Never comply in advance

and other strategies for resistance

I first wrote a version of this back in December 2023, as our newly-elected politicians in Aotearoa were demanding the implementation of anti-Māori and anti-te reo policies. It seems an entirely fitting reminder as we watch the U.S. do the same, only on a bigger and broader scale.

Enabling racism, discrimination, and bigotry requires people (particularly those who are part of the dominant group and/or personally not impacted) to be complicit, compliant, and supportive. But. We don’t have to be! We can speak out. We can resist.

Some strategies for resistance as follows:

NEVER COMPLY IN ADVANCE

An essential part of resisting the creep of fascism and the abuse of power is to never, ever comply in advance. In the words of Timothy Snyder from On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century:

Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked.

A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.

In Aotearoa, one example of compliance in advance was when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade chief executive decided to remove te reo Māori from briefing papers, well ahead of a directive from the incoming government. This is in contrast to New Zealand’s central bank chief, Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Governor Adrian Orr, who defended bank use of Māori language in official communications, despite the incoming government wishing to reduce use of te reo Māori in the public sector.

Resist the temptation to eagerly obey decrees that are based on discriminatory, racist, and/or bigoted ideas.

Quietly resist

Not everybody is in a position to engage in overt displays of resistance and rejection of the orders of more powerful others. However, we can slow down compliance and make it difficult.

It is entirely possible to subvert rules-of-law through non-compliance. Authoritarians and fascists need an obedient public and compliant civil servants.

Be quietly disobedient, drag your feet, engage in acts of malicious compliance, and/or be as inept in carrying out orders as you can manage.

A great example of this comes from Elmer Bendiner, in his book The Fall of Fortresses:

Our B-17, the Tondelayo, was barraged by flak from Nazi antiaircraft guns. That was typical, but on this particular occasion our gas tanks were hit. Later, as I reflected on the miracle of a 20millimetre shell piercing the fuel tank without touching off an explosion, our pilot, Bohn Fawkes, told me it was more complicated.

On the morning following the raid, Bohn asked our crew chief for that shell as a souvenir of our unbelievable luck. The crew chief told Bohn that, in addition to that shell, another 11 were found in the gas tanks.

Eleven unexploded shells where only one was sufficient to blast us out of the sky. It was as if the sea had parted for us. A near-miracle, I thought … the shells were sent to the armorers to be defused [and] when the armorers opened each of those shells, they found no explosive charge. They were clean as a whistle and just as harmless.

Empty? Not all of them! One contained a carefully rolled piece of paper with a scrawled message in Czech. The Intelligence people scoured our base for a man who could read Czech. Eventually they found one to decipher the note. It was amazing:

Translated, the note read “This is all we can do for you now.”

Being forced to work in a bomb making factory and instead filling the bombs with notes instead of gunpowder is a powerful form of quiet disobedience.

Follow ethical values and codes

A number of professionals hold annual practicing certificate and have codes of ethics they must adhere to. These forms of professional commitments to non-bigoted practice are important. When political leaders are intent on creating harm, a collective commitment to ethical practice is one way to resist.

It is difficult to subvert a rule-of-law state without lawyers to make the law, or to hold show trials without judges to oversee, or to have concentration camps without business owners to profit from cheap labour. Not impossible, but there is no need to make it easy.

Remove hate symbols.

Take responsibility for removing overt symbols of fascism and hate. Notice swastikas and other signs and symbols of hate. Do not look away or get used to them. Remove the symbols yourself where you can - and encourage others to do so.

If you’re not sure what these symbols look like in the current age, Tina Ngata has a great explainer of key phrases and symbols associated with white supremacy and far-right hate.

Be politically active.

Make submissions and email your local MP’s. Law changes in New Zealand (unless pushed through under urgency) must go through a Select Committee process. You can sign up to get notifications from Parliament about upcoming Select Committee’s and law changes here. You can request to make a verbal submission as well - these are now conducted via Zoom as well as in person, which makes it much easier for all of us to contribute. Do not make it easy for proposed changes to be accepted.

Organize and connect

Organize and connect with like-minded others. Join your local union. Say something in the horror story of your Facebook local neighbourhood group. Support each other. Connecting with others online can be helpful to feel less alone.