Carpe Momentum: Revoke Consent

What the GI resistance teaches us about saying no to authoritarianism and building a new world from the ground up.

During the Vietnam War, an extraordinary thing happened: thousands of U.S. service members rose not just against the war, but against the institution they were conscripted to serve. The GI resistance movement, often overlooked in official histories, became one of the most potent internal threats to the war effort. And it didn't begin with riots or firebombs. It began with information, with mimeograph machines, with newsletters. Mere whispers passed hand to hand in the beginning, until they became shouts.

While there were moments of violence, fragging incidents, and sabotage, what defined the GI resistance was not destruction but dissent. It was soldiers giving each other permission to say no, to refuse, to resist. Underground newspapers circulated between bases and barracks, spreading news of court-martials, racial injustice, and the staggering death tolls. Publications like Vietnam GI, The Bond, Fatigue Press, and slogans like FTA, "Fuck The Army", did what Pentagon propaganda never could or would: they told the truth.