Dictators, fascists, and oligarchs want us to believe that they are all-powerful and that we would be nothing without them.
The reality is: They donāt create anything. We, the people, create EVERYTHING!
āIt will be helpful to have a power analysis in our minds, specifically thatās known as the upside-down triangle. This tool was built to explain how power moves even under dictatorships.Ā
The central tenet is that like an upside-down triangle, power can be unstable. It naturally topples over without anything supporting it. To prevent that, power relies on pillars of support to keep it upright.
Casually, the left often focuses on pillars of support that include governments, media, corporations, shareholders and policy makers. Describing the pillars of support, Gene Sharp wrote:
āBy themselves, rulers cannot collect taxes, enforce repressive laws and regulations, keep trains running on time, prepare national budgets, direct traffic, manage ports, print money, repair roads, keep markets supplied with food, make steel, build rockets, train the police and army, issue postage stamps or even milk a cow. People provide these services to the ruler though a variety of organizations and institutions. If people would stop providing these skills, the ruler could not rule.ā
Removing one pillar of support can often gain major, life-saving concessions. In response to Trumpās 2019 government shutdown, flight attendants prepared a national strike. Such a strike would ground planes across the country and a key transportation network. Within hours of announcing they were āmobilizing immediatelyā for a strike, Trump capitulated.ā
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