Introducing Battalion: Join the Battle against Autocracy

Launching Battalion

Battalion aims to be a open though private digital weapon to help create, support, and empower communities (of all types) to win battles in the eternal war against autocracy and for freedom.

For those who follow me on Symfony Station, you know our weekly communiqué's "Fighting for Democracy" section can be a little emphatic. 🤬

And since the world is not improving with time, I won't be mellowing any time soon. And because tech and money entrench autocracy, enshittify the economy, and destroy the environment, I have decided to change my approach to life (and unfortunately retirement). I'm launching Battalion as a coping mechanism. Alcohol only goes so far and this effort won't give me hangovers.

Battalion will allow me to reduce the extensiveness of Symfony Station communiqués. 😈 I'm also looking to condense the "Fighting for Democracy" section to only feature a few articles for each of its topics. You can access the remainder of the week's democracy news via a link to a Battalion post if you choose to.

But seriously, you, me, everyone, and every nation on the planet are involved a world war between democracy and autocracy. That’s existence nowadays. And hybrid nation states are in the middle playing both ends against each other.

But no matter the nation, within their borders we are also in a battle between democrats and autocrats. Political parties in every nation, province, and city fall somewhere between the two.

It’s being fought in the minds of everyone, online, in public life, in the economy, in legislatures, within religions, and (sometimes violently) on the ground as well.

Our anti-authoritarian mission

Battalion strives to enable you to combat and defeat autocrats worldwide and overthrow autocracies with direct action. The enemies of democracy also include corporate oligarchies, crony capitalism, monopolies, governmental corruption, religious nationalism, racist nationalism, and any other sort of dickheadedness. Fascists, totalitarian communists, and anything or anyone allied with them (like big tech or censored tech) are democracy's foes. We aim to fuck them up also.

Battalion is inspired by the Lincoln Brigade, Rogue One, and Ukraine. It is built with open-source software and a dedication to privacy and human rights.

Why?

Evidently, after the average lifetime of an individual human (currently 80ish years), the human race in general has to repeat its previous mistakes and stupidity. Which is unsurprising when most humans are poorly educated, misinformed, and barely competent at anything except their vocation.

Basically, we are living in the 1930s again. Monopolists run amuck, oligarchs subvert democracy and drive economies into the ditch, and racist ideologies and fundamentalist religion pollute the minds of large sections of humanity. Scapegoating, conspiracy theories, and idiocy are drowning daily life. Journalism is based on pleasing advertisers and/or governments (aka corruption and cowardice) and/or the ideology of its corporate owners. Judges are biased and corrupt. Politicians are just as sniveling, power-hungry, and self-serving as they have always been. Most political parties are owned by big money.

So, what are are we going to do about it?

Win the small battles

The idea of Battalion is for small groups to achieve big things via targeted missions. This strategy both fends off despair and results in achievable victories. We can't control the world with our actions. But, every action we take affects everything in the world.

Possible missions include:

• defeating a book-banning Karen in the local school board election.
• stopping an unsafe industrial site from being built in a critical environmental habitat.
• organizing a Union drive.
• supporting or defeating local, state, or national amendments.
• boycotts against unethical companies and nations.
• supporting local independent journalism.

It can be anything you want to do to defend democracy.

By using Battalion as a tool for organizing, planning, and executing strategies; groups started by users like you can slowly improve our existence. And as I said, it's a private tool. For liability reasons no public groups will be permitted. However, public forum functionality is available.

I'll also repeat, it's built with open-source technology not corporate surveillance tech. Battalion is fortified with WordPress, BuddyPress, bbPress, and Activity Pub. They are all tried and true technologies that democratize the web and social spaces. And they have done so for a long time.

There are many organizations and sites doing this good work already. And many of them are even open-source. That's fantastic.

But if you want something you can control, something private, something different, aren't technically inclined, or have a niche goal then Battalion is your solution.

Wrapping it up

If you are reading this, you know the world is up against it. We have our work cut out to leave it a better place for future generations. It is still possible to save our planet and societies from catastrophic dystopias caused by totalitarianism and environmental disaster. It's not time to surrender to apathy.

So, I say join me, put your thinking cap and steel toe boots on, and let’s kick the living shit out of autocracy and its minions!

Join Battalion's battle against autocrats with your fellow allies in private Battalion groups.

Or interact with its public forums.

Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker

Want to learn more before committing?

Explore the Member Guide to learn how BuddyPress works. It is the engine running the community aspects of Battalion.