Radio Free California: Resistance Handbook Chapter 3

[Opening Theme Music: static, shortwave tuning, faint siren wail in the background.]

ANNOUNCER (calm, serious, resolute):

This is Radio Free California. Day 19 of the creeping coup. Broadcasting from the occupied zone.

The battlefield isn’t just the street. It’s your phone. Your feed. Your search results. Your brain.

Welcome to Information Warfare.

Authoritarians Live on the Narrative

Every regime — whether in fatigues or business suits — depends on controlling the story. They can’t just commit abuses. They have to sanitize them. They have to make you swallow it whole.

They need to convince the masses:

• That it’s legal.
• That it’s justified.
• That you deserved it.
• That you are the threat.

It’s not enough to lie. They aim to exhaust. Propaganda in the digital age isn’t a single narrative — it’s a thousand conflicting ones.

They flood the zone with:

• Contradictory headlines.
• Manufactured outrage.
• Fake scandals.
• False balance: “Both sides are corrupt, so why bother?”

Their goal isn’t clarity. It’s chaos. Not to win the debate — but to break your will to care what’s true.

Your Job Is Truth Triage

You’re not just a citizen anymore. You’re a front-line medic in an information war.

We don’t need more voices screaming. We need accurate ones. Surgical strikes of truth. Precision facts. You are the resistance, and your scalpel is verification.

Rule 1: Verify Before You Amplify

• Don’t share unverified stories, even if they feel right. Especially if they feel right.
• If it’s “too perfect,” it’s probably fake.
• Check the date. Check the source. Look for the full video. Look for context.

Rule 2: Prioritize What Matters

• Focus on systemic harm, not celebrity nonsense.
• Expose patterns. Policy. Power.
• Stay locked on target: what ICE is doing, who’s enabling it, and who profits from it.

Rule 3: Starve the Trolls

• Don’t feed performative outrage merchants.
• Don’t comment, retweet, or dunk. That’s fuel. They want the algorithm boost.
• Silence isn’t passivity — it’s strategy. Don’t fall for the bait.

Record. Document. Archive.

Authoritarians erase history in real time. Your job is to make that impossible.

If you see something — film it.

If you film it — back it up.

If you back it up — store it safely.

• Use apps that upload automatically to the cloud.
• Don’t store only on your phone — it can be confiscated.
• Use trusted journalist networks and encrypted backups.
• Preserve metadata: timestamp, location, and identity protection.

Build community evidence banks:

• Shared drives, mirrored offsite.
• Redundancy. Verification. Chain of custody for court admissibility.
• Create a decentralized truth infrastructure — what they fear most.

International Signal Boost

America isn’t as sealed off as the regime hopes. And international embarrassment still works. They crave power but hate shame.

Push verified documentation to:

• Amnesty International
• Human Rights Watch
• UN Human Rights Council
• Foreign press outlets
• International legal observers

You’re not just documenting for yourself. You’re building a case. For journalists. For activists. For history.

Humor Is a Weapon

Authoritarianism feeds on fear. Humor cuts it off at the knees.

Mock their slogans. Skewer their sacred cows. Turn their tough-guy cosplay into parody. Make them ridiculous — because deep down, they already are.

Examples?

• The Man of Steal and the Masked Men: https://shopping-feedback.today/humor/the-man-of-steal-and-the-masked-men%3C/li%3E%3C/ul%3E%3Cstyle data-emotion-css="14azzlx-P">.css-14azzlx-P{font-family:Droid Serif,Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,serif;font-size:1.1875rem;-webkit-letter-spacing:0.01em;-moz-letter-spacing:0.01em;-ms-letter-spacing:0.01em;letter-spacing:0.01em;line-height:1.6;color:#1A1A1A;margin-top:32px;}

  Exposing the fragile ego and cosplay fascism of American “strongmen.”

  • Don Shady (The Real Don Shady): https://shopping-feedback.today/humor/don-shady%3C/li%3E%3C/ul%3E%3Cstyle data-emotion-css="14azzlx-P">.css-14azzlx-P{font-family:Droid Serif,Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,serif;font-size:1.1875rem;-webkit-letter-spacing:0.01em;-moz-letter-spacing:0.01em;-ms-letter-spacing:0.01em;letter-spacing:0.01em;line-height:1.6;color:#1A1A1A;margin-top:32px;}

    MAGA turned into a diss track, rap battle-style — because nothing rattles narcissists like mockery.

    You don’t need a column or podcast or publishing platform (though it helps). You need:

    • Memes
    • Satire accounts
    • Fake press releases
    • Cartoons, TikToks, parody videos
    • Clever signs at protests
    • Slogans that twist the knife

    Use their words. Flip them. Break the illusion. Humor is subversion. Subversion terrifies tyrants.

    ANNOUNCER (closing remarks):

    The propaganda machine is massive. But it’s vulnerable.

    It cannot survive scrutiny. It cannot survive documentation. It cannot survive relentless ridicule.

    Every time you verify truth and expose a lie, you undermine their control.

    In our next broadcast:

    Economic Warfare — Follow the Money, Starve the Machine.

    Until then:

    Be smart. Be careful. Be loud. Be accurate.

    This is Radio Free California.

    Signing off — for now.

    [Outro static and faint transmission tone.]