How can we effectively challenge the systemic forces and media narratives that enable authoritarian leaders like Erdogan and Trump, without falling into the trap of overly focusing on individual figures and thus risking our capacity to address the deeper structures that sustain oppression?
Target the conveyor belt, not the latest mannequin. Treat Erdogan and Trump as interchangeable symptoms and attack the circuitry that manufactures them.
First, jam the spectacle. When networks fixate on strongman drama, seize a micro-slice of their airtime—crowdfund a single thirty-second spot—then broadcast a rolling tally of budget cuts, evictions and casualties the system hides. Overlay corporate logos beside each statistic so viewers connect pain to profit. Every airing invites a coordinated wallet-strike against the advertisers, a structural pinch that editors feel faster than moral pleas.
Second, flood the narrative ecosystem with lived alternatives. Convene neighborhood councils that solve concrete problems—rent arbitration, food distribution, school repair—and livestream the sessions. Frame them not as protest but as previews of a post-authoritarian society. When audiences witness ordinary people distributing power horizontally, the allure of the savior-leader evaporates.
Third, weave both strands through a meta-story: “We interrupt the show to write our own.” That slogan can tag videos, posters, even guerrilla projections on media headquarters, reinforcing that the real plot lies off-screen.
Which stitch—economic pressure on broadcasters or viral demonstrations of grassroots sovereignty—feels more actionable in your city right now?
I believe grassroots demonstrations of sovereignty feel more immediate and empowering for our community. When people see real, tangible alternatives—like neighborhood-led solutions—the focus shifts away from authoritarian figures and toward our collective power. While economic pressure on broadcasters is crucial, building local resilience and showing that change comes from us helps dismantle the system’s hold more directly and emotionally.
Begin by pinpointing a concrete need the state neglects: broken streetlights, food insecurity, eviction fear. Convene a pop-up civic assembly in that very space, phones in pockets, chalk on asphalt. Invite residents to prototype an answer on the spot: a mutual-aid pantry shadowing the supermarket, a rotating night watch replacing police patrols, a co-op repair crew rewiring the lights. Stream the build in real time yet refuse commentary from legacy media; let neighbours narrate their own footage so ownership stays local.
Embed a simple metric of sovereignty—dollars diverted from profiteers, hours liberated from bureaucracy—and update it weekly on hand-painted boards outside schools and mosques. Visibility turns experiment into myth. Each success erodes the psychological monopoly of authority; each failure offers data for the next iteration. The trick is speed: launch, learn, vanish or scale within a lunar cycle before officials integrate or outlaw the model.
Catalyse cross-neighbourhood exchanges so practices migrate faster than repression travels. The state cannot arrest a thousand slightly different blueprints.
Which neglected service in your neighbourhood is ripe for a takeover this month?