“This is no longer ‘IYKYK’ fascism. It’s, ‘Yes, This Is Fascism. What Are You Going To Do About It?’ fascism.”
— Jim Stewartson
As ugly as it’s been so far, everything happening in MAGA-world to date has just been setting the table. The extreme violence ticks off after passage of a federal budget that will make “the largest deportation operation in US history” possible. That’s not all the federal budget will do. It will also launch an extreme transfer of wealth from those with the least to the billionaire class.
We’re told now to expect steep cuts in most basic social services, once promised to be off limits, including Social Security and Medicare.
Because the goal of Musk and DOGE is not saving us money on “wasteful” programs. Research already shows that about 40 percent of Musk’s cancelled contracts have no fiscal impact (and the risks of eliminating many programs only beginning to be understood, such as infectious disease, disaster response, control of the nuclear stockpile, etc.) Lies about what has been shut down and the supposed “savings” are coming like a winter whiteout, as the Intercept highlights today.
Instead, these actions are about eliminating the administrative state and its ability to resist fascism.
Likewise, Trump and Musk’s war on the press is about controlling the narrative to hold power unchallenged. Deceleration stands firmly with our member associations, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia and Local Independent Online News Publishers, who joined dozens of other national and international media orgs in a declaration opposing attacks on press freedom in this country.
As written in this week’s public statement:
“The First Amendment protects the right to protest, dissent, and petition government for a redress of grievances, but these rights cannot be exercised without a free press that provides information to the public.”
Under the banner of a war on DEI and all things “woke,” Musk and Trump are eliminating leadership across the military and federal police services. But—again—the goal is not simply to exert white supremacy and put people of color back “in their place.” The goal is power consolidation.
The removal of the only Black man and only woman serving on the Joint Chiefs of Staff happened as (less publicized) the top lawyers for the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force’s top were axed. These lawyers (JAGs) held the power to check illegal use of the military, a force Trump has long promised to use domestically to both remove undesirables and suppress and punish protest.
Robert Reich expresses it best in his column: “What Trump is really trying to do.”
“Trump is rapidly gaining a personal monopoly on the use of force. This is his most fundamental goal. This is the essence of tyranny. ... Every tyrant throughout history has gained a personal monopoly on the use of force so he can impose his will on anyone, for any purpose. Tyrants achieve this by delegating power only to people personally loyal to them. ... [S]eeing the whole for what it truly is — rather than being upset by this or that part of it — is essential for fighting back."
Power and control is the objective. The “war on woke” is a useful tool in a nation still hemorrhaging racism.
The Trump regime is ignoring any check in their power grab, including lawful orders from federal judges seeking to stop illegal actions, for instance, by Elon Musk’s DOGE team. Indeed, Trump has hailed himself as a king and was today signing new hats claiming that Trump is “always right”—at the resolute desk. Antifascist researcher and writer Jim Stewartson this week rightly equates that claim with Mussolini’s historic insisting that:
“Il Duce ha sempre ragione” / “The leader is always right”
Increasingly it looks like the only way to shut Trump down is to shut down Trump’s ability to govern.
As the abolitionist Frederick Douglass spoke in 1857:
“This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”
Like so many authoritarians before them, we know that Trump and Musk can’t be negotiated with. They can only be beaten. The tools available are many but they must be employed with extreme vigor. Constant obstruction inside halls of elected power, constant visible protest raising the facts of this fascist power grab outside, jamming phone lines and spoiling snitch lines, noncooperation by federal employees remaining, collapsing Trump’s popularity by all of the above, and throughout it all: building a broad welcoming and determined tent who believe in another America (and, yes, we’re going to need to define positively what world we are fighting for, not only what must be crushed).
We need to shift the center and center-right away from Trump and activate the millions who have been passive and disengaged. As long as Republicans show unabashed fealty to Trump (only one in the U.S. House of Representastives dared vote against the budget this week), as long as he has the Congress in his pocket, the funds and policies will continue to give his actions cover.
It’s all critical.
Tomorrow, add to that list of tools the economic boycott: strategically shutting down elements of the economy to force systems and influential individuals back to service of the actual nation, the people. So plan today so tomorrow: No major retailers, no gas, no fast food.
To help move dollars away from the pockets our abusers and into networks of neighbors who care about you, look for community markets, trade and barter networks, and other local offerings. Deceleration, for instance, recently reimagined our ‘Fresh Now’ Farmers Markets & Community Gardens resource page for San Antonio.
This flyer of actions is one of many floating around that offer useful tools and reminders. It’s not offered as an end point, but a beginning, for folks looking for ways to engage. I’m also thinking a lot about online practices and am hoping folks can help me come up with new networks as I drop all apps that benefit the our emerging petro plutocrats and tech bros.
Closing words back to Reich on fighting for what can be salvaged (but do go read the full column):
“As [Trump] tries to consolidate power, we must protect the institutions in our society still able to oppose Trump’s tyranny — independent centers of power that can stop or at least slow him. Not this Congress, tragically, but federal courts and judges. Many of our state governors and attorneys general, state legislatures, and state courts. Perhaps even our state and local police. Hopefully, our communities. … Ultimately this will come down to our own courage and resolve: To engage in peaceful civil disobedience. To organize and mobilize others. To fight against hate and bigotry. To fight for justice and democracy.
“Remember this: Tyranny cannot prevail over people who refuse to succumb to it.”
