Caution, ICE Ahead
Plus: AI-Proof Your Career
Dear Citizens,
In the midst of a pretty challenging week, we prayed to the internet for memes, and the internet delivered: meme after meme after meme of a US ICE agent in Minneapolis … slipping on the ice. 10 million views and counting? Check. To the tune of Hollaback Girl? Check. Mayor Mamdani and Miss Rachel crying eyes reaction? Check. It’s not justice, but sometimes social media comes through.
Here’s what else to read, watch and know this week.
🇺🇸 ONE WATCH: Snyder x Abrams 🇺🇸
Sticking with America’s slide into autocracy, a terrific and oddly uplifting conversation here between U.S. politician Stacey Abrams and Citizen ally Professor Timothy Snyder digs into the moment we’re in… the grift bubble and the radical shift we need to make in our minds to resist tyranny. A must watch, here:
Timothy Snyder
🎙️ ANOTHER WATCH: A Vote for Reform UK is a Vote for Russia 🎙️
Founder of the Citizens Carole Cadwalladr joined Zack Polanski on Bold Politics to dig into issues the political and media establishment continue to dodge: whether Nathan Gill is just the tip of the iceberg in Kremlin efforts to destabilise British democracy, and the UK’s expanding relationship with Palantir - a notorious US military surveillance company whose founder, Peter Thiel, is a close ally of Trump.
Watch the full conversation:
For more context, read Carole’s latest Substack on why the ‘Palantirisation’ of the UK military is a national security disaster, or this firsthand account from former Palantir employee Juan Sebastián Pinto on the consequences of speaking out.
The Citizens exists to stand with people who challenge abuses of power - even when doing so comes at a real personal cost.
🌅 ONE READ: The End is Near! (Right?) 🌅
In the darkest corners of the internet, the revolution is nigh and the end is near. In this fascinating profile from Jasper Craven at WIRED, fear, anxiety and disaster sell, with two firms pushing online mayhem to goose sales to “preppers.”
He writes -
In 2022, the two companies leveled dozens of claims and counterclaims against each other before the National Advertising Division, an independent non-profit with links to the Better Business Bureau, regarding everything from the integrity of their online reviews to the quality of their products. In the end, the division dinged both companies on similar fronts, recommending, for instance, that 4Patriots avoid conveying to consumers that its survival food kits “provide consumers with the abundance of food depicted in the advertising for the full claimed duration,” while urging My Patriot Supply to stop indicating that its food kits included fresh fruit. Both companies were also criticized for how they sought to juice the review landscape, either by withholding negative feedback, in the case of My Patriot Supply, or, for 4Patriots, through failing to properly disclose its financial endorsements of certain product review videos.
Still need to build your doomsday go bag? Read the whole piece here.
📝 BONUS READ: The Longest Suicide Note in American History 📝
A chilling analysis of the Trump administration’s latest National Security Strategy, which argues that if its ideas are enacted, US influence will rapidly erode.
Anne Applebaum writes:
The document identifies only one real problem for the United States. The enemy is not a country, but a set of ideas: It is not Chinese communism, Russian autocracy, or Islamic extremism but rather European liberal democracy. This is what this radical faction really fears: people who talk about transparency, accountability, civil rights, and the rule of law.
Our 50% discount is still live. Until 31 January, you can support the Citizens for £2.50 a month or just £30 for the year.
🧠 ONE ACTION: AI Prepping Your Job Prospects 🧠
Younger Citizens are facing the AI era by shutting off phones and scaling back tech, but they’re also fighting back - and fighting for their (yet to begin) careers. Our friends at Encode Action have just released Game Plan, an online tool to AI proof your job prospects:
…this is your career, and you still have control. The same technology threatening jobs is ushering in new possibilities for you to learn, create, and win on your own terms. That window of opportunity is yours to seize — but it may not be open forever.
Job seekers of all ages can sign on, choose your player and learn how to prep for a career in the shadow of AI. Check it out here.
That’s all for this week.
Team Citizens
*PS - Join our Signal Chat if you haven’t already! There’s 350 people there now.
