Every day of the Trump dictatorship is a new revelation. Today, we learned that Trump’s people are intimidating citizens using law enforcement, the justice system, and local civil servants as their storm troopers. They are planning to criminalize all forms of dissent. So they say. No doubt some people will be made examples of. It’s terrifying, when you get right down to it. But is it true? Can Trump and Musk really shut down all dissent, just like that? Doubtful, but all the same, the pro-democracy, anti-fascist side seems shockingly inactive. Social media tells us that there are a lot of people who want to fight back and stop the illegal, unconstitutional actions of Trump and his power-mad regime. So why aren’t we out there proving it? Why this tepid, ho-hum response. I’m going to attribute it to a lack of imagination about possible actions we can take.
To begin with, let’s talk short term goals — things we have to do right away to save ourselves from fascism. At the top of that list is getting get rid of Elon Musk who is South African by birth and fascist by nature. We’ll never get our democracy back as long as he’s around. Next, we have to challenge the constitutionality of Trump’s massive barrage of presidential decrees. This is an abuse of privilege if ever there was one. We don’t govern the way in America — Trump’s executive orders need to be rolled back.
What to do? Here are some potential actions to add to the legal challenges currently underway.
Since the White House is the seat of operations, a huge permanent rally needs to be there every day until Musk and Trump are gone. If the police push back, the citizens push forward. It may seem a bit like the myth of Sisyphus, but it’s vitally important that Musk and Trump feel physical pressure every day. And that pressure has to be loud too. The size of the rallies must grow and evolve until finally the Trump regime falls. That’s one thing.
Furthermore, these loud protests have to be localized in a thousand uncooperative ways, from saying no to some things to demanding others. We and our elected representatives can do that.
For instance, states rights — demand them. That’ll give us a layer of protection from insane executive decrees. Insist on state prerogative in every place it applies. Treat federal money like the tainted apple it is and refuse to take any that has right-wing strings attached. Don’t comply with Trumpian federal programs just to get money.
While we’re being loud, we could also be contacting our Congresspeople and anyone else who’s got the power to help, just to keep them thinking and working on this problem, which is massive, an emergency if ever there was one. It’s not an “oh well, I guess we’re doing fascism now” kind of thing. This is all-hands-on-deck. Seriously.
So that’s where are are — the time of mourning is over, and we have got to get up off the sofa and do something. Complete loss of freedom isn’t fun. Having fascist overlords who use armed thugs to enforce their will is a new level of terrible. If we don’t act now, we’re going to lose everything we care about, starting with the right to a decent life. Even though doing the right thing is hard, it’s better than suffering the eternal regret that comes with doing nothing.
Let’s try. I will if you will…
Wcamp9, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
