If it had not dawned upon us before recent events, it should be totally obvious now: Christian theocrats, white nationalists and oligarchs who never have enough money are trying to drag the United States into a fascist hellhole with Donald Trump as the Dear Leader.
John Shattuck, president emeritus of Central European University and professor of practice in diplomacy at Tufts University, gave a talk at Boston University this past December. It aired in January on the Alternative Radio show at KPFA.
Shattuck said that Trump is following the fascist playbook of Viktor Orban of Hungary. Here are some crib notes from his speech.
Orban was democratically elected, but swiftly turned Hungary toward fascism. How did he do it?
- Taking over his party and enforcing iron discipline
- Attacking the universities’ academic freedom and shutting down dissent
- Appealing to the hate, fear, grievances and racism of his political base
- Demonizing his opponents, immigrants and minorities as “enemies of the people”
- Flooding the media with misinformation and lies
- Claiming unlimited power for himself
- Dismantling Hungary’s civil service workers and replacing them with lackeys
- Eliminating checks and balances by taking over the legislature, courts, media and civil society organizations
- Ruling by executive decrees, snuffing the rule of law
- Creating a new oligarchy that would fund him
Trump has done the same. He has intimidated Republican lawmakers so much that they follow him in lockstep. He has attacked academic freedom in universities, freedom of the press and the freedom of late-night comedians to make jokes. He’s shutting down DEI and critical race theory or anything he views as “disparaging” of the United States.
Trump’s platform is rooted in the racist hatred of immigrants. He’s “accidentally” sending law-abiding asylum seekers to torture prisons. His “health” secretary is making pandemics more likely. His DOJ has turned “justice” into kangaroo courts.
He makes up absurd lies (like his statement that Somalians in Minnesota are “garbage”) to appeal to his racist base. He scapegoats LGBTQ+ people and other minorities for the breakdown of morals.
Meanwhile, Trump has no problem with midnight raids that rip families apart. He doesn’t think ICE and Border Patrol agents are using enough violence.
This so-called peace president is murdering persons fishing on the high seas, unilaterally reneging on treaties, bombing countries with impunity and threatening other countries with invasions. He’s turning his back on working people, on education and on the rule of law.
And now he’s condoning the cold-blooded murder of peaceful protesters like Renee Nicole Good, falsely calling her a “domestic terrorist.”
We must face the fact that this is what we’re up against. Trump sees dissent as “domestic terrorism.” He wants us to obey him out of fear, to comply with his wishes both stated and unstated.
We must not comply. We must resist in small ways and large, according to our abilities and positions in society. Even the smallest acts of noncompliance are important.
Resistance is not futile. But what does it look like?
Shattuck says social disruptions, like economic depressions, can lead to greater democracy (like the New Deal) or to less democracy (like in Hungary). But if people can come together in the crisis over shared interests—like affordability, healthcare and housing—they can demand changes and make a difference.
Symbols like the national flag can be reclaimed. The “Star-Spangled Banner” is a symbol of our nation’s highest aspirations: rule of law, equal justice for all, a society built on human rights and freedom, and defending democracy against autocrats and authoritarianism.
People in universities, law firms and media companies need to resist pressure from Trump instead of “making the deal” that curtails their highest values.
The National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago has documented that big bipartisan majorities endorse the right to vote, equal opportunity, freedom of speech, retail equality and protection of personal data (!).
The challenge is to disrupt authoritarian rule at every level, but to resist nonviolently. So here is a plug to get involved:
- Join or organize a local resistance group like Indivisible (there are many more). Make common cause across lines of race, class, generation and geography.
- Seek to reach influence centers: government, business labor, law, education, medicine, culture, religion.
- Advocate for those people and institutions that are most vulnerable to intimidation, retaliation, detention and extortion.
- Employ strikes and boycotts against businesses and banks that support Trump’s agenda.
- Take part in direct publicity-gaining actions (like during the Civil Rights Movement). Two examples: Boston’s “ICE Tea Party” in which demonstrators threw ice into the Boston Harbor, and the Portland, Ore., protesters—dressed up in costumes as dinosaurs and giant crabs—who danced in the streets to mock officials’ accusations that the protesters were “domestic terrorists.”
- Get de-escalation training (because there might be agitators, spies and instigators who want to stir up violence at peaceful demonstrations).
- Take part in mass demonstrations, like the nationwide “No Kings” protests.
- Support victims of ICE and Border Patrol atrocities.
- Join Neighborhood Watch groups to monitor and publicize ICE raids.
- Give time and money to immigrant assistance groups.
- Witness, observe and film ICE roundups. ICE hates this activity because the light of publicity shines on their dark deeds and disproves their constant lies about fearing for their lives while they shoot demonstrators.
Some other ways to resist:
- Boycott media companies that try to take late-night comedians off the air.
- If you’re in the military or law enforcement, do not obey illegal orders.
- If you’re a high school coach, don’t allow ICE agents anywhere near your players.
- Organize school patrols by parents to watch out for ICE raids of students or their parents.
- If you are in education or a university, refuse to sign a “deal” with Trump or his minions.
- If you are a journalist, continue to report on National Guard movements; do not be intimidated.
Trump and the fascists want you to believe that resistance is futile. It’s not. Resistance might be costly. But it is better to fight for freedom and democracy than to kowtow to fascism.
