We Are Up Against a Ruling Class with the Emotional Maturity of Three-Year-Olds (Know Thine Enemy Part 3)

They Want All the Power Without Any of the Responsibility

A short cut to figuring out who is to blame - or mostly to blame - for systemic failures:

Ask who holds the most power within the system. The more power someone has, the more culpability and responsibility they bear for its failures.

The biggest “crime” committed by the most disempowered people? Believing the lie told to them by the elite: that they are the problem.

The game we’ve been playing all these decades goes beyond a rigged casino. It’s an institutionalized criminal scapegoating racket. And it’s pervasive: it’s not a bug, it’s the main feature of the system.

Those who are most vulnerable and poor aren’t just marginalized and exploited—they’re also taught to believe they are the cause of their own suffering and that of society. Taught to see the abusive hierarchy as natural. Told they deserve their precarious lives.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

It’s becoming clear now what is actually going on is that the predatory ruling class wants to have all of the power but none of the responsibility or accountability.

And you know who else acts like that?

Three year old children

“Know Thine Enemy”

Before I dive into this topic, I want to make it clear, this is not a criticism of children. Three year olds are actually one of my favorite ages - I adore these little people. But as Jeffrey Sachs once said to the European Union, “I’d say [the heads of state] were acting like children, but that would be an insult to children.” Kids are supposed to be ignorant of power and responsibility. And they don’t have access to nuclear codes for good reason. The issue is getting stuck at that age - emotionally, psychologically - and combining that with power. That’s how we end up with the kind of despots ruling the world today.

I’m going to start beating this drum because it feels more relevant than ever:

We are dealing with people who haven’t graduated past Kindergarten. And we need to act accordingly.

This isn’t to underestimate the danger they pose. A baby rattlesnake can be more dangerous than an adult because it doesn’t yet know how to control its venom. The point is that despite these people’s appearance of authority, control and power, the emotional engine driving them is on par with a three-year-old child: short-sighted, ignorant of the world, driven by impulse rather than foresight, unable to tolerate frustration, quick to rage, obsessed with immediate gratification, and incapable of true empathy or sharing. They want all the toys, all the attention, all the power — but none of the responsibility, self‑control, or humility required to wield it. Again, it’s appropriate for an actual child to be this way, but deadly for an adult.

These people ultimately play a parasitic role in our society, feeding off the host (us), while reprogramming the system to abandon its own needs and exist only to serve them. (Yet again, something reasonable for a child to ask of their parents, but not for full grown men to request from millions of people.) In nature, when you try to remove a parasite like this, they often dig in harder or lash out, even if it means destroying the host - and themselves in the process.

So we need to be cautious. But we also need to be very clear about what we’re dealing with. As Sun Tzu said in The Art of War: “Know your enemy.” Intimately understanding the adversary is a foundational principle of any complex strategy.

On Patriarchy and Stunted Power

One more note on the stunted growth of the tyrants running the world. It doesn’t take a sage to see that a patriarchal system does not serve the collective whole of the earth. We’ve tried that for centuries and all we have to do is look around—and see we are currently on a crash course towards a totally avoidable human extinction through climate collapse by end of this century—to conclude the approach isn’t working.

But that doesn’t mean men are to blame. Or that women are off the hook. After all, a man who’s emotionally stunted at age three is foundationally shaped by his early relationship with his mother. And a mother’s ability to be emotionally present and attuned to her child is deeply influenced by the support she receives—from her partner, her community, and the broader society. And so forth.

So it’s not that “men = bad” and “women” = “good.” It's a system that’s fundamentally twisted at the core. Patriarchy harms men just as much as it harms women because it’s an inversion of the natural order—a system in which no one truly wins, and ultimately consumes itself like the ouroboros.

But when women are elevated by men, rather than relegated, they become much more likely to raise children who do not grow up to become genocidal warlords.

A Ticking Clock

In addition to understanding what we’re up against, we must also understand the stakes and act swiftly, relentlessly, and together —because the trajectory these toddler tyrants have us on is not just climate crises, but mass unnecessary suffering in an authoritarian Hunger Games technofeudal dystopia on our way out.

• We have ~5 years to stay below 2.5°C warming and avoid runaway feedback loops.

• We have ~14 years to prevent 4°C warming that could lead to human extinction.

• We have 3–6 months to slow the authoritarian coup and halt the mass oppression happening right now in the U.S.—before the new regime fully cements itself in.

That 3–6 month window is plenty of time to shut the system down and regain some power but we have to unite and act. Once we reach critical mass, things move fast and change can come quickly. Like any trend, resistance can catch fire. And once it does, institutions follow: law firms, nonprofits, corporations, local, state and federal government agencies that once caved to pressure may suddenly find a spine. When our moral clarity goes beyond words and turns into action, it becomes impossible to ignore. And when it becomes more expensive for corporations to back the regime than to listen to the people, the tides will turn.

More people than we realize are mobilizing and ready, just waiting for someone to say the word. We don’t need a majority. We only need a committed 3.5–5% of the population. That’s 11–15 million people.

They Need Us More Than We Need Them

The ruling class doesn’t have a deep internal source of power. Their strength almost entirely resides in their ability to exploit others— in how they can convince people to undersell themselves in service to them¹. In other words, their power resides in something outside of themselves: us. Their lack of humility is astounding. So much of their power is performance—an illusion they maintain to keep the rest of us compliant and believing they are somehow superior.

This doesn’t mean they can’t hurt us. But it does mean we have way more power than they want us to believe. And way more options at our disposal to change the tides.

I’m not giving up and neither should you. They need us more than we need them. They only have the power we gave them. And we can take it back.

