Oped: No Kings, No False Saviors
"Is sitting back and rooting for Democrats all we can do?"
As the Trump Administration escalates its “cruelty is the point” anti-immigrant policies, amongst other clear fascist shifts, we are placed in the position of having to act boldly and intelligently, and to do so persistently and effectively. We need to look at the moment we are in, and the responsibilities that we have to defend the humanity of all and to unwaveringly stand for the values of justice and equality.
People are being effectively disappeared off our streets every day, as the Democrats file lawsuits and wait for Trump to finally have to be held to account for the things he has wantonly done day in and day out. As he sends in the Marines. This is not a game. If we are serious about upholding basic democratic or human rights, we need to take ourselves seriously enough to act on what we know, rather than invest bad faith in an electoral strategy we have never seen work. This is not a spectator sport. Yes, what is left of the social state is being gutted (as it has been for half a century) – what are the Democrats going to do about it besides lament a Rightward shift they have consistently done nothing to reverse. We are far beyond Blue Team vs. Red Team, as anything that resembles a moral, decent, or respectable approach to politics. The point isn’t that the Democrats are as bad as the Republicans; the point is what effective difference does it make, especially in this moment? Is sitting back and rooting for Democrats all we can do?
“Never Again” Means No Half-Measures or Bad Faith
When the “politics of the possible” becomes a dismal picture of what would have been an unthinkable nightmare a generation ago, our opening position needs to be to demand the impossible. This mess didn’t happen overnight. The lesser-of-evils has been a steady slide into the big evils we are faced with today. We need to push forward towards a political-economic system that fills everyone’s needs, that ensures people’s rights to control the forces that shape their daily lives, that respects and protects the planet we live on and depend on.
A system that is not premised upon taking from the hungry to feed those already well-fed off the toil of others. A society no longer rooted in colonialism, racism, and war (whether abroad or domestically). How can we get there, especially in the face of what is currently going on? If you’re at this rally, I’m assuming all or most of the above are positions you agree with? Is Seth Magaziner (who just thanked ICE for their service), or Jack Reed, or whoever else... are they going to stand and fight for the changes that need to happen? The LAPD are (and always has) operated in a Democratic stronghold. Mayor Bass, isn’t checking their brutality; she is imposing a curfew to restore the ‘peace and good order’ of mothers afraid to walk their kids to the bus and fathers ripped from their families and deported to who knows where. If the events in L.A. were to happen here on a smaller scale, the Democrats who run this city and this state would be just as quick to unleash police violence on us. Many of us were here in June of 2020 for the Black Lives Matter protests, peaceably assembled in the very spot we occupy today. If so, you also remember Governor Gina Raimondo standing, with riot cops behind her, telling us to disperse immediately, or else. Not only are the Democrats not going to save us, it isn’t clear they are even trying to help. We are at a historical pivot point, and what we do and how we do it has an enormous bearing on what the future will look like.
What isn’t going to be effective:
Showing up to demonstrations to take a picture for social media.
Leaving voicemails for politicians’ office assistants to delete.
Waiting for the next Blue Wave to fizzle out because of this or that essential politician getting bought off.
Trying to get into a “who’s more patriotic” competition with the party that brought us January 6 and the second Trump administration.
What is going to be effective:
Building movements that actively confront ICE raids.
Organizing among the working class which is under attack and fighting back – on picket lines and in community meetings.
Outline a vision for a world free from fascism and diet fascism, and the political and economic crises which spawned them, a world we are going to have to build together.
This is not written to be more radical than thou, or to be unnecessarily divisive. This is written under the assumption that we share core values, probably to a great extent. The question is: how do we resist fascism and build a better world? We feel like the answer lies with you and me, what we can do collectively towards the ends we share, rather than hoping someone will do it for us.
Peace to the Villages, War on the Palaces!
Solidarity with the LA Rebels!
If this resonates with you, please come to the Providence General Assembly. We meet every other Saturday at noon, 134 Mathewson St., Providence. Our next meeting is June 28. Email here.
 | A guest post by
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It seems to me arguing about tactics wastes time and energy. Laugh all you want at people who show up at demonstrations for the first time and post on social media. But if it energizes them and encourages others to join the fight, it’s a real contribution. Leaving voice mails might seem fruitless but who’s to say they’ll always be deleted. If 10% of Rhode Islanders left a voice message to Magaziner expressing outrage at his support of ICE, he probably would take note.
I like Rebecca Solnit’s take: We’re all in the dark. We don’t know what action will work and what won’t. The important thing is to act again and again and again.
"This is not written to be more radical than thou, or to be unnecessarily divisive." Yet, it was.
Pompous, banal and insulting, too.
Our great turnouts, creative, funny, and angry signs, loud, passionate voices are a powerful, precise weapon aimed at the shriveled hearts of the fascist regime. They are incensed by our posts. And phone calls. Diminishing this activism is wrong.