Guardian: no more snitching

[RainCaster]

A great op-ed piece on how we should respond to our government in the new administration.

Here’s a New Year’s resolution for Trump’s America: no snitching

Bad times are coming. In less than a month, Trump will return to the White House, with far fewer checks on his power than he had the first time around. He will be surrounded by a team of sociopaths, internet-poisoned bigots and single-issue quacks who have figured out that for the low, low price of absolute loyalty, their boss will grant them the absolute right to pursue their deranged passions as far as they please.

We are entering an age of boutique persecution, in which a broad swath of maniacs will be unleashed by a president devoid of ideology but full of narcissistic craving. A thousand petty tyrants will soon occupy the halls of the federal government. On the other side of this corps of gleeful little bullies sits the general public. We will all be enlisted, to varying degrees, as either collaborators or targets.

Yet hidden in this grim forecast is a chance for all of us to do something righteous. Government persecution requires a lot of informers. It is hard to deport immigrants, infiltrate protest groups and attack civil society without a lot of people telling the powers-that-be where all their enemies are and what they’re doing. None of the most oppressive regimes in history could do it with secret police alone. They needed the help of snitches. Fascism needs snitches everywhere in order to work. By vowing not to snitch, you can therefore strike a blow for justice, without doing anything at all.

[sunflowerseed]

1. Our phones will 100% do all the snitching.

[erronis]

10. And our ISP's (Comcast, Verizon, ATT, etc.) will be part of the snitch network

[hlthe2b]

2. I think I prefer to dare any possible MAGA in my life by greeting them with "I hate TSF--(full name spoken)"

Just go ahead and trigger them... Dare them. Maybe I'd be more reticent if I were 20 years younger, but now, I am not sure I give a shit. If the country and quite possibly much of the world is going to go to hell in a handbasket at the hands of fascist Americans then, give me leave.

[MuseRider]

17. We only get one REC so.....REC!!!

100% with you. 71 OK years is enough for anyone, I do not much care any more.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

36. After 75 years I have no fucks to give.

After spending more than 20 years in the military serving to protect and defend the Constitution, I don't have the energy or resources to devote to a country where half the people -- when given a clear choice between a woman whose life has been dedicated to public service and has been VP in one of the most scandal-free administrations in recent years (Obama is the other) and a person who has demonstrated every character flaw in the book, and announced his intention to be dictator -- have chosen a fascist to lead them.

I have lived through -- and sometimes taken some small part in -- the fights during the past seven decades. Fighting for civil rights, for voting rights, against a war that couldn't be won, for the rights of women, people of color, LGBTQ+ citizens. Now I'm watching the country rush headlong into a future that is anti-science (welcome back, polio and measles), anti-law (who needed that pesky FBI and all those nosey regulators?), anti-intellectual (you think too much), anti-empathetic (if you're old, poor, sick or just plain different, it's your own damn fault. "I've got mine, so fuck you" ), dishonest (30,000 lies is just T***p being T***p ) and isolationist (I vahnt to be alone). I've seen all those fights fought and achingly slow progress being made. Now it turns out I was wrong. Nearly half of the voters have embraced all that is dark and evil in the human personality.

My finances and health prevent me from leaving the country (we were looking at Spain before my last trip to the doctor). I no longer have a family -- every relative voted for Trump, and I am a pariah for not doing the same.

So my focus now is on living my best life until I don't. I'm not giving up, I'm just redirecting my attention and energy toward things I enjoy. A sunset walk on the beach with my wife of 35 years, continuing my art lessons at the local community college, writing non-political letters to my few remaining siblings, volunteering at the food bank. I'm considering adopting an elderly dog at the rescue center, so they don't have to live out their lives sleeping on concrete feeling unloved. Life isn't over, it's just changed direction.

[dickthegrouch]

33. Flood the system with both real and imaginary "reports"

Reporting on the MAGAs as the problem will soon teach them the real meaning of Pastor Niemoller’s “Then they came for me”.

[Unladen Swallow]

3. When I was a kid

I learned that snitches get stitches. I really don't want any stitches. This isn't rocket science.

[OldBaldy1701E]

29. You are correct.

The only issue is that, in a fascist regime, you (and your family) can get stitches if you don't snitch.

Or, if they determine that you could have but did not.

But, I agree with you.

[MichMan]

4. Never report anything, ever

Even if I see someone being robbed, or assaulted, driving drunk, or set on fire in a subway?

Don't agree with that.

[Scrivener7]

7. .

[Kingofalldems]

24. Has nothing to do with the OP.

[MichMan]

25. The OP makes a blanket statement of "no snitching" without distinction

Choose as your New Year’s mantra that great civic-minded slogan: “If you saw something, no you didn’t.”

Other than one qualifier at the very end about rich people cheating on their taxes. That was the only exception they felt was worth noting.

[AllyCat]

32. You cannot make the distinction here?

Whatever. Guess everyone is going to do what they are going to do.

[Hotler]

5. Stay away from those certain politicians in Washington that are showing appeasement to the fascist now.

They could be snitches. Loose lips sink ships and all that.

[Kid Berwyn]

6. The thing is, they don't need snitches.

Look at what [INTEL ORG, TELCO OR TECHBRO NAME GOES HERE] does with cell phones we've heard about.

ETA: Agree wholeheartedly with the OP article -- We must RESIST. We the People cannot give in, nor snitch on our friends and neighbors and anyone who is on the side of the Constitution.

