset over closed borders, military presence, climate disasters, economic hardship, and media propaganda feeding them nothing but lies. In our case, the militarized border is along Mexico and the round-ups are targeting migrants, but many other aspects of the speculative fiction novel are eerily familiar. I share the sentiment, “That’s it! They’ve gone too far.”

In his first week in office, Trump fired (or is trying to fire – they’re resisting) federal investigators who attempted to hold him accountable for his crimes. He’s purging people from federal offices and implementing a hiring freeze. On Jan 28, he attempted to halt (and was blocked by a federal judge) all grant and funding indefinitely for any federal office involved in “foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.” In translation: for helping and respecting other people, and ensuring a liveable future for humanity on our only planet. 

Choose Democracy writes, “Our summary is this: It’s an administrative coup. Trump has ordered tens of billions (maybe up to $3 trillion) of budget halted indefinitely in a blatantly illegal move. He’s claiming power to halt and potentially redirect funding that’s already been authorized by Congress — a classic authoritarian move.”

Trump wants power – absolute power – to do whatever he wants. He doesn’t want legal accountability, lawyers, or judges to stop him. He doesn’t want federal employees to resist his cruel agenda. He’s purging workers and freezing hiring processes. But people are resisting. AltNatPark Service’s network of federal employees in resistance surged from 2,500 to 10,000. Federal workers were so insulted by Musk’s buyout memo that many of those thinking of quitting are now planning to stay and make trouble for the administration. The DEIA snitch line was flooded with tens of thousands of false reports. People are thwarting ICE raids to such a degree that the “Border Czar” is complaining about us. The outcry from federal workers, legislators, lawyers, and citizens over the funding freeze forced Trump to rescind his federal freeze memo only a day later. 

The rapid shift from despair to spirited resistance is a hopeful sign. Authoritarians are stopped by mass movements who refuse to obey unjust orders. I’ve seen people circulating the important message to “Do Not Obey In Advance” and to not do the work of the authoritarians for them by self-censoring yourself or complying with them. This is critically important. In Episode 2 of Candlelight: Nonviolence In Dark Times, I talk about how nonviolent resistance has been used to disobey unjust or immoral orders and resist the politics of hate. I share stories of the 10 Commandments of Resistance from the Danish resistance to Nazi occupation in the 1940s and Czechoslovakia’s resistance to Soviet Invasion in 1968.

 Like others facing heartless and cruel regimes, we can noncooperate with injustice, refuse to comply with cruelty, and disobey orders that violate moral principle. For example, here were the rules the Czechs shared with each other:

When a Soviet soldier comes to you, YOU:
1. Don’t know
2. Don’t care
3. Don’t tell
4. Don’t have
5. Don’t know how to
6. Don’t give
7. Can’t do
8. Don’t sell
9. Don’t show
10. Do nothing

So, don’t give up. We have more power than we think. Resistance is not futile. As we know from the Dandelion Trilogy … resistance is fertile and spreads its seeds everywhere. Remember, whenever you take action, be sure to immediately invite 10 friends to do the same. With social media (Meta and X) and corporate media pandering to this administration, you can’t rely on them to deliver stories of resistance. We have to spread the word, dandelion-style. 

I also encourage you to get on the email lists of the organizations you like (not just follow them on social media). I especially recommend Choose Democracy’s email list for good analysis, great resources, and ways to connect to resistance groups. If you can, make a donation to cover the cost of sending you emails. (It can be expensive to maintain a big list, especially as sign-ups surge.) 

If we’re living at the start of The Dandelion Insurrection, let’s make sure the story of our times is full of spirited, nonviolent resistance to injustice. Our actions now determine how the next page of this story unfolds.

Be like the dandelions,
Rivera Sun

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