The most dangerous lie in American politics isn’t that we’re powerless — it’s that we’re powerless alone. Ezra Levin reminds Edwin Eisendrath that “all power in this country originates with us,” but power only lives if we organize. That’s why cynicism is such an effective weapon; it convinces people their exhaustion is a strategy. It’s easier to scroll yourself into despair than to stand in a room with neighbors and demand change. But despair never scared a tyrant — solidarity always has.
Anyone who’s actually shown up knows the irony: Rallies and meetings don’t sap your energy, they expand it. Edwin talks about people leaving Indivisible gatherings with new friends and renewed strength, not fatigue. That’s not sentimental — it’s a reminder that the social fabric is a form of political armor. Authoritarians want us isolated, staring at our feeds, convinced we’re the only ones furious. A protest flips that script: suddenly you see the numbers, and you realize silence is a choice you don’t have to make.
Budgets and ballots are where those choices show up. Trump’s demand for unchecked cash, which Ezra cuts down to “the mob boss wants a slush fund,” isn’t some procedural quirk. It’s the purest test of whether we’ll normalize gangster government. The same is true in state courts and redistricting fights, where control of the rules determines the shape of democracy itself. These aren’t side battles; they’re the ground game of self-government. And winning them means treating every district map and every funding deadline as a line that belongs to us, not to him.
What happens on October 18 will show the difference between consuming politics and practicing it. Edwin calls “No Kings” protests that are being organized by Indivisible and other groups “a festival for democracy,” and festivals matter because they remind people politics can feel good. The laughter, the dogs, the music — that isn’t fluff, it’s power refusing to hide in shame. Ezra describes it as “collective effervescence,” the kind of joy that tyrants can’t counterfeit and can’t contain.
Tune in for this week’s conversation, and more importantly, tune out the lie that you’re alone.
Are We American Spectators or American Patriots?
The “No Kings” protests, which began as a collective outcry against authoritarian overreach and for democratic renewal, are not just a passing moment of outrage. They are a national pivot point — and if we treat them as fleeting, we risk missing the most powerful pro-democracy surge this country has seen in a generation.
