The Empire’s Descent into Fascism: Why community building is more important than ever

 The following is an opinion piece, and does not necessarily represent the views of NCPA as a whole.

As the reality of a second Trump administration looms hauntingly over the horizon, I can’t help but feel dismayed. I remind myself of the reality of the duopoly’s grip on American politics; both major candidates have been bought by the oligarchic class, and neither candidate will bring about the profound societal changes our nation desperately needs. I remind myself of the Biden/Harris Administration’s complicity in the genocide of Palestinians at the hands of the Zionist occupation, that regardless of who wins, my tax dollars will directly aid in the destruction of Palestine, and the proliferation of American Empire abroad.

Nonetheless, Trump’s return to power terrifies me. Let us not pretend for a moment that Donald Trump is anything but a neo-fascist, a danger to any pretense of democracy in the United States. I ask myself how so many Americans could forget about his failed coup in 2020, how could Americans forget how Donald Trump allowed an armed and violent mob to storm the Capitol in search of his own Vice President, simply because Mike Pence had the nerve to uphold the illusion of democracy within the realm of national American politics. How could Americans vote for that? How could Americans genuinely believe he won the 2020 election? Or that he represents their interests?

Let us make no mistake, Donald Trump is undoubtedly the significantly worse outcome in this election. The fact he was able to run, and that he won such a decisive victory, is a testament to America’s steady descent into authoritarianism/fascism, a process that has been aided by both Democrats and Republicans alike. That being said, Kamala Harris and the national Democratic Party are not our allies. Kamala Harris represents the status quo of American politics. Kamala Harris represents business-as-usual neoliberalism and neocolonialism, upholding a decaying unipolar Empire in an increasingly multipolar world – a world that is increasingly resisting Western hegemony. Who wins the Presidency of the United States matters little to the Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank, facing extermination at the hands of Zionism/settler colonialism. The occupation of Palestine will continue regardless of who wins, the checks will continue to flow freely into the hands of the settler government.

The harsh reality of America is that we are not a true democracy, at least not at the national level. The United States is an oligarchy with the façade of democratic governance. Our representatives and our executive branch are compromised by the oligarchic bourgeoisie, who will only allow candidates that keep their interests safe to run (see DNC efforts to defeat the Bernie Sanders campaigns of 2016 and 2020). It is clear that hopes for a genuine progressive movement within our current duopoly-controlled federal government are virtually nonexistent. It is clear through the lack of genuinely viable progressive third-party candidates (and this is due to numerous issues, both institutional and social), that we cannot count on the federal government to protect the working class.

This leaves us with state and local governments. These are areas where we have a fighting chance, especially within our local governments. We can (and do) run progressive candidates locally, candidates that are not beholden to the allure of capital. The threat of fascism has never been more real, we as progressives must launch aggressive campaigns to maintain and increase democracy within our communities, within our local governmental institutions. But we cannot stop there. Local elections are rife with potential for genuine transformative progressive change, but they alone will not get us the future we deserve.

An aggressive progressive campaign both electorally and in every other avenue possible is how Humboldt can resist fascism, and create a community that protects and uplifts its members in the face of rampant neoliberal and authoritarian exploitation. Now is the time for our community to come together – across partisan lines – and build a grassroots movement dedicated to holding our local institutions accountable. Our movement must also be dedicated to mutual aid and resistance to the interests of our oligarchic class.

Citizens of Eureka stood up to billionaire Rob Arkley’s class war in which he sought to hold the city of Eureka hostage as his own personal playground. The failure of Measure F is a tremendous victory for our local community, and if our community can come together to defeat our local cartoon-villain capitalist, we can defeat the capitalist/fascist class again. We cannot allow ourselves to give up. Our community is often on the frontline of popular progressivism. From the direct-action based movements that protected our redwood forests, to the brave Cal Poly Humboldt student protestors who directly faced authoritarianism at the hand of Mark Johnson’s police crackdown in April, to returning Tuluwat Island to the Wiyot tribe, Humboldt has and will continue to engage in the struggle for a more just and equal future.

While it is impossible for any of us to know how the next four years will play out, all hope is not lost. We sit here at the cusp of a profound opportunity to stand up to fascism, to American Empire, to genocide, and to capitalist exploitation. This fight will not be easy, but we have a responsibility to our community to do everything in our power to fight fascism and capitalism on all fronts.

-Travis Kennedy,

Web Administrator for NCPA