What Can We Do?

We Need a National General Str1k3 - But We Can Start Moving Now

A national general str1k3, where we withhold labor and consumption, works. It’s one of the few proven ways people have shifted power and policy throughout history, because it demonstrates - it reminds everyone - where the power really resides. We just one happen in Italy that force the government’s hand to send a protection vessel with the peacekeeping Global Flotilla.

But in the U.S., unions have been weakened. So this will have to come from the grassroots. My research is showing that delays are due to:

• The need for a critical mass ~11 million in order to be both safe and effective.

• The need for mutual aid to sustain people through weeks of no income.

• The need for protection for NGOs, as governments often retaliate the moment people flex power—even peacefully.

But delaying too long is dangerous. Every day we wait, the mountain grows steeper. What people don’t realize is the labor withdrawal is just one of the ways to participate. Mass boycotts also wield power. We just saw that when a million people unsubscribed to Disney when Jimmy Kimmel got canceled.

I don’t know exactly when we will reach critical mass, and a clear start date with clear demands. But here are safe and simple things you can do now to prepare:

Economic Shifts to Redirect Power

• Minimize spending to mostly essentials and save.

• Cancel monopoly subscriptions: Amazon, Apple (TV/Music/News), Paramount, NY Times, Disney. Even canceling one or two matter when done at scale.

• Shift money to local businesses, independent media, mutual aid. Save for a str1k3 buffer fund.

• Move some funds from Big Banks to Credit Unions and Cash (it’s practical for diversifying anyways)

Build Community

Social media eroded trust. Rebuilding community is one of the most powerful forms of resistance. It’s not flashy, but it’s foundational: The stronger your community, the braver and more resilient you will feel to take action.

• Building Tomorrow Today by The Peaceful Revolutionary - excellent source of examples of mutual aid and community building.

Begin the Digital Exodus

This is an untapped leverage point. Big Tech monopolies harvest our data, fuel division, violate our privacy and back authoritarianism. A mass exodus not only reduces their monopoly power, but it frees up our head space and reclaims our privacy.

Start by slowly migrating off the worst offenders. You don’t have to do it all at once. Pick one or two items to tackle a week. Even deleting one of the BigTech apps, if done by millions of people, could make noise.

• Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Threads, WhatsApp) - consider deleting or deactivating one of these. And/or begin by opening a parallel account:

  • Bluesky to replace Threads, Signal to replace WhatsApp.

  • Consider Discord to replace Facebook Groups - it won’t be an immediate transition, but creating a bridge now puts it in motion. Move professional connections to Linkedin.

  • Create a Substack for deep connections with writers (you don’t have to write newsletters, you can still interact and comment) and Patreon for art funding.

  • PixelFed and PeerTube are open-source Instagram/YouTube alternatives. They take awhile getting used to, so start by creating an account now. Every step forward matters.

• X - Unless you are a journalist correcting misinformation, consider deleting and moving to BlueSky

• TikTok may now be more censorious than Instagram. If choosing between the two, use Instagram as interim, then move off both eventually.

• Google takes time, start with one or more of the following:

  • Changing from Chrome to Firefox or Brave internet browsers

  • Switch from Google to DuckDuckGo for a search engine

  • Open a Proton, Tuta or Mailbox account to migrate your Gmail to over time.

  • Move from Google Maps to basically any other Map app, even Apple is better.

  • Open a DropBox or Proton drive for document sharing.

• Amazon and Apple - Cancel related subscriptions (Prime, Washington Post, Apple TV, Music, News) and buy Apple refurbished when possible.

• Media Related: Bonus points for deleting Paramount, Disney, Wall Street Journal NY Times, Disney. Simple list of alt tools and links.

Remember: progress, not perfection. Every step counts. Every person counts.

Digital Migration Resources:

• Defund the Broligarchy - Simple list of alt tools and links.

• Digital Exodus Guidebook - Longer list of alternatives and links to other resources. (Authored by me with public input)

• Rebel Tech Alliance - Learn about surveillance capitalism + resistance tools.

• Media Revolution - Independent media movement that serves people, not power.

Share With Friends, Family other Organizations

Share these ideas with friends - in emails, in texts, in conversation. Even one person joining matters.

Contact your local 50501, Indivisible, or No Kings chapter and tell them you support a general strike. Or offer to volunteer. The more voices, the stronger the mandate.

---

More Reading:

The Forces Bleeding Our World Dry

Goes into more detail on the nature metaphors and major forces in the US behind the authoritarian slide.

F@sc1sm's Many Forms - From Families to Nations

Goes into the psychology of oppressive systems and how it robs people of their natural birthright of worth and presence.

We Need a Peaceful Global Strike

Introduces a fun and simple resistance framework

• Songs of Freedom (Resistance art that reclaims the narrative with moral clarity)

• The Digital Exodus (Breaking free of predatory tech)

• The People’s Ark (Parallel community care systems)

---

1. The genius narrative of the successful entrepreneur is mostly nonsense. Take Zuckerberg. Facebook emerged from something called FaceMash Mark created that ranked women by looks - genius or creepy? Then all he did was upgrade MySpace with a better interface and spent the next 15 years optimizing how to addict users and harvest their info to sell to ad companies and government surveillance companies. There’s nothing genius in that. His best product, Instagram, he bought. The profitability of the company rests almost entirely on how many human rights and human needs it ignores in serve of data harvesting and behavior manipulation. Compare this to the works of Einstein, Plato, great writers, artists, scientists, teachers, and engineers who may not have become ultra rich but whose contributions to humanity were priceless.