American Defiance

Our Power has not diminished, and it is absolute.

Aug 25, 2025

Firebrands and new readers alike,

Today, I share this message—an undeniable truth.

We live in a country that is run by the rich, where wealth is the only thing that matters in our government and our economy. A nation that exhibits what comes from the worst of people—a nation that shows that greed and corruption are insatiable, unrelenting, and without empathy. A nation where the lives of people are worth less than stocks and portfolios, and what the elite desire is what shapes policy that affects millions.

America is a truly capitalist nation, one where the rich seek to rule over those they have stolen from. This is a modern era of robber barons and rug pullers who use digital lies and curated AI personalities to spread a pervasive web of lies to poison the minds of a population lulled into apathy by the slow creep of consumerism and false promises.

This is a time where our most extraordinary creations and newest technologies are being repurposed to serve those who will misuse them and where the wealthy cabal is not quiet about their desire to openly practice slavery in a land proclaimed to be the heart of liberties and freedoms.

Americans are a divided people—split by divisions seeded by those who seek to control us—by arbitrary labels with defined ideologies where one must comply or be cast out. Where left versus right is the war we are sold, while our true enemies siphon off what little we have left. A future awaits us where the very wealth this country claims to have in abundance is the means through which we are enslaved.

Yet we rage against each other—we cast blame and verbal Molotovs to inflame conflict that only serves to further empower the anti-constitutional powers that seek to turn people into property and the land of liberty into assets to be bought and sold and despoiled as our homes are poisoned.

While this is true—this is not the truth that I wish to share with you today.

The truth I wish to share with you is one of defiance.

In a system where wealth and power are the currency and success is withheld from the masses, we forget our own strength. The most absolute truth is that the few cannot succeed without the many. Those very people who are being robbed by a system that projects entirely absent values, as the very opposite of those values spreads like a cancer through our institutions and markets.

Those are the people who make their own exploitation possible.

Banner & Backbone Authors’ Notes

You being here shows that you have already begun the process of unfurling new Banners and forging new Backbones for a more progressive America. Please, take the time to become a paid, or free, subscriber to the Network — supporting us all and ensuring everyone in America can hear these messages.

The America we strive for — it is one where we willingly remember the teachings of our past, humbly learn from our failings, proudly celebrate our successes, and boldly lead the way into a future for all people.

Banner & Backbone Team

~ Frederic Poag | Lawrence Winnerman | Nick Paro | Ellie Leonard | Melissa Corrigan, she/her | Shane Yirak ~

What is wealth if people refuse to acknowledge its value?

What is power if people decide that those who claim it no longer have the right to wield it?

What is a government if the people decide that it is fraudulent and wasteful?

What are acceptable working conditions if those under them do not acknowledge them to be so?

What are fair wages if those receiving them decide the salaries they receive are unfair?

What are profits if those who make them possible choose to withhold their labor?

What power does a cudgel have if those against whom it is being wielded do not fear its sting?

What is a prison if people realize that jail is of their own making?

The answer to all of these questions?

My answer is this—they simply are nothing.

A coin has no value if the people refuse to attribute it value.

Power is absent if the people do not recognize it.

A government is not valid unless those being governed deem it worthy of their compliance.

Conditions are not acceptable if those working under them find them lacking.

Wages are not fair if the people do not deem them so. Profits cannot come to pass if those making them possible choose not to lend their power.

A cudgel cannot sway a person who does not fear its sting, who meets the strike with courage.

A prison without walls cannot hold one who chooses to step out and into the light.

So what is our weapon? What is the only thing that can change the course on which we have been set?

Defiance—not only defiance, but a people united in that defiance.

As our institutions crumble around us, and as companies move from publicly traded to controlling the public, we still hold the power. Without us, they have nothing.

Courage and Defiance.

Most importantly, unity in those values.

That is how we achieve our freedom at last. How we achieve a future where every person has access to Life, to Liberty, and to pursue their own happiness.

Join me in my defiance—spread this message.

Be the light, be a Firebrand, be a Patriot, and never, ever bend the knee to those who seek to defile us.

Burn Bright, I will be with you every step of the way.

Engagement is key.

If you’ve read this far, I’m asking you to like, restack, and comment on this post.

Doing so forces the algorithm to amplify this message—rather than bury it.

We live in a world where what you write can and will determine your visibility. That’s the game. But together, we can fight it.

I’m counting on you to help keep The Banner & Backbone Network and the Firebrand Project alive and thriving. Without your support, this work risks being smothered—and we can’t let that happen.

That said, I’m not worried.

Because I have over 2,100 Firebrand allies standing with me.

And that makes all the difference.

Thank you.