Fight the power
And other very hard things. Join me.
It’s four days since Donald Trump won his second term in office and there are dark times ahead.
The platform that so many of us relied on during the first Trump presidency and the aftermath of the Brexit vote is now owned by the man who’s helped Trump win his second term in office.
We haven’t even begun to reckon with what that means for the world. But one thing is clear: we need to find other ports during the coming storm.
And other ways to hold power to account. Because, if the election of Donald Trump shows us anything, it’s that the old ways don’t work.
Starting a newsletter fits in into the category of things I should have done years ago. I’m doing it now in a journalistic crisis that’s happening in the middle of all the other crises at a moment in which journalism couldn’t be more important. I’ll tell you more about that in another post.
But what I know is that if there’s anything that is going to get us through the next years, it’ll be other people. The re-election of Donald Trump, and the fateful hand of Elon Musk, is not just a tragedy and a coming disaster for America but the world. And what we will need more than ever before is networks, communities, comradeship and bonds of trust.
I don’t yet know what this newsletter will be. I’m undecided on the name and I haven’t yet got to grips with the platform, but I do know that with whatever comes next, we need to build and connect and create new ways of exposing and confronting power.
We need to understand this isn’t just Trump. It’s so much bigger than that. It’s a global playbook underpinned by global information platforms that have upturned our world. I’ve been reporting on this since 2016. And the companies behind it for much longer.
But I’m writing this on November 10, 2024, because the first wave of tech disruption is over. We’ve now entered a second, scarier wave.
I am absolutely terrified about what is to come for my kids and grandkids and the world.
We have been sold to the highest bidder - Elon Musk.
We will need voices like yours more than ever now.
We must throw sand in the gears of their tyranny and corruption in anyway we can.
Hi.
You've been one of the ones leading the charge all along - Cassandra! Big fan here. Any little drop in the ocean of wanting to do better is powerful. The abolitionists were just a tiny handful of people; then the moment came and voila.
I'm wondering what would happen here if all the trolls had no one to talk to but themselves, like if we all left as a movement in one fell swoop. Trolls
thrive on being able to torment people; so we'd be depriving them of oxygen. There'd be no one to hit. Not sure if this martial arts idea would make a dent. Also I wish, and this is a big wish, that someone would reinvent Twitter, only without the algorithms that are so destructive. After donating so much money to Harris in the election campaign, surely there could be the will to do this. and perhaps some high minded big donors out there who could help. For the warrior types it'd be a way to deal with Musk, and crow about it afterwards, like Peter Pan. In fact this whole thing is rather Peter Pannish actually. Not all of it has to be dreadful. We could at least add a bit of fun to the fight. And if we want help from more men, Peter Pan might resonate more than pink pussy hats. (No, I'm way older than 12, . but 12 in spirit sometimes.)
If the great migration to Neverland Twitter happened in the blink of an eye it'd be like yes...we can fly.
Earth is going to need lots of fairy dust to deal with this lot!
Thank you so much for your heroism!
P.S. I wasn't envisioning a sterile "safe space". Just one where the virus of disinfo could be checked and not deliberately monetized. Of course it'll be attacked as "censorship". Content that isn't Goebbelized will be demonized as fake news.