Antifa's perceived legitimacy is inversely correlated with the government's. Which is why, in the Trump era, the movement is growing like never before. As the president derides and subverts liberal-democratic norms, progressives face a choice. They can recommit to the rules of fair play, and try to limit the president's corrosive effect, though they will often fail. Or they can, in revulsion or fear or righteous rage, try to deny racists and Trump supporters their political rights. From Middlebury to Berkeley to Portland, the latter approach is on the rise, especially among young people. [emphasis added]
One problem: The Trump/Pence regime does NOT play by the "liberal-democratic" rules, those "norms." Trump proved this repeatedly throughout his campaign--and throughout his presidency so far, disregarding and trampling on the orderly "cherished" norms of "how things have been done," including by those in power. As Trump and his regime assaults and destroys these "norms," Beinart acknowledges this, but then pleads with "us," the "movement" of opposition, to work within them. "How things are done" includes perhaps some resistance, but in service of channeling into elections and waiting till 2018 and 2020--or protesting each new outrage of the fascist regime as their clampdown tightens. This will have catastrophic consequences. As the Call for Refuse Fascism sharply states:
We must recognize that the character of fascism is that it can absorb separate acts of resistance while continually throwing the opposition off-balance by rapidly moving its agenda forward. The Trump/Pence regime will repeatedly launch new highly repressive measures, eventually clamping down on all resistance and remaking the law" IF THEY ARE NOT DRIVEN FROM POWER.
At a time when these liberal-democratic norms are breaking down, with the struggle of the people, the acts of the fascists, their divides with other sections of the ruling class, and overall intensifying polarization in society, Beinart aims to recover these norms, to "hold the center." This whole deadly logic--along with the roots of fascism in this country and the traps that hem in the thinking of people in confronting this danger--is analyzed in Bob Avakian's new talk, "The Problem, the Solution, and the Challenges Before Us," which we urge our readers to listen to and/or read.
Beinart elevates the functioning of this system--of which Donald Trump and this fascist regime is a product--over the monstrosity represented by this fascist regime, gravely underestimating its horrors, dangers, and consequences.
What, Mr. Beinart, do you advise if Trump does do all he has said he will do and the organized fascist thug forces grow, cohere, and become more empowered to act with impunity? Note that in every city, the police have stood aside for fascist forces, escorting them safely to their cars, and then gone after the forces who oppose the fascists. What, Mr. Beinart, do you advise when the Trump/Pence regime throws millions of Black and Latino people off voter rolls in the name of combating "voter fraud" and effectively engineers an electoral victory even before the elections? Defies judicial orders that go against their executive actions? Institutes martial law in the ghettoes and barrios of this racist nation? Rounds up the "young people" (and others) whom you worry do not recognize the government's legitimacy? Launches war against North Korea or Iran or Venezuela, and rounds up everyone opposing it, or of targeted ethnicities? Should we end this nightmare or wait to see how this unfolds? Substitute "chancellor" for "president" and "Hitler" for "Trump" in the above paragraph you wrote and it would be a prime example of how the road to the death camps got paved.
There is not going to be a cut-rate, no-sweat, play-for-time-and-wait-till-it-blows-over way to deal with the situation we face: a fascist cabal intent on consolidating unchallenged rule, with the ultimate obliteration of all democratic rights, and genocidal measures, including perhaps literal genocide. 3 The best thing to do is to act right now as if not only our lives, but the interests of humanity, depended on ousting this regime--because they do, OK? It is worth noting Trump has his finger on the nuclear button; Hitler did not have nukes!
This has historically been true with previous fascist regimes, and it is proving so with the Trump/Pence regime. Even as they face obstacles, they seek to impose different and more oppressive cohering norms in society, trample civil and legal rights, and mobilize violent fascist social bases, like Trump does with his "rallies." Fascism is hammered in place from above, and by the thugs. Terrified progressive critics of Antifa--and really of all serious resistance--don't confront this reality and dynamic--of fascism. Willfully blinding themselves, they propagate foolishness, blinding others. With this dynamic of fascism on the move, the scope and space for protest is undermined, weakening the basis for the people to fight, to resist"-even as the horrors of fascism accelerate and accentuate!
What is needed is what Refuse Fascism is calling for, beginning on November 4, for people from all walks of life and many differing points of view to
gather in the streets and public squares of cities and towns across this country, at first many thousands declaring that this whole regime is illegitimate and that we will not stop until our single demand is met: This Nightmare Must End: the Trump/Pence Regime Must Go!
Our protest must grow day after day and night after night--thousands becoming hundreds of thousands, and then millions--determined to act to put a stop to the grave danger that the Trump/Pence regime poses to the world by demanding that this whole regime be removed from power.
In this light, it is important to recognize that the more that fascist groups roam the streets unchallenged, the stronger they become and the more energized they are in imposing fascism, including seeking to crush opposition and resist efforts to oust this regime.
There is still time to drive out this regime--but NOT if people allow themselves to be bound by the very rules that enabled the rise of the regime. NOT if--to paraphrase Yeats--"the best lack all conviction" (and worse yet, condemn those who do righteously act on conviction), and "the worst are full of passionate intensity." This will not be without sacrifice--those who are so fond of pointing to the civil rights movement as a way to shake your finger at the youth today should really think about what was actually involved in Birmingham, in Selma, and in Philadelphia, Mississippi.
Point Number Three: It is unconscionable to cooperate in treating anyone opposing the fascists as the equivalent of the fascists.
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