Photo by Nathaniel St. Clair

Far be it from me to argue that the US government is a democracy. In my view, capitalism prevents genuine democracy because of the influence money has in elections and other parts of the political system. This is especially true in the current monopoly phase of capitalism that we call neoliberalism. Just ask Elon Musk, the billionaire Trump wants to run his austerity program. The power of his purse has been a crucial element in the final weeks of Trump’s campaign. It will continue to be so until the printing presses that print money stop printing and the engines that run cryptocurrencies melt the ice caps. In the minds of the uber-rich, the US government is just another subsidiary, and the people are employees, customers, and fools.

I’m not going to spend too much time here trying to assess why Harris lost the election. There are others much more adept at this, including CounterPunch editor Jeffrey St. Clair. I will state that, as far as I’m concerned, the fundamental reasons for Trump’s victory are the misogyny, racism, and ignorance that fuel these phenomena. As any honest observer can tell you, neither phenomenon is confined to any particular class or region of the country, but it seems fair to say that the South and Midwest contain populations where such sentiments may be in the majority of the voting population. .

There is no easy way to defeat fascism in the context of a capitalist economy and a bourgeois electoral system.

One cannot sit in their living room and curse at the television, hoping it will go away. As history shows, fascists will not stop until they are stopped by the forces that oppose them.

This fact means organization.

It means to get off your feet and hit the streets.

It means not compromising with those in one’s union, church and community who promote fascist agendas of austerity and division.

If (or maybe I should say when) ICE comes to your town and starts rounding up immigrants for deportation, they can’t come back, because it’s not happening to their family.

When women are denied reproductive choice and threatened with imprisonment for asserting their right to that choice, there is no compromise with the authorities who imprison these women.

When Medicaid and other government subsidies for health care are cut—leaving people without health care—one can’t just be glad it’s not them. These are just a few examples of when and where they must oppose the almost certain programs that will be implemented in the coming months.

There will be those who argue that Trump is not so bad. They lie. You only have to look at his vice president (who has become almost invisible in the last weeks of the campaign) to understand the true agenda of the Trumpist government. Although House leadership is uncertain as I write this, the United States is extremely close to one-party rule. From the Supreme Court to the White House, the right wing is in control. If the House goes GOP, we’ll live in a one-party state. I do not hesitate at all when I call it a fascist regime. I don’t think the reader should either. By doing so, it describes the confrontation with the opposition power. The current crises of capitalism demand an authoritarian government. We recognize that our future requires the dismantling of this government.

It’s time to take a risk. To put your body on the line. To hit the streets and make noise. To cause a ruckus if the situation calls for it. To piss off the fascists.

Don’t complain, get organized.