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Title: Hope Is in the Streets Author: CrimethInc. Date: May 30, 2017 Language: en Topics: Donald Trump, US, hope, resistance Source: Retrieved on 22nd April 2021 from https://crimethinc.com/2017/05/30/poster-hope-is-in-the-streets
As Donald Trump’s administration digs itself deeper and deeper into
trouble, many people are looking to the corporate media, the FBI, the
judicial system, or other recognized authorities to resolve this
situation. Yet every effective measure against Trump and his cronies has
begun with grassroots efforts. Even if he is deposed by other elements
within the state, it will only further legitimize the structures through
which politicians like him are able to do so much damage in the first
place, setting the stage for other politicians to continue carrying out
the same activities. Our freedom and safety will not be assured until we
can defend them ourselves, through direct action, without need of
leaders or representation.
When Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, anarchists
and other opponents of the state swung into action. While liberals and
party leftists were still reeling, anarchists immediately called for
combative demonstrations at the outset of the Trump regime, and took to
the streets alongside other angry people to show that business as usual
would be impossible under Trump.
In the first days of Trump’s administration, countless people came
together in courageous acts of resistance, confronting the authorities
and shutting down airports and other infrastructure. This succeeded in
breaking the ruling class consensus around Trump, destabilizing his
administration and undermining its efforts to shift the US government
from a neoliberal strategy for managing capitalism to an overtly
nationalist strategy. Had resistance continued at that intensity,
neoliberalism, too, might have been in danger.
Unfortunately, this momentum was a victim of its own success. As soon as
it achieved a few victories, good liberals began to stay home watching
the news and “liking” things on Facebook rather than putting their
bodies on the line. Meanwhile, realizing that his initial strategy had
failed, Trump demoted nationalist advisor Steve Bannon, ordered an
airstrike in Syria, and tried to cozy up to the neoliberal elements of
the deep state. If he succeeds in doing so, he will be able to push
through his racist, nationalist agenda under the cover of ordinary
governance, just as Obama did.
It’s naïve to hope that CNN, the FBI, or the Democratic Party will
thwart Trump’s authoritarian ambitions. They are just as essential to
the power structure as Trump himself, just as complicit in its
functioning. Grassroots resistance has been the only thing that has
succeeded in putting the brakes on Trump’s advance. Every victory
against him has begun with people taking action on their own initiative.
If we hadn’t blockaded the airports, would any judge have had the guts
to block the Muslim ban? If we hadn’t flooded the streets, would White
House employees have taken the risk of leaking information?
Going forward, we must remember the lessons of the opening of the Trump
era: that even in the face of the most powerful empire in the history of
the world, we have tremendous power, as long as we don’t look to others
to act in our place. Together, we can take back our lives and disable
the institutions through which our rulers seek to dominate us. No party,
politician, or organization can do this for us. Let’s become
ungovernable and free.