Hope in the Age of Apathy
How to Reclaim Power Amid Distraction, Cynicism and Exhaustion (Vol. 6; Issue 25)
The Washington Post’s branding phrase, “democracy dies in darkness,” needs an update. Democracy is not threatened by darkness; democracy already died. We have a government controlled by billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Ellison. They kiss Trump’s ring, and their business interests squeeze out voters' interests.
These oligarchic connections increasingly control the media. Rupert Murdoch’s clan owns Fox, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post; Bezos owns The Washington Post; and Larry Ellison seeks control of Warner Bros. That acquisition will include HBO, CNN, DC Comics, and an expansive roster of other cable networks. As oligarchs and their corporations control more of the government and the media, the power shifts away from the people.
Major corporations and industry conglomerates, such as the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) and the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), spend billions to influence Trump, Congress and other government officials. Such efforts to disempower voters accelerated after the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The justices ruled that the government cannot restrict political expenditures by corporations, essentially equating them with individual citizens.
These trends elicit hopelessness in voters still interested in the idea of democracy, namely the American ideal of a government of the people, by the people and for the people. For decades now, the “people” have hardly had an impact on the US government. Instead, combinations of billionaires, lobbyists and international corporations render individual voters impotent, thus breeding apathy and hopelessness.
Nonetheless, there are ways American citizens can make their voices heard. We’ve heard about “No Kings” rallies and local civic engagement. Political scientist Maria J. Stephan* identifies a different and more readily available kind of protest. She calls it collective stubbornness,1 which, when added to traditional forms of protest, can undermine the effectiveness of authoritarian leaders. For example, local residents in Minneapolis spontaneously banded together to protect their neighbors from ICE raids. These were not left-wing radicals; they were regular people angered by the thought of a new police force raiding their local businesses. They succeeded in causing the immigration police to retreat from the city.
Yet another example of collective stubbornness, a group of people in New Haven, Connecticut, boycotted, pressured financial backers and supported legislation that forced Avelo Airlines to stop providing deportation flights for the federal government. Also, underground networks of ordinary citizens help trans people leave states that criminalize their lifestyles. Similar networks help women in need of abortions find the services they need in other states.
Erica Chenoweth, another political scientist, worked with Stephan2 to research which factors were most effective in overthrowing non-democratic governments. They established the so-called 3.5 percent rule, which holds that when 3.5% of a country’s population protests nonviolently against an authoritarian government, that government will likely fall from power.
Collective stubbornness, an attitude and behavior easily adopted by anyone, resists efforts by authoritarian leaders to frighten their citizens into compliance. It involves refusing to comply with unethical or illegal governmental edicts. Those Americans who feel disempowered, hopeless, frightened or even depressed by the current political situation can find unexpected hope in this novel idea.
As we’ve seen this past year, people can overcome political repression by acting in small ways, by stubbornly participating in boycotts, educating others about the erosion of democratic ideals, attending legislators’ town hall meetings, writing to congresspeople,** voting in local and national elections, joining advocacy groups, supporting independent journalism and resisting misinformation.
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*Stephan, a civil resistance scholar, co-led and was the chief organizer with the Horizons Project, and she previously directed a program on nonviolent action at the United States Institute of Peace.
**Despite the olilgarchy, individual voters still count, and legislators will be influenced if they receive troves of mail or large attendance at their local constituent meetings.
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References
Chenoweth, E., and Stephan, M. (2011). Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict. New York: Columbia University Press.
Fields-Meyer, A. (2026). The State of American Resistance is Stronger Than You Think. New York Times, published June 16, 2026.