[Wild blueberry]

8. Good editorial

More from it:
"It’s easy: when Ice shows up at your workplace asking whether you’ve got any immigrants working there – you don’t know. Have you seen any foreign-looking day laborers working around town? You sure haven’t. Has anyone speaking Spanish offered to babysit for you, tutor your kids, sell you food, do your yardwork or write for your op-ed page? Nope. Hey, have you left water for people wandering through the desert borderlands, or given money to immigrant mothers peddling candy on the train? No, officer, I’m sorry. It doesn’t ring a bell."
And:
"Have you heard any whispers about a union drive here at our lovely workplace? Sorry, no. Have you heard any of your fellow college students plotting a new Gaza protest encampment? No, sir, not a word. We’ve gotten reports that your co-workers have commandeered one of the storage closets here at Walmart and turned it into an unauthorized nap room; can you point us in the right direction? There could be a promotion in it for you.
Gosh. You would love to. But you just don’t know anything about it."
And:
"The country’s problems are caused by the people most likely to be snitched to, not snitched on. What we really need to fear are those eager to lord their positions over everyone else. The boss, not the worker. The cop, not the vagrant. The president, not the protesters. Today, billionaires with White House offices are much greater threats to our quality of life than anyone whom those billionaires might brand an enemy."

[AllyCat]

14. Love this. Sure, our phones are an issue, but this here

Is grassroots resistance.

[DENVERPOPS]

15. Having witnessed this Quasi Dictator

in action before, and knowing Trump and his CABAL, will be far worse now,

I suspect they will do whatever they want, to whomever they want, anytime they want, for any reason they want,
and won't need snitches.......

[Cirsium]

27. Not so easy

ICE doesn't show up at a workplace politely asking whether you’ve got any immigrants working there.

ICE agents lurk near farms, watching, watching, watching. They hang out at school bus stops and question children about their parents. Paramilitary teams arrive at the farm and hold everyone at gunpoint. Everyone up against the wall. No phone calls, no talking. Whites are separated from browns. People are singled out and removed to another room to be brutally interrogated, typically women who are then threatened and bullied into giving out information. People are handcuffed and loaded into busses. They are taken to privatized prison camps, without medical care or legal representation or communication with the outside world. Then the real horrors begin.

That is what has already been happening. Start there.

[dickthegrouch]

34. I fear those concentration camps too

We all need to befriend a non-white person and check on their whereabouts regularly, especially if they get scooped up by fascist thugs.
It’s exceedingly difficult to get accurate information about which concentration camp they’ve been sent to. My fear is we’ll be billed for their room and lodging long after they’ve been permanently “disappeared“.

[Think. Again.]

9. Yep, absolute resistance from Jan. 20th on.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

11. East Germany (Putin's KGB station) was the prime example of all time for snitches. . . . . nt

[Joinfortmill]

12. Historically, lots of snitching in Germany....

[cate94]

13. MAGAs will snitch on non MAGAs

I don’t think the majority of our side of the aisle are snitch types.

[BonnieJW]

16. So what can we do?

I have an android phone. Any way to make it private? Anything we can do about an isp?
Can the nerds out there advise us?

[moonshinegnomie]

18. get a mobile VPN

It wont stop spying on text mesages or calls but will go a long way to stop your cell phone providor from tracking what you do on the internet.

[AllyCat]

23. I have a freebie, but considering paying for one.

Anything you recommend?

[moonshinegnomie]

26. i use nordvpn but havent put it on my phone (yet)

[AllyCat]

31. When I had started looking at VPNs years ago,

Nord was super popular but I’d read that many of their servers were in countries not known for caring for privacy so I skipped them. Not sure if that is still the case. I suppose with anything, one has to be careful which server you are using.

[AllyCat]

22. Also, consider using Signal to chat with compatriots

By text or phone. End-to-end encryption that is not, ummm, Telegram (which according to some geek sites I’ve perused, might be more prone to, ummm, fall to pressure from fascists).

[dickthegrouch]

35. Some great articles and products about computer security

https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/29/these-alternatives-to-popular-apps-can-help-reclaim-your-online-life-from-billionaires-and-surveillance/

https://tuta.com/blog/best-private-email-service

FYI email is not private and far too many mail transfer services are wide open (unencrypted). The only way to be safe is to use an encrypted service WHERE YOU CREATE THE KEYS. If you are not active in the process of original key creation, it is unlikely to be secure. The best apps have you randomly move your mouse around, or type characters randomly to generate the necessary random seed with which to generate your unique key.

[SunSeeker]

19. I will not snitch. But I will not be silent. I will be louder than ever.

I will not be intimidated. Since Nov. 5, I have been even more vocal when any of his MAGAt dumbshits say anything to me, whether in person or online. I constantly tell them their Orange King will not lower prices, but will slash taxes for the businesses who have been jacking up prices.

I will constantly remind them they have been had. And I don't care who hears it.

[moonshinegnomie]

20. if your doing anything that teh fascists might disagree with use an encryption app

signal is one. it provides for encrypted private text messages. Its what edward snowden used

[GoneOffShore]

21. The Stasi relied on snitches as did the KGB and the Gestapo.

[Xavier Breath]

28. It never would have occurred to me to do any such thing.

Nor would I expect anyone here to do that sort of thing. However, I would fully expect MAGAts to do precisely that, which makes me think that maybe the best target for this message would be the same independents who voted for trump or didn't bother to vote at all. Perhaps, if they are now seeing or will soon see the error of their ways, they could view that message as a way to make some small amends for their dumb vote or inaction. Maybe I'm just being cockeyed optimist in that regard.

[AllyCat]

30. Won't go anywhere unless we broadcast it.

I’ve put the message out on my social media. Some folks who may be on our side, might need a concrete list of actions to help in this coming horror.

[Glaisne]

37. There will be plenty of MAGA snitches.

We will need to be careful and smart in our resistance.