after tonight, they won't be able to ignore us anymore
Thoughts and notes on becoming ungovernable.
"Become ungovernable" has been floating around social media for a few years now - long enough to be adopted (or co-opted) by such disparate groups as indigenous action groups, Internet libertarians, and (in true US fashion) merch peddlers.
(Miss me with "that last one is more than an online store!" When the most prominent thing on your homepage is a banner announcing a merch sale, you're a merch peddler.)
All of these users of the term have a sense that "being ungovernable" means asserting one's basic liberty. They vary, of course, on how this should be done. (buy a t-shirt? build an identity based on edgy YouTube videos?) The Indigenous folks offer the most actionable tips, which also center around a more actionable theme:
To "be ungovernable" is to place yourself outside the control of larger powers as much as possible.
Whether these powers are governmental, corporate, or "other" doesn't matter much. The goal is to loosen their grip. Dependence on these powers or on the access, services, supplies, or tools they provide creates points at which they can manipulate or control our behavior. It's much harder to control someone if that someone doesn't need you.
Abusers know this, of course, which is why they all seek to isolate their targets. In interpersonal relationships, this means maneuvering to cut the person off from friends, family, and other sources of help or support. On the governmental or corporate scale, it looks more like ending fact-checking to allow rage bait to spread, thus manipulating and degrading the quality of your emotions and interpersonal relationships. Just for example.
As in leaving any abusive relationship, there are a couple obvious downsides to becoming ungovernable. Specifically, (1) it's inconvenient, and (2) it's not foolproof.
It's inconvenient - and at times impossible - to disentangle yourself completely from society. Larger powers depend on this inconvenience to keep people governable, however. We neuter our own ability to effectively fight fascism when we waste our energy thinking up snappy comebacks to bots, for example. To the extent we embrace this inconvenience, we make ourselves less governable.
It's also not foolproof. No matter how independent or self-sufficient you become, or how many community groups you build, the United States still has the world's largest military by a long shot. For example. But let me emphasize one point:
Becoming ungovernable is still worthwhile to attempt.
There are significant upsides to becoming ungovernable. Like:
Being better able to weather economic, political, and social upheaval. The more skills and connections you have, the more flexible you can be when the unexpected or unthinkable happens. You're not left helpless when the only way you know how to do things suddenly evaporates. You can regroup. You can adapt.
Learning new skills. Learning new skills is recommended in any era. It maintains and increases brain function, it makes life more interesting, and it's just darn fun.
Building relationships and communities. Building and maintaining direct human social relationships is also recommended in any era. It's also tied to better health and longevity, happier days, and more fun.
Creating a sense of competence and calm. Independently of actually being able to weather changes more easily, you'll also know yourself to be someone who can weather changes more easily. That experience of self has benefits beyond the practical.
Also, much "becoming ungovernable" can be done without breaking laws or overturning institutions that do you more good than harm, like parks or libraries. In some cases, supporting these institutions supports the aims of ungovernability at the same time. We're not throwing out the entire concept of "government" or "business," just the parts that seek to manipulate or control us.
Some practical steps to becoming ungovernable:
Decentralize. Many of us get comfortable using single services out of habit or because the services themselves govern us into using them. For example: a lot of people who signed up for a Gmail account found themselves on every Google service not long after. It was so convenient! Similarly, you might always shop at the same grocery store chain not because it's your only option, but out of habit. If so, it's time to explore. Online, this may mean learning more about Free and Open Source Services (FOSS) or trying out new email, document storage, browsers, etc. Offline, it may mean trying new stores, restaurants, and so on. If your usual places disappeared tomorrow, where else would you go?
Look behind the scenes. Most commercial items in the United States are produced by monopolies or near-monopolies. Changing brands of shampoo, for instance, may not free you from corporations. It may not even free you from the same company! Get curious: Find out where your favorite products come from and who makes them. Identify what you really like about them, and see if you can find it from a local source. This goes for online services as well: find out if your favorite websites are run on Amazon Web Services or take a proper look at the terms and conditions.
Get local, get personal. Swapping one brand for another doesn't do much good if you buy them both from Amazon or Wal-Mart (or any other big chain that decides what you pay and what you get). How close can you come to knowing the first name of the person who grows your tomatoes, sews your clothes, or makes your soap? Total self-sufficiency isn't the goal here; personal, local interdependency is. You may not be able to reach 100% first name basis, but see how much closer you can get.
Build a skill, or several. Learning to cook is a common first step, but what about learning to grow plants, do home or auto repairs, or code? Skills move you toward self-sufficiency, help you meet people and build communities, give you something to trade or barter, and provide a sense of confidence and self-trust. Notice I didn't say anything about building skills to "get a job!" If you want to make your skills a career, you certainly can, but the goal for our purposes is to make yourself less dependent - and thus less governable.
All the time you spend building a skill is also time that will help you....
Get off social media. Nothing in the history of humankind has had more power to direct, manipulate, and control our behavior than social media. And no power has come close to making us think we freely chose our own bondage to it. Find other ways to communicate with friends and familr. Decentralize your news sources. Collect and curate the media you like, not what an algorithm thinks you should experience. Get. Off. Social. Media.
Question things. It's human to take shortcuts - to believe or like or trust a thing because someone we believe or like or trust showed it to us, for example. Yet it's also human to be curious. Start by skipping the endless opinion columns and links, and start reading basic facts instead. Explore Wikipedia or buy an encyclopedia and explore it. Being well-versed in basic, documented facts is an excellent defense against the emotional onslaught that is political opinion and social change.
Finally: "becoming ungovernable" is a journey, not a destination.
Becoming ungovernable is most effective (and most fun!) when it is always a process of "becoming," never complacent that we "became." Circumstances around us change all the time. Flexibility is a key element toward reducing one's governability.