Resistance, Pre‑Packaged

Sweater Girl is back with another lesson. This time she’s teaching Gene Sharp tactics. I really need to research her background. Yes, Trump leans into authoritarian theatrics, but the people amplifying these tactics aren’t fighting for socialism, and the funding streams behind them aren’t exactly grassroots. There’s an infrastructure here—front groups, donor networks, polished manuals—dressed up as spontaneous resistance. The aesthetics say “community,” but the playbook says something else entirely.

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If We’re Going to “Learn About Otpor,” Let’s Start With the Facts

The video opens with a provocation—What if we weren’t afraid to get arrested? It’s time to learn about OTPOR!—but skips over the basic context of the organization being invoked. Angela Baker’s recommendation fits a pattern I’ve seen before: presenting Otpor as a neutral protest model while leaving out the political landscape that shaped it. Blueprint for Revolution, the book she cites, was written by Srđa Popović, one of Otpor’s leaders. The group received support from the National Endowment for Democracy, USAID, and pro‑democracy funding networks that included George Soros’ foundations, which Soros later acknowledged supporting during the 2000 uprising against Milošević. None of this automatically discredits the material, but it does mean the playbook isn’t organic or context‑free.

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Exploring Billionaire Influence on Education: The Case of Beloit College

In my research on how billionaires influence education, I’ve primarily focused on Beloit College, a place I once considered attending. A key area of interest is the complex ways in which billionaires have shaped the college’s curriculum—an extensive topic that requires significant time and exploration. Interestingly, despite its location in a relatively small city compared to major metropolitan areas like New York or Chicago, Beloit has seen its share of high-profile alumni (including the problematic Judith Miller). Fun fact: I used to handle after-hours phone calls for Beloit College, and occasionally, Paul Newman would call the President of the College, as his first wife was an actress from Beloit. Additionally, I discovered an unexpected historical aspect: the college’s collaboration with the U.S. government on various initiatives, particularly the Student Association for the Study of Hallucinogens (STASH). However, finding detailed information about STASH online has proven challenging, indicating that further investigation may necessitate a visit to the college’s archives. This collection of insights points to a surprisingly rich and intriguing history for the institution.

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Is Turkey on the Chopping Block?

Penny’s post, “Turkey will not receive F-35s unless they eliminate the S-400s,” reminded me of this video that recently appeared in my YouTube feed. The video is from the World Liberty Congress, an organization that advocates for regime change. Turkish opposition figure Oğuzhan Albayrak talks about the failed 2016 coup attempt, the Saturday Mothers, and draws comparisons between Turkey and Iran and China, both of which are in the sights of the U.S. Empire. In his article on the WLC website, he also mentions Ekrem İmamoğlu, another opposition figure with connections to European and U.S. front organizations.

Sources are provided below my unfinished article on Turkey’s significance in The Grand Chessboard.

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