Preparing for the Storm: A Brief Guide to Getting Ready for What's Coming

We're close to the inauguration and the beginning of something very dangerous. It's time to get ready.

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Happy new year to you. I hope in 2024 you found some things of value. Perhaps, like myself, you were both dismayed by what happened but also motivated. As I’ve discussed in a previous Audio From A Collapsing State, moments of immense danger and rising authoritarianism have a tendency to bring clarity. 2024 was certainly a tough year full of heartbreak and struggle, but within it I certainly discovered things about myself and my life and the world at large that now stand to anchor me as things get tough.

But now we’re in 2025. And the clock is ticking.

For a decade I lived in the state of Georgia, and every couple of years a system would form in the Atlantic. Word would get around quick. People would huddle over maps and forecasts, wondering if the storm would make landfall and rip through our town. Sometimes it did, sometimes it didn’t. When the path took shape and my town was in the crosshairs, something strange happened. There was a focused calm. You had to get ready, after all. That meant getting supplies, readying your house, putting things away. Preparing yourself for what was coming.

I wanted to put together something today to hopefully help in your preparation for what’s coming. I’m continuing the Audio From A Collapsing State series as a means of teaching organizing and coalition building, which is going to be the crux of whatever movement we’re going to build, and I’ll continue to update you as much as I can on my own organizing work, but I wanted to offer some thoughts on what you can do starting today, January 1st, to be more prepared for the storm.

Security

Something that’s hard to communicate but necessary is that you have been living in an authoritarian environment for awhile, you just might not have noticed it. Going back to the War on Terror, the emerging tech-comm monopoly state was merged with national security, creating the most sophisticated surveillance apparatus in human history. This was done under the auspices of protecting Americans from terrorism and grew in size and scope as the tech oligarchs pieced together their kingdoms. The need to “protect” the homeland opened the door for these oligarchs to not only dominate the economy but quickly overtake government and the functions of empire, leaving us where we are today.

It’s bad enough that the tech oligarchs have functionally taken over the government and now commandeered the presidency, their dominance of the digital domain has gifted them unparalleled control over communications and surveillance powers undreamed of before. Because tech surveillance capitalism requires a mastery over all data, they’ve effectively tracked everything you’ve done for years, creating a system that, at times, knows you better than you know yourself. Almost all of us have played into this, marching serenely into the wood-chipper. It’s probably time to change that.

Become much more cognizant of how you use the internet. We should have been researching this stuff for decades, honestly, but there’s no time like the present. Start by finding yourself a VPN and go from there. This isn’t going to be a quick fix. You’re not going to become a tech security expert before January 20th, but like all processes, you can only get to your final goal by starting. Again, this is something we should’ve been much more aware of for a long time, but the time to start is now.

Media Literacy

I talked on a recent episode of the Muckrake Podcast about the liberal media and permission structures meant to normalize Trump and the authoritarian takeover. This didn’t start recently. Major newspapers and networks have worked hand-in-hand since their inception to communicate the worldview and agenda of the wealth class in such a way as to convince people to support them or, at the least, tune them out. The standard Red v. Blue narrative hides most of this, gifting you a soap opera narrative full of heroes and villains and rumors and scandal, all obscuring how government carries out the whims of the capitalist system.

It’s time to start looking at all this differently. Undoubtedly, if you’re here, and if you continue reading my work, you have already been consumed by a fair amount of skepticism toward our political parties and media. You’ve moved beyond yelling at The New York Times whenever they publish some anti-trans garbage or some op-ed telling us we should figure out how to work with Donald Trump or RFK Jr. You know they’re not just "making a mistake” and not understanding what they’re doing.

As Trump takes power, it’s only going to get worse. Again, he is a clown, a mascot, a distraction, only there because of his ability to fleece the MAGA base and capitalize off class divisions and inherent prejudices. His continued power and presence is predicated on his willingness to do what the capitalist system and its major shareholders in the wealth class wants him to do, which is to evolve Neoliberalism into its full-on authoritarian stage and effectively cratering our standard of living as the regulatory state is finally slayed and the social safety net disintegrated. The Right is fully on board and the country is quickly getting into lockstep.

Whether this is successful or lasting will largely depend on whether the permission structures through the major media and political parties and culture are effective in convincing more people that this is normal or okay. This will depend on whether they can normalize Trump and manufacture consent, all the while assuring the white middle class and portions of the working class that they shouldn’t care what happens to people.

Resolve today to view our media and politics through this lens. This means giving up on finding just one trustworthy place to find your news and, instead, starting to read between the lines of all news you come across. This take rhetorical skill and critical thinking, which has largely been exorcised from American education. Ask yourself when reading every article or viewing every video, who is this for? What is the purpose? The idea that our media is unbiased is ludicrous. You make decisions with every story, with every sentence, every word. I can tell you my bias. It’s to rip the veil off the exploitative and destructive system we’re under and highlight the need for interdependence in the face of authoritarian spread.

Teach yourself to experience this differently. Because the bias and the propaganda is just going to get much, much worse.

Material Considerations

I’ve talked about this previously, but Americans need to get their affairs in order quickly. This era has been fueled by a consumerist fugue state in which we have been seduced by cheap goods and a cultural, political push toward individual aims. We’ve been taught to be more selfish, more self-hating, and conditioned to seek solace and worth in our purchases and career ambitions. We need to heal from this, reject the capitalist drive to hate ourselves and search for meaning outside of ourselves and our connection with others.

