Had dinner tonight w/ great group of leaders of online grassroots groups from around the globe. Got sobering reminders that would-be demagogues and dictators in other democracies take cues from Trump. But it’s inspiring to fight in solidarity with brothers and sisters worldwide. 
The US, India, Brazil, the Philippines, Hungary, Turkey, and so many other countries face rising autocracies. And so many aspiring autocrats are gunning for power across Europe and elsewhere. Last week’s US midterms were an important rebuke. The world is watching what we do here.
One thing I love: online grassroots groups in a dozen-plus other countries are co-developing/using a multilingual, open-source campaigning toolkit with capabilities that blow my mind. They upload databases of contact info for members of parliament for their particular country.
But groups around the world face strategic questions that feel familiar. One campaigner in Europe worried that if his org fights the far right blow-for-blow, they’ll wind up with politics as polarized as ours. But alternative might be worse.
And then there are problems that I hope don’t become familiar: political violence far more widespread than the already awful level in the US. Violence is endemic here—but we’re not burying would-be voters killed during last week’s midterms.
In country after country, the so-called populists actually represent the narrow economic interests of a tiny elite, and the stripping of public assets to enrich a kleptocratic class. These elites know each other. They launder each other’s money. Trump’s pals around the world.
It’s heartening when those who oppose them know each other & learn from each other as well. The trade union movement has always been internationalist. Over the last decade, the netroots has too. Patriots in their own nations, working towards a common good that transcends nation.
These groups have a setup where existing orgs pay dues that help fund new ones, which then grow to become member-funded and pay it forward to the next crop. MoveOn was the first; now they’re all over. Read about the network here: the-open.net
