Don't Give Up

Inspiring Words from Jack Hopkins and a Song byPeter Gabriel

Note to readers: I have cross-posted essays from other Substack writers, but I’m never sure how many reach subscribers. This one gave me HOPE. So I am going to reprint it in its entirety (with minor space editing by me) from Jack Hopkins¹, interspersed with lyrics Peter Gabriel wrote in 1986. And of course, the music at the end.

The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #782: Tuesday, February 17th, 2026.

Let me say this as plainly as it can be said: Fascism does not survive here.

It can posture. It can preen. It can pound its chest and strut around draped in flags it doesn’t understand. But… it cannot root itself permanently… in a country architected for friction… defiance… and distributed power.

America is not a monarchy with better branding. It is a machine… designed to resist concentration. And that machine… is bigger than any one man. Incredibly so.

Here’s what the fear merchants don’t want you remembering. This country was born in rebellion, not polite disagreement…not procedural reform… rebellion. Against centralized authority. Against unaccountable power. Against a ruler who believed he could simply declare and command.

That DNA doesn’t evaporate because a strongman learns how to use social media. It resurfaces. Every. Goddamn. Time.

In this proud land we grew up strong. We were wanted all along
I was taught to fight, taught to win. I never thought I could fail…

Though I saw it all around, Never thought that I could be affected
Thought that we’d be last to go. It is so strange the way things turn*²

Fascism requires three ingredients to cement itself:

1. Total narrative control

2. Institutional obedience

3. Public resignation

The United States provides none of these cleanly.

Narrative control? We have fifty competing media ecosystems… millions of independent voices… decentralized communication channels… and a population allergic to uniform messaging. Even propaganda here has competition.

Institutional obedience? Our system fractures authority across states… courts… agencies, municipalities… and independent actors. Governors resist. Judges intervene. Bureaucrats leak. States sue. Local officials defy. The friction is maddening… and it is protective.

Public resignation? Americans complain about everything. Loudly. Constantly. Relentlessly. We protest parking tickets. We litigate school board policies. We challenge zoning rules. You think a population that argues about condiment choices is going to silently accept authoritarian permanence? Not likely.

History is instructive.

We survived a civil war. We survived world wars. We survived McCarthyism. We survived Watergate. We survived assassinations… riots… internment camps… and economic collapse. Each time, institutions bent. They did not break.

Why? Because power here… is not held in one hand. It’s scattered. Messy. Redundant. And that redundancy… is the antidote. Here’s the mistake pessimists make: they assume loud equals permanent. Authoritarian posturing always feels overwhelming in the moment. It is designed to. The spectacle is part of the strategy. Shock. Intimidate. Exhaust. But spectacle burns fuel fast.

Sustainable power requires quiet compliance. And… America… does not do quiet compliance well.

Don't give up 'Cause you have friends
Don't give up You're not beaten yet
Don't give up I know you can make it good*

Even the people who support strong leadership want it on their terms. The minute that leadership threatens their personal autonomy… their business… their property… their guns… their speech… their state authority… the coalition fractures.

Fascism depends on uniform loyalty. America runs on conditional loyalty. That’s a fatal mismatch.

Now here’s your role in this. Crushing authoritarian drift isn’t a cinematic moment. It’s not one dramatic showdown.

It’s persistence. It’s local elections that matter more than headlines. It’s court cases that seem procedural but set precedent. It’s state resistance. It’s civic muscle memory. It’s citizens who refuse to surrender mental sovereignty. And most importantly… it’s refusing despair.

Despair… is surrender rehearsed in advance. You do not need to panic. You do not need to fantasize about collapse. You need to understand leverage. This country’s architecture is leverage layered on leverage:

Federalism, separation of powers, elections, independent courts, a free press, state sovereignty, private enterprise, civic culture.

That is not fragile. That is stubborn. And… stubborn systems outlast theatrical leaders.

Will there be turbulence? Yes. No…wait. Scratch that; you bet your ass there will be turbulence. Probably more than you can currently imagine.

Will there be ugly moments? Absolutely. Staggeringly ugly… and then some.

But permanence? Entrenched authoritarian rule? Not in a nation that fights with itself daily and calls that normal.

Fascism thrives in silence and submission. America is noisy and combative. That noise is not decay. It’s defense.

Hold steady. Stay engaged. And remember this: systems built on distributed power do not surrender easily. They absorb. They resist. And eventually… They prevail.

Rest your head. You worry too much
It's gonna be alright
When times get rough You can fall back on us
Don't give up. Please don't give up*

In other words, bring it the f*ck on. America isn’t letting this happen on our watch. #HoldFast…

P.S. If you’re waiting for someone else to save this country, stop. The safeguard isn’t “out there.” It’s here… in citizens who refuse to surrender their nerve. History doesn’t reward the loudest tyrant. It rewards the most persistent republic. Stay engaged. Stay unshaken. And don’t you dare rehearse defeat in your own mind.

ADDED 02/20/2026:

Let’s talk straight. The only thing more powerful than interference is intimidation. And intimidation… only works if you accept it. Because here’s the dirty secret: You can “lose” an election before a single ballot is cast… not because someone hacked a machine, but because fear hacked you.

If someone whispers, “They’re going to rig it,” and you throw your hands up…congratulations. You just did their job for them. You gave them the only thing they truly need: your resignation. Fear is pre-surrender.

I refuse it. Plain and simple. You should, too.

Now… let’s be adults about it. Yes, bad actors try things. Yes, people look for angles. Yes, there are efforts to suppress… confuse… slow… challenge… intimidate… exhaust. That’s real.

But… the jump from “people will try” to “it’s hopeless” is the psychological trap. That trap is the point. Because if you believe it’s over… you stop showing up. If you stop showing up… they don’t have to interfere at all. They just have to keep you anxious… cynical… and sitting on your couch like a spectator to your own country.

That’s not realism. That’s defeatism… dressed up as sophistication.

This country has survived a civil war. Assassinations. Watergate. Foreign meddling. Violent unrest. Contested results.

We are still here. Not because we were protected from chaos… because we didn’t bow to it. So… don’t tell me democracy collapses because someone makes noise about interference.

As Dr. Timothy Snyder says, Do not obey in advance. DON’T. GIVE. UP. Next #NoKings protest is March 28, 2026. Find one in your area here and go. Keep writing/calling your reps and senators. Stay loud and watch over one another. Don’t submit. We are Americans—we threw $2 million of tea into Boston Harbor just because of a 2 cent tax per ton, and then defied the largest military force on the planet at the time to win independence. Remember, we don’t do kings and we fucking hate Nazis. #RiseUp

1. Fascism Will Be Crushed in the United States of America

2. * “Don’t Give Up”; Recorded by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush ‧ 1986 on the albumn “So”. Songwriters: Bryan Adams / Ray Hedges / Nicholas Bracegirdle. Don’t Give Up lyrics © Imagem Ent. Ltd., Edward Kassner Music Co. Ltd, Real World Music Ltd, Chicane Classic Catalogue, Edward Kassner Music Co. Ltd