So what now?

You want to resist fascism. Here are six ways to begin.

I don’t know about you, but it’s been a strange ten days for me since that Trump-Biden debate. Every day the prospect of Joe Biden stepping down has appeared to inch closer, only to be followed by an announcement that he’s “in it to win it,” which is in turn followed by an abysmal poll, and so on and so forth. In his latest interview, on ABC, Biden tried to convey strength and clarity, but instead lapsed into comments about how if Trump wins he’ll know that he gave it his all, even saying that only “the Lord Almighty” could persuade him to give up this race. It’s gotten to the point where David Axelrod, famous as Obama’s chief election strategist, wrote an op-ed for CNN about the president’s “Denial. Delusion. Defiance.”

Photo by Stephen Mayes on Unsplash

Here we are, at a pivotal juncture in American politics, which will undoubtedly affect people from Palestine to Latin America to the world at large, in addition to those of us living in this country. No one will swoop in to save us, to save this country or save the world from it. So I want to be pragmatic today, first and foremost. That means acknowledging that even if the Democrats switch candidates and win, the fascist movement will not suddenly abate. The North Carolina’s GOP candidate for Gov. Mark Robinson is saying that “Some folks need killing,” the president of the deeply conservative Heritage Foundation is saying, “We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be,” and fascist street gangs are marching in U.S. cities. I list these not to bring despair, but to ask us to confront reality. What we see, very clearly, is the U.S. right eagerly embracing fascism, and the center doing little to nothing to halt their progress.

Among the enablers of this fascist progression is the very small cadre of family and close confidants insulating Biden, both from criticism and from reality. This small group, including the President, looks very likely to hold the blame for letting the avatar of the American fascist movement waltz to power. What David Graeber called the “extreme center” is willing to back Biden to the hilt, despite the wishes of their voters. But far more important than assigning blame, we need to examine the system which has made this moment possible. It is this system that makes so many of us feel helpless. Because if we recognize the threat we face for what it is we are very likely enraged at those who pretend to care about nothing more than fighting fascism, but who in truth refuse to take the single most important step possible to prevent its immediate ascension to power. And right here we get to a painful reality. Why are we so powerless? Why are we forced to run up against the infinitely frustrating feeling of trying and failing to get the party that has spoken about fighting fascism for seven odd years now to do what’s necessary to win this battle?

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The truth is that our political system doesn’t function very democratically at all. It could be worse, but it could be a whole lot better. We have a mountain to climb to change it, a ton of work to do to build a real democracy in this country, one where we don’t simply have to hope and pray and shout about one man handing the country over to an overt fascist. So where do we begin, where do we start the task of building real democracy and people power? I want to begin by giving you a short list of questions inspired by Mariame Kaba. These are a response to the question “What now?” which is exactly what more and more people are asking as the full reality of the struggle ahead dawns on us. So here are four questions:

1. Who’s already doing the work I want to engage in?

2. Are they organizing to really build power, and not just engage in charity?

3. Is that organizing challenging the root causes of the problems we face and building towards systemic change?

4. Which of the groups that meet these criteria do I have the capacity to join and commit to? 

To begin it’s helpful, reassuring, and important to know that few of us have to reinvent the wheel. Both national and local organizations have been organizing for systems change for years and decades. National organizations like DSA, the New Economy Coalition, Dream Defenders and more are immensely valuable because there’s a good chance that they either have a chapter or a member organization in your area. Many of the chapters or coalition groups also have hybrid meetings to allow more people to participate. These organizations are sites where we can work towards real transformation, towards a post-capitalist society, and not just tweak the collapse around the edges. Local organizations that are already doing this work are also phenomenal, of course, and I want to briefly talk about six things in your vicinity that you get can very likely get involved in.

1: Tenants Unions

Some cities have city-wide unions, some have them neighborhood by neighborhood, and some don’t (yet) have them at all. But with the massive increase in rents, not to mention the cost of buying a house, tenants unions are and will become one of the most important ways we can struggle against the ruling class and build the power to beat back fascism. In addition to the power tenants have when they come together to make life more livable, these unions provide an entry point for a huge range of people to get into organizing, meet and connect with their neighbors, and build power. We need these organizations, and we need being a part of them to become a part of our daily lives. We need places to come together, organize, and learn. Plus, more radical tenants unions have come out to support Palestine, work against policing, and help build a broader left movement that can wield real power.

Good resources here from the Autonomous Tenants Union Network to learn more and get started on tenant organizing, if there isn’t a union you can join in your area: https://atun-rsia.org/resources 

2: Trade Unions

Much like we should organize in our neighborhoods, we should organize at work. The true democracy we need to build requires worker democracy, meaning that our jobs should be run by workers instead of being little dictatorships where owners and bosses tell us what to do. And class-struggle unions, meaning unions eager to fight for a comprehensively better future where we democratically control our workplace, and this country, are vital to the fight against fascism. I wrote recently about how these unions play a massive role in a broader movement for a better world, far beyond any of our individual jobs, but getting there requires taking the first steps of joining unions, forming a union if there isn’t one to join, and making our unions more militant and democratic. 

