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Criminalizing dissent in “middle America,” with David Goodner


The news that several bills that would make certain protest tactics into felonies has sparked fears of a crackdown on dissent, but Iowa organizer David Goodner says it has also sparked organizing in response.

Stuff like what happened at Berkeley, that is going to be controversial. I think we also have to realize, at least in that sense, confrontation won. When we went to the airports all over the country and confronted and there was really the risk of shutting down these major airports, these major centers, again, of economic activity, we won major concessions from the Trump administration on his bad policy. The Women’s March, having millions of people in the streets, there may not have been a clear cut victory, but I think it did energize and mobilize people to realize that we can win when we stick together, when we develop a mass movement strategy, and when we fight like hell.

We need to take that just as seriously as we take the concerns about property destruction or about people with masks on and how that might look to Middle America, as well. I think people here in Iowa want to stand with somebody who they know is fighting for them. They are not going to care so much about ideology if they can see that there is a movement that has their back and is going to defend their interests. People are going to sign up and join it.

Up at Truthout.

Interviews for Resistance is a syndicated series of interviews with organizers, agitators and troublemakers, available twice weekly as text and podcast. Previous interviews here.

One thought on “Criminalizing dissent in “middle America,” with David Goodner

  1. I’ll try to read the book, as soon as I can afford to spend money on literature. My only comments concerning dissent & revolt are these two: 1) Protestors who really love the Earth should not be setting fire to anything–our atmosphere does not need any more carbon, heat, toxicity, etc. 2) If we must destroy things, let us destroy the Right things, for the Right reasons. (The French Resistance didn’t blow up all bridges; they sabotaged the bridges most useful/needed by the Nazi Wehrmacht.)

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