A Conversation with Parker Molloy

I had the honor of sitting down with Parker Molloy, the writer behind The Present Age newsletter, in a wide-ranging discussion that touched on how our media has tragically mainstreamed Right Wing hate and changed our political paradigm. We also got into the awful abandonment of Trans Americans in the wake of the 2024 Election, as well as signs that a backlash is building as people move beyond corporate news and see for themselves just what’s happening in this country.

Parker is an essential journalist in this moment and has provided invaluable insight and analysis for years. I hope you’ll check out The Present Age if you haven’t already. Below you’ll find a list of resources detailing, for educational and organizing purposes, how we’ve arrived at this point and we need to fight our way out. I’ll be recording a subscriber-exclusive mailbag episode of Audio From A Collapsing State this weekend. Please reply with any questions or topics or feel free to email me if you’d like to remain anonymous.

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Resources

* What the Hell is Going On: Here is an explainer regarding our present circumstances for anyone who has had a feeling that the traditional Democrat / Republican / Red / Blue narrative was hiding something. Here, we go through the problems in the United States and how the wealth class has effectively put itself in a position to totally takeover our government.

* The Oligarchical Order: A primer on how to give up conventional and failed political understandings in favor of seeing how capitalism directs the course of events and where it is leading and what to expect.

* Authoritarianism and the Crisis of Meaning: Here we get into how consumerism represents an addictive drug that has hollowed out our sense of purpose, leaving us to take this as a moment of self-reflection, recognize that we have effectively been made to hate and doubt ourselves, thereby keeping us from realizing we deserve better.

* A Thoroughly Confused Country: Americans have little in the way of class consciousness, which was an intentional state desired by the wealth class. This primer gets into the class makeup of the United States, including contradictions and motivations, that will be crucial in understanding as we do our work.

* Authoritarianism as Clarity: As authoritarians take power, the world becomes a lot clearer. We can see who we can trust and who we shouldn’t. This episode gets into the history of Vichy France and the lessons we can learn on how to operate as individuals within an authoritarian environment.

* Fostering Hope in Hard Times: Some thoughts on how to maintain hope as authoritarianism sweeps in.

* Understanding the Enemy: A guide through the evolution of capitalism from free markets to its current evolving form - oligarchical authoritarianism, as well as insights into how our politics has made this change happen and moments in which the evolution has been curbed.

* Get Ready: Preparing for the incoming ICE / federal immigration raids with resources for immigrants and allies.

* They're Trying to Crush You: I discuss the emotional toll of the beginning onslaught of the Trump Administration and how it is a strategy for demoralizing us before we can begin resisting.

* A Coup in Plain Sight: An explainer detailing what is happening with Musk, DOGE, and the takeover of the government.

* The Birth of a Monster: A history of how the oligarchical class came to be and what their ideology reveals about what a future under their control would entail.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jaredyatessexton.substack.com/subscribe