Trump and Resistance

Hillary Clinton won the election by 2 million votes, but Donald Trump won the Presidency in the Electoral College.  What’s that you say about democracy ?

During the last year the according to the Southern Poverty Law Center the militant, fascist, militarist, racist terrorist group Storm Front has grown to over 300,000 members.  ( one of several such groups).

These and parallel developments may require that we reconsider and adjust our basic  political strategy as developed in the strategy document.  We need a serious new analysis because the terrain of our struggle and our activity has shifted significantly.

Examples.

Some 2 -11 million immigrant workers in the US now face terrorism and possible deportation.  Over 2 million U.S. citizen children face the possibility that their parents will be deported and they will be placed in foster care.

I had a piece on the Democratic Left blog on the possible consequences of a victory by Trump and Trumpism.  http://www.dsausa.org/trump_s_racially_divisive_politics_must_be_exposed_and_opposed_dl

David Bacon has a new piece on the current situation. http://davidbaconrealitycheck.blogspot.com/2016/11/immigrant-communities-brace-for-trump.html?

If you prefer video, here is a good piece  Hate Rising. http://antiracismdsa.blogspot.com/2016/11/hate-rising-with-jorge-ramos.html

This video is also up on YouTube.

The labor movement faces its most difficult assault since the passage of the Taft-Hartley act which changed the nature of organized labor in the U.S.

 Labor will be shaken to its core.  Harold Meyerson has a good piece on this on the DSA blog, Talking Union.  https://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2016/11/24/trump-and-the-crisis-of-labor/

The Trump administration’s chief military advisor advocates siding with Asad and Putin in Syria, and usually recommends U.S. military interventions in troubled areas.

This militarist approach could well set us back to the decades of U.S. intervention  from 2000- 2010. The U.S. anti war movement , or what remains of it, will have their backs to the wall.

The ecological justice movement now faces a regime that take us back to the 1970’s on ignoring climate change. – while the environmental crisis grows.  As Nomi Klein said, “This Changes Everything”.

This short list, and similar ones including the privatization of public education ( see below), show that the political terrain upon which we operate has dramatically shifted.  Doing more of the same, or being more confrontational alone is not an adequate response.

We need a re-evaluation of our basic strategy and how we fit into developing a left resistance to the rise of neo fascism and Trumpism.

I see that Freedom Road has a piece out on this relating this period to the imposition of terrorism that ended the first Reconstruction era. 

Best case scenario:  Trump is elected, the Republicans gained control of all three branches of government.

Worse case.  Trump is elected, Republicans gain control of all three branches of government. They use their power to organize a substantial power shift and the creation of an authoritarian, racist state.

The difference between the best case and the worse case is how we organize and resist.

Duane Campbell 

Defeat Trump, Defeat Racism campaign.