Think about your spending habits. Make note of what things actually matter and what things can fall by the wayside. Recognize that Trump is going to obliterate our economy on behalf of the wealth class and act accordingly. Try and live simpler. Start learning how to do some things for yourself that you’ve outsourced previously. Try and ween yourself off using the goods and services of corporations that are contributing to this authoritarian push.

I’m not necessarily one to advocate prepping, but considering circumstances, including continued power failures, economic crises, and looming world crises, it’s always a good idea to have at least three days worth of food and water. This isn’t an appeal to hoard. The only way we’re going to get out of this is through interdependence and shared struggle. But prepare accordingly.

Organizing

I continue to stress this and teach this, but democratic solidarity and collective action is the only way through. We live in an era where power seems so far away from us and so unwieldy that there’s nothing we can do. We’re meant to feel alone and powerless. We’re not alone. We’re not powerless.

In regards to liberal capitulation and the normalizing of Trump, you’re doubtlessly noticing that some people around you are starting to get sucked in. Maybe they’re dropping out of politics altogether. They’re starting to wonder if maybe Trump might do some good things. This is what happens as the consensus shifts and the permission structures do their jobs. I’m sorry. It really sucks and it really hurts. But you need to recognize these people probably weren’t your allies to begin with. This is a time for clarity and a time for reconsidering your life.

Find the people who share your principles, who aren’t willing to sacrifice gay and trans people, who aren’t willing to look the other way as people of color are harmed and discriminated against, who don’t think it’s okay for women in Republican-controlled states to have their rights stolen, who care whether god knows how many unhoused people live or die, who think that disabled people and poor people deserve dignity. These are the people you’re going to be able to rely on when the shit really hits the fan. They’ll help you when you’re down and you’ll help them when they’re down.

Talk to coworkers, neighbors, family members, friends. Put yourself out there with the understanding that you’re finding the people you can trust and rely on. Determine what you care about, establish your principles, and stand firm. Reach out to mutual aid groups in your community and ask what they need. Listen. If you find a group doing good work, listen. Find your place within that group. Money is good, but money and time and care and cooperation is much, much better.

Find something small or achievable. Build off wins.

Mindset

This is going to be a year of struggle. Pushing back against the wealth class power grab is going to be exhausting at times. Watching moderates capitulate and lick the boot is going to be infuriating. Hearing people you care about normalize it is going to be incredibly dispiriting.

Learn to be secure in your own beliefs and your own principles. Secure in yourself. If others recognize you or appreciate you, that’s a bonus and validation. If they don’t, what they think of you isn’t your business.

Pick something to learn or do or construct. Learn a new language. Pick up a guitar. Start painting. Find some hobby that illustrates materially that things build over time. Something that, when we get to January 1st, 2026, you can look at and realize that your efforts and energy are important and constructive.

Remember that, when it comes to democratic action, when it comes to being a radical, that you’re going to take a lot of losses. Learn to let them motivate you. Let every brutality and spite from the authoritarian Right fuel your fire. When you win, celebrate like there’s no tomorrow, then, when tomorrow comes, get back to the work.

This is a time to heal and grow and focus. This moment is going to ask a lot from you. It’s going to take a lot from you. But when the storm passes and we finally win, you’re going to be changed. And better. And ready for a more humane and decent world. You’re changing even now. You’re improving even now. You’ve got this.

Keep imagining what could be and what should be. Don’t give in to the authoritarian abuse that’s meant to narrow your world and your options. Take a breath. You’re getting prepared for what’s coming. Start preparing for what comes after the storm.

Resources

• Beginning to Resist: Thoughts on how we, as individuals, should spend the months leading up to the second Trump presidency and preparing for the cruel austerity his wealth class donors are going to unleash.

• What the Hell is Going On: Here is an explainer regarding our present circumstances for anyone who has had a feeling that the traditional Democrat / Republican / Red / Blue narrative was hiding something. Here, we go through the problems in the United States and how the wealth class has effectively put itself in a position to totally takeover our government.

• The Oligarchical Order: A primer on how to give up conventional and failed political understandings in favor of seeing how capitalism directs the course of events and where it is leading and what to expect.

• Authoritarianism and the Crisis of Meaning: Here we get into how consumerism represents an addictive drug that has hollowed out our sense of purpose, leaving us to take this as a moment of self-reflection, recognize that we have effectively been made to hate and doubt ourselves, thereby keeping us from realizing we deserve better.

• Americans Should Learn From South Koreans: The attempted coup in South Korea serves as an incredible example for how popular mobilization among the population can change the political paradigm and undermine authoritarian power grabs. We should pay attention and take heed.

• The Snake, The Rat, and Neoliberal Authoritarianism: Using Survivor and reality-TV culture, we discuss how Neoliberalism turned us against one another, rewarded manipulation and other sociopathic behaviors, and simultaneously divorced us from the skills we need to establish trust, intimacy, and solidarity, all things that organizing and creating a movement requires.

• A Thoroughly Confused Country: Americans have little in the way of class consciousness, which was an intentional state desired by the wealth class. This primer gets into the class makeup of the United States, including contradictions and motivations, that will be crucial in understanding as we do our work.

• Authoritarianism as Clarity: As authoritarians take power, the world becomes a lot clearer. We can see who we can trust and who we shouldn’t. This episode gets into the history of Vichy France and the lessons we can learn on how to operate as individuals within an authoritarian environment.

• Fostering Hope in Hard Times: Some thoughts on how to maintain hope as authoritarianism sweeps in.