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Confluence Daily is your daily news source for women in the know.

By:  Lisa M. Hayes

Resisting tyranny doesn’t always look like marching in the streets. Some of the most effective forms of resistance happen in the quiet, everyday choices we make. They happen in how we communicate, how we manage our money, how we take care of each other, and how we refuse to comply with systems designed to keep us powerless.

We don’t have to wait for a breaking point to start resisting. We can do it right now. Not just by rejecting corrupt systems—but by making it harder for them to function.

And we don’t have to do it alone. Resistance is most powerful when it’s collective.

Here’s how we push back.

1. Do Not Cooperate with Fascism

Authoritarianism only works if people comply. If enough people refuse to go along with it, the system cannot function.

• Refuse to enforce unjust rules. If your job requires you to uphold harmful policies, find ways to slow it down or refuse. Bureaucracies fall apart when workers won’t play along.
• Delay, obstruct, and complicate. If you’re forced to interact with an oppressive system, make it inefficient—drag out processes, ask endless questions, and create bottlenecks.
• Give misinformation when necessary. Do they want a list of names? Give them the wrong ones. Do they want access to private records? “Lose” the files.
• Never snitch. Authoritarianism thrives on people turning on each other. Don’t cooperate with investigations, don’t inform on activists, and don’t give oppressors an easy win.
• Support people who resist. If someone is fired for not complying, help them. If someone is targeted for their beliefs, protect them.

No system—no matter how powerful—can function if enough people refuse to cooperate.

2. If You Think You Know Something About Someone—No, You Do Not

When repression escalates, so does state surveillance. People get pressured to inform on each other—sometimes voluntarily, sometimes through coercion. Do not fall for it.

• If you think you know something about someone else’s plans, you don’t. Even if you do, you don’t. Keep your mouth shut.
• Do not speculate about other people’s actions. Even in casual conversation, do not guess what others are doing, who they know, or where they’ve been.
• Do not answer questions. If law enforcement, an employer, or anyone else asks about someone, say nothing. “I don’t know” is always a valid answer.
• If they pressure you, demand a warrant. A warrant signed by a judge. Not a supervisor’s order. Not a request. Not a threat. A judge-signed warrant.

The less information you give, the harder it is for systems of repression to function.

3. Control Your Communications

One of the first things any authoritarian system does is monitor, limit, and control communication. If you are relying on corporate-owned, surveillance-heavy platforms like Facebook Messenger, Instagram, or regular text messages, you are making yourself easy to track and manipulate.

• Use encrypted messaging apps. Signal is the best option—it’s free, secure, and open-source. Download it and encourage your people to do the same.
• Be mindful of what you say online. Algorithms prioritize outrage, and it’s easy to get caught in a cycle of performative resistance while doing little to actually protect yourself or your community.
• Keep face-to-face conversations alive. Digital spaces are monitored; private, in-person conversations are not.
• Use alternative email services. ProtonMail and Tutanota offer end-to-end encryption and don’t collect your data like Gmail or Outlook.
• Switch to decentralized platforms. If you rely on mainstream social media, know that your reach can be cut at any time. Consider platforms like Mastodon, Matrix, or PeerTube.

Being mindful of how you communicate doesn’t mean paranoia—it means refusing to make surveillance easy.

4. Build Parallel Systems

The more dependent we are on corporate and government-controlled systems, the more vulnerable we are when those systems fail—or when they are weaponized against us. Resisting means creating alternative structures that work without permission from centralized power.

• Grow your own food. Even small-scale food production is an act of resistance. Learn to garden, keep backyard chickens, or start a community food co-op.
• Develop local trade networks. Bartering and mutual aid keep resources in your community instead of feeding giant corporations.
• Support independent media and creators. The more we rely on mainstream platforms, the easier it is for them to control narratives. Find independent journalists and support their work directly.
• Have offline resources. A digital world is easy to erase. Keep physical copies of important books, survival guides, and legal resources.
• Reduce dependency on big tech. Try using open-source software instead of corporate-owned platforms.

We do not have to rely entirely on systems designed to exploit us. We can create our own.

5. Take Your Money Out of Their Hands

If your entire financial life is tied to a single bank account or credit card, you are vulnerable. One of the easiest ways for oppressive systems to control people is by freezing accounts, monitoring purchases, and making cashless transactions the only option.

• Use cash whenever possible. The more people normalize digital-only transactions, the easier it is for financial institutions to track and control spending.
• Buy local and secondhand. Avoid major corporations whenever possible.
• Use alternative financial systems. If you’re comfortable with cryptocurrency, it can be a useful tool for peer-to-peer transactions outside traditional banking.
• Diversify your banking. If all your money is in one account, consider spreading it across multiple banks, including one that operates internationally.

Economic resistance is one of the most powerful tools we have. If enough people opt out of exploitative financial systems, those systems lose power.

6. Take Care of Each Other

The strongest form of resistance is community. Governments and corporations rely on isolation and division to keep people weak. They want us afraid, exhausted, and dependent. That’s how they win.

So don’t give them what they want. Look out for each other.

• Check in on your neighbors. Strong local networks are harder to break.
• Share skills. If you know how to fix a car, grow food, or do first aid, teach someone else.
• Start mutual aid networks. If someone in your community is struggling, help them directly instead of waiting for institutions to do it.
• Push back against fear-based division. They want us to hate each other. Resist that.

The more connected we are, the harder we are to control.

Resistance is a Daily Practice

Pushing back against tyranny isn’t just about big, dramatic acts of defiance. It’s in the small, consistent choices we make every single day. It’s in how we communicate, where we spend our money, how we build our communities, and what we choose to prioritize.

Resistance is not about waiting for the perfect moment. The moment is now.

Start where you are. Do what you can.

And most importantly—take care of each other.

 

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Lisa Hayes is a life coach, writer, and editor of Confluence Daily, specializing in social issues, political issues, and mental health. Her work has appeared in publications like Huffington Post and  Real Simple. She is also the Communications Director for a local fire department in Mexico and runs a life coach training program called The Coaching Guild.