Prepping For Project 2025?
A few weeks ago, I joined Reddit. Like any other social media site, it has an algorithm that uses what I've clicked previously to suggest other content. For some reason, I keep getting posts for a "prepper" group. My following; a few ham radio topics, the Socialist Rifle Association, and a topic with offers for firearms, has Reddit's algorithm's convinced I may be interested in "prepping".
I am not. The current polls make me think the possibility of Trump winning, perhaps with some unintentional help from the "Free Gaza" movement, and being able to implement "Project 2025", might mean those of us who plan to be in the streets, or supporting those in the streets, need to prepare. The privileged folks who plan to flee the United States probably have their passports ready and plane tickets pending.
It may be useful to do what I did, and find the local Socialist Rifle Association chapter. Not every one may have an interest, desire or the resources to take up arms.
Something a bit cheaper is to look at pre-internet, pre-cellular, modes of communication. Getting an amateur radio license isn't that hard; there are videos on YouTube, or a local radio club may offer classes for free or at a reasonable cost. There's an excellent study guide available in .pdf and other formats to help you review.
Once you pass the exam, you will need a radio. My radio club rewarded me for passing my exam with a Baofeng UV-5R. It's basic, but will let you reach repeaters and communicate with other radio operators. A call sign will also allow you to access repeaters online using programs like EchoLink.
While "out of band" communication like amateur radio is useful. The internet is still going to be the way a lot of organizing is done. In a post "Project 2025" nation, keeping data and on-line communications secure will be critical. A cell phone, laptop, tablet, or even a smart speaker could be what sends an activist or a woman to one of Trump's internment camps. Learning and configuring tools like; VeraCrypt, for encryption, Proton VPN or RiseUp, for secure connections, Signal, for secure messaging, and ProtonMail for e-mail, should provide the security and privacy an activist needs to resist a right-wing authoritian state. With VPN's remember to count devices like mobile phones, smart tv's, e-readers, and even smart watches.
More advanced Project 2025 preps could include; burner phones, creating an anonymous dropbox, or learning some self defense. There's plenty of time between now and January of 2025.