How You Break an Autocracy Without Getting Crushed
How to Jam the Machine, Shatter the Trance, and Force Power to Defeat Itself
Author’s Note
This is most likely the most important article I’ve ever written.
Not because it’s the angriest.
Not because it’s the most eloquent.
Not because it will get the most clicks or praise.
But because it’s the first time I’ve laid out…plainly…without theatrics…how regular people actually stop a system from doing harm in the real world.
Most writing about this moment lives in one of two useless places:
Either it screams about how bad things are…or…it comforts people with the idea that someone else will fix it.
Neither slows a single bad order. Neither protects a single family. Neither changes what happens tomorrow morning in an office…a court…or on a street you recognize.
This article is different…because it doesn’t ask you to believe anything.
It doesn’t ask you to trust me.
It doesn’t ask you to wait for an election…a hero…or a miracle.
It explains where power actually moves…and how that movement can be interrupted by ordinary people acting deliberately…calmly…and in ways that can’t be easily punished or dismissed.
I wrote this…because I’m watching the costs of confusion get paid by real people…neighbors…kids…legal observers…families who did everything right….and still ended up in the blast radius.
And…I’m done pretending that outrage alone…is enough...or that understanding…without action…is virtue.
If this approach spreads…it doesn’t just create noise….it creates friction.
And friction…is what stops machines.
That’s why this matters.
That’s why I took my time with it.
And…that’s why I believe this piece…more than anything else I’ve written…gives people something they can actually use…today…to protect each other…and push this country back toward sanity.
Read it carefully.
Share it selectively.
And above all…apply it quietly.
That’s how real change starts.
How You Break an Autocracy Without Getting Crushed
How to Jam the Machine, Shatter the Trance, and Force Power to Defeat Itself
The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #723: Thursday, January 8th, 2026.
Let me start with a hard truth most people don’t want to hear.
Autocracy doesn’t take over…because people suddenly become monsters.
It doesn’t win…because everyone agrees with it.
And it sure as hell doesn’t win…because of speeches…slogans…or yard signs.
It wins because the machine keeps running.
Orders go out.
Paperwork gets filed.
Budgets get approved.
Rules get enforced.
Contracts get honored.
And millions of decent people tell themselves the same quiet lie:
“I’m just doing my job.”
That sentence has ended more democracies than tanks ever have.
So if you’re serious…I mean really serious…about stopping this thing and pushing it backward….you need to stop thinking like a protester…and start thinking like a mechanic.
Because this fight isn’t about who yells the loudest. It is not.
It’s about who controls friction and fear.
The Two Things Power Needs to Survive
Every authoritarian system…every damn one…
depends on two conditions at the same time:
The system has to move smoothly
The people in charge have to look strong and inevitable
Take away either one…and power struggles.
Take away both….and it collapses under its own weight.
Most resistance movements only attack one side…and they usually pick the wrong one.
They go straight at the top.
They scream at the leader.
They flood the zone with outrage.
That feels good.
It also makes power dig in…simplify the battlefield…and crack down harder.
The smarter move…the one that actually works…is quieter…meaner…and far more effective.
You slow the machine
and
you break the illusion of control
At the same time.
Why Yelling at the King Is a Losing Game
Here’s a lesson anyone who’s worked a job site…
…a factory floor, or a warehouse already understands:
If a machine is doing something dangerous…you don’t stand in front of it screaming.
You:
slow the feed
jam the intake
force safety checks
make it expensive to keep going
Government works the same way.
Power doesn’t care if you’re angry.
It cares if things still get done.
As long as the paperwork clears…and the orders get carried out…the strongman wins…even if everyone hates him.
So…the goal is simple:
Make it harder to carry out bad orders…than to stop.
Step One: Jam the Gears (This Is the Unsexy Part)
The most powerful resistance in the world looks boring.
It looks like:
questions
documentation
delays
reviews
process
No chanting.
No signs.
No confrontation.
Just calm…relentless friction.
The sentence that scares power the most:
“I want to make sure I’m doing this correctly.”
Not:
“I refuse.”
Not:
“This is illegal.”
Not:
“This is immoral.”
Just:
“Can you clarify?”
That sentence does something magical.
It forces:
paperwork
supervisors
lawyers
accountability
And here’s the best part:
You can’t be punished for it.
Because you’re not resisting.
You’re being careful.
Why Careful Is Kryptonite to Authoritarians
Authoritarian systems thrive on:
urgency
speed
fear
obedience
They fall apart…when people slow down…and cover their asses.
The moment officials start thinking:
“I don’t want my name on this.”
Momentum dies.
And momentum…is everything.
Five Simple Moves That Stop Bad Orders Cold
These aren’t dramatic.
They don’t make headlines.
They work anyway.
1. Ask for It in Writing
Nothing kills abuse faster than a paper trail.
When someone says:
“Just do this.”
You say:
“Can you send that to me in writing?”
Now suddenly:
lawyers appear
supervisors get nervous
people start checking authority
Bad orders…hate permanence.
2. Ask “Under What Authority?”
Calmly. Casually.
“Which statute?”
“Which regulation?”
“Which jurisdiction?”
Most overreach depends on people…not asking.
3. Normalize Delay
You’re not blocking.
You’re clarifying.
“What’s the review timeline?”
“Is there an appeals process?”
“Who signs off?”
Delay turns urgency into…uncertainty.
4. Document Everything
Follow up conversations with:
“Just to confirm, this is my understanding…”
Now…the order lives forever.
People behave very differently…when history is watching.
5. Do This Alone, Not as a Group
This is critical.
No leaders.
No scripts.
No identical phrasing.
Why?
Because power can crush organizations.
But…it cannot crush millions of individuals…acting cautiously.