This article by Joe Burns, author of the book Class Struggle Unionism, is one place to start: https://jacobin.com/2022/04/class-struggle-unionism-business-labor-movement

The Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee is another, particularly for those trying to form a union at their job: https://workerorganizing.org/

Photo by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona on Unsplash

3: Anti-fascist organizing

This type of organizing is vital, but can be harder to plug into. For obvious reasons people are rarely public about saying “Come join our antifa group!” But, there are public rallies to counter fascists, there is research to be done when it comes to outing Neo-Nazis and other local fascists, and there is community defense work to be done everywhere. We are at a juncture where the far-right is emboldened, and unfortunately the odds of that changing soon are slim. But in the long term we can change it — we can make them afraid again. Outnumbering them, making it known that being an open Nazi will cause these goons to lose their jobs, and most importantly making each of our communities safer from fascists is all-important work. You and people you trust can engage in it, the community organizers in your area can engage in it, and people can do vital research to dox and out these threats to our society online as well. 

This interview with Shane Burley and Maximillian Alvarez is one place to start: https://therealnews.com/antifascism-beyond-antifa-a-conversation-with-shane-burley-and-maximillian-alvarez

4: Solidarity Economy work 

I recommended the New Economy Coalition above, a network of over 200 organizations around the country working to transform how our economy works and build an alternative, or many alternatives, to capitalism right here and now. Some of this work involves mutual aid, some of it is building worker cooperatives, some of it overlaps with the militant side of the union movement, and all of it helps us build real economic power here and now. It helps us get free from the shackles of capitalism, thus challenging the power of the ruling class and the fascists they support. There are very likely people in your area already doing this work, and there are countless ways to get involved.

The New Economy Coalition: https://neweconomy.net/

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

5: Community organizing 

I wanted to write first about more specific ways to plug into the long-term work necessary to build a movement capable of beating fascism and getting society past this late stage of capitalism we find ourselves in. This category is a bit of a catch-all, intended to say that there are great organizations everywhere working to end the power of police, build a strong environmental movement, create community gardens, empower block associations, and otherwise build people power in our communities. My suggestion is that you find groups who are not simply working toward minor reforms, but instead working to transform society, move past capitalism, and fundamentally transform our world so that the well-being of people and the planet is placed above the drive for profit. And, if you are unable to find these groups, countless people are more ready right now than ever to start an organization with you. It takes ample planning, the ironing out of a democratic structure, and a core handful of people, but it can be done and it can be done well.

6: Political education

This final element should run through all of our organizing. We should always be learning, learning together, and pairing that learning with doing. In some of my organizing this has meant portions of the general meeting being set aside to read together and discuss articles together. In others it's meant a book club or discussion group that meets outside the main body but is open to all. Sometimes it’s just meant talking and learning and sharing informally. My preference is undoubtedly for as much of a group as possible to learn and grow together and to have our assessments, both of current developments and political theory, inform the work we do. All of us have more learning, and unlearning, to do than we realize. It’ll take a tremendous amount of organizing to build the world we need, but it’ll also take frameworks like dual power and democratic confederalism and more. And right now is both the time to act and the time to learn.

Maybe the single most helpful reading on this topic is Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire: https://envs.ucsc.edu/internships/internship-readings/freire-pedagogy-of-the-oppressed.pdf

Conclusion

It’s not easy to shake the feeling of the past ten days, the sense of being ignored and helpless as things rapidly get worse. And I want to tell you that we’re not helpless, because we’re not inherently helpless at all. But decades of ceding control, ceding the economic levers and political power and the real authority in society to a very small group of people has put us in a position where we lack good immediate choices, and where we lack the power to have our wishes, the wishes of the masses of people, enforced. However, and this is what matters most, that can change. We can change it. We are already starting to change our powerlessness, and you can jump into the tide of people reclaiming power over their lives today. It requires thinking more collectively and less individually, it requires thinking of power and the political as part of our everyday lives instead of as occasional votes or rallies, and it requires action. We cannot be passive spectators in this world. We can’t afford to be consumers who sit back and let others run the show. That model has been tried, and while it’s worked out great for the few, it’s failed for the many. It has brought us to this exact moment. So right here and now is when we need to change course, get active, and collectively build the capacity to exercise power.

My list above is far from exhaustive, but I hope you’ll start with the questions and go from there. If I can leave you with one thing it’s the knowledge that there are countless people out there working for democracy, for justice, for the transformation of society away from fascism and oppression and towards real freedom. There are people waiting to welcome you into that work, and into groups that very likely exist all around you but of which you aren’t yet aware. Reach out to that political friend who you know organizes, reach out to that person you’ve seen online talking about their work, reach out and get involved and bring others along. The approaches and institutions and ways of doing politics that we’ve seen for most of our lives have failed, and the time for something new is now. But unless those of us who oppose fascism act together, the future will be ugly, nasty, and brutish. It will take our time and deep commitment to offer a real alternative and turn instead to a future of flourishing, sustenance, and justice for all. 

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