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Why David Brooks finally gets it mostly right about the need for an uprising. [1]
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Date: 2025-04-19
In a surprising article, David Brooks jumps on the uprising bandwagon even if he does not fully understand that Trumpism goes beyond Reagan.
David Brooks finally gets it!
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Summary
The video chronicles host Egberto Willies’s reaction to David Brooks’s startling New York Times column, “What’s Happening Is Not Normal. America Needs an Uprising.” Willies applauds the conservative writer’s call for a nationwide, non‑violent rebellion against Trumpism but faults Brooks for ignoring the deeper roots of the crisis in decades of Reagan‑era neoliberalism. He urges listeners to expand the fight beyond polite protests, unite ordinary people across ideological lines, and strike at the economic power structures that birthed authoritarian politics.
Brooks’s alarm: A self‑styled moderate conservative concedes that Trumpism is a “multifront assault” on every institution that tempers raw power and calls for a coordinated civic uprising.
A self‑styled moderate conservative concedes that Trumpism is a “multifront assault” on every institution that tempers raw power and calls for a coordinated civic uprising. Historical context missing: Willies argues Brooks overlooks how Reaganomics, deregulation, and rising inequality sowed the ground for Trump’s brand of authoritarian politics.
Willies argues Brooks overlooks how Reaganomics, deregulation, and rising inequality sowed the ground for Trump’s brand of authoritarian politics. A broad coalition is needed: The host insists that success hinges on solidarity be tween MAGA-leaning workers, disaffected progressives, and centrists, all of whom suffer under oligarchic rule.
tween MAGA-leaning workers, disaffected progressives, and centrists, all of whom suffer under oligarchic rule. Beyond rallies: Drawing on Erica Chenoweth’s research, he highlights boycotts, strikes, lawsuits, and civil disobedience as essential tactics to disrupt authoritarian momentum.
Drawing on Erica Chenoweth’s research, he highlights boycotts, strikes, lawsuits, and civil disobedience as essential tactics to disrupt authoritarian momentum. “Chains of the mind”: True liberation, Willies contends, requires breaking psychological acceptance of neoliberal capitalism and replacing it with an economy rooted in justice and shared prosperity.
Progressively speaking, the conversation highlights a historic opening: when even establishment conservatives acknowledge that the system is broken, the left must provide the structural analysis and bold agenda that Brooks omits. By linking nonviolent resistance to a vision of economic democracy—living wages, universal healthcare, and climate justice—organizers can transform defensive mobilization into a forward-looking movement that dismantles oligarchy and rebuilds multiracial, pluralistic self-government.
The complete article is here on my Substack.
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