Where This Works Best (And Where It Doesn’t)
Some parts of the system are fragile.
Others are tanks.
You hit the fragile ones first.
Courts
Courts love process.
They tolerate delay.
They demand documentation.
That’s why authoritarians hate them.
Regulatory Agencies
These places run on:
rules
discretion
risk management
When scrutiny increases…enforcement freezes.
Contracts & Procurement
Power needs vendors.
Vendors hate:
audits
investigations
bad press
Raise the cost…and they quietly step back.
State & Local Governments
Nothing stalls overreach like jurisdictional fog.
“That’s not actually my authority.”
That sentence is a brick wall.
So Far, This Sounds Slow. Good.
At this stage…you do not escalate emotionally.
Why?
Because emotion gives power a clean enemy.
You don’t want to be the enemy.
You want to be the reason…nothing works anymore.
Step Two: Break the Trance (This Is Where It Gets Loud)
Once the machine starts hesitating…then you flip the switch.
Now…you attack the illusion.
Because authoritarian power depends on looking:
strong
inevitable
dominant
You don’t fight that with facts.
You fight it…with contempt.
Fear enforces obedience.
Contempt…dissolves it.
Why Ridicule Beats Rage
Rage feeds the monster.
Ridicule…starves it.
Anger says:
“You’re powerful and evil.”
Ridicule says:
“You’re sloppy…scared…and losing.”
Once people see leaders as incompetent instead of terrifying…compliance collapses fast.
The Rule for This Phase
You don’t explain.
You don’t debate.
You don’t moralize.
You:
spotlight mistakes
replay contradictions
exaggerate incompetence
loop embarrassment
You make it…emotionally expensive to obey.
Timing Is Everything
Do this too early…and power hardens.
Do it after the machine is already struggling…and panic sets in.
That’s the sweet spot.
What Happens When Both Forces Hit at Once
Here’s where it gets interesting.
The machine is already slowed by:
paperwork
reviews
delays
hesitation
Now leadership is rattled by:
ridicule
exposure
loss of dominance
So what happens?
They rush.
And rushed power….makes mistakes.
Mistakes create:
legal exposure
leaks
contradictions
internal blame
Every mistake feeds:
more scrutiny
more delay
more ridicule
It’s a feedback loop.
And once it starts…it’s almost impossible to stop.
This Is How Systems Actually Collapse
Not with explosions.
With hesitation.
Orders get:
delayed
questioned
inconsistently enforced
Mid-level officials start thinking:
“I don’t want to be holding the bag.”
That’s the point of no return.
Why This Beats Protests Alone
Protests:
polarize
simplify the battlefield
justify crackdowns
This strategy:
isolates bad actors
fractures compliance
forces accountability
It doesn’t announce itself.
It just makes everything harder.
The Dirty Secret of Power
Power is lazy.
It always takes the path of least resistance. (Read that again. Just do it.)
Your job isn’t to fight it head-on.
Your job…is to make the wrong path…more expensive than stopping.
Who Does What?
Most people should stay in the boring lane:
procedural
calm
disciplined
precise
A smaller number:
writers
artists
commentators
Apply pressure publicly after fragility appears.
Not everyone does everything.
That’s how this scales.
How You Know It’s Working
You’ll see:
frantic messaging
contradictory statements
rushed actions
visible defensiveness
rising leaks
Most importantly:
Compliance decays.
That’s victory…even if it doesn’t feel dramatic.
One Family at a Time
This isn’t abstract.
This is about streets…you know.
Kids…trying to get home safely.
Neighbors….watching out for each other.
That’s where this fight actually lives.
Not in speeches.
In systems.
Final Truth (Burn This In)
You don’t beat an autocracy by yelling louder.
You beat it…by making it stumble…and then making sure everyone sees it stumble.
That’s how regular people win.
This information is only useful to the extent of the number of people it reaches. That’s where I lean on you. You…are the force multiplier for that.
#HoldFast
Back soon,
-Jack
Jack Hopkins
P.S.
Most people want to feel like they’re resisting.
Very few are willing to do the quiet…boring things…that actually work.
If you’re here…you already know which kind you are.
Stay sharp.
Stay disciplined.
And never forget:
The clerks…not the kings…decide whether the machine keeps running. That’s a fact. One that history…vigorously supports.
P.P.S.
One more thing…and this part matters if you care about how far this actually goes.
Do you know the number one factor Substack uses to decide which newsletters they will most aggressively and actively promote?
It’s not likes.
It’s not comments.
It’s not even total subscribers.
It’s paid subscribers coming onboard…especially in clusters.
When there’s a flurry of new paid subscribers joining The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter, two things happen at the same time:
First, there are suddenly more people reading…forwarding…and sharing what I write. That alone expands reach.
But…second…and this is the part most people don’t realize…Substack’s internal systems take notice.
When they see momentum in paid signups…they interpret that as a signal that the work is valuable…sticky…and worth amplifying.
And when that happens?
Substack starts promoting JHN harder than it was just before that cluster.
That means:
more recommendations
more surface area
more new readers seeing this work who never would have otherwise
In other words…every new paid subscriber doesn’t just support the work…they multiply it.
So if this article hit you in the gut…
If you think this approach actually works instead of just making noise…
And…if you want this message reaching more people than it otherwise would…
Becoming a paid subscriber right now does more than you think.
It doesn’t just keep the lights on.
It helps shove this work directly into the paths of people who need to read it next.
That’s how reach compounds.
That’s how leverage builds.
And…that’s how this spreads.
An ex boss paid me the highest compliment when I left -- "Go be a piece of sand in someone else's machinery." Mission accomplished!!!
Outstanding post, Jack!