Photography by Nathaniel St. Clair

Far be it from me to pretend that the American government is a democracy. In my opinion, capitalism prevents true democracy because of the influence of money on elections and elsewhere in the political system. This is especially true in the current monopoly phase of capitalism that we call neoliberalism. Just ask Elon Musk: billionaire Trump wants to implement his austerity program. The strength of his portfolio was a crucial element in the final weeks of the Trump campaign. It will be this way until the printing presses that print money stop printing and the engines that run cryptocurrencies melt the ice caps. In the minds of the ultra-rich, the US government is just another subsidiary and people are employees, customers and idiots.

I’m not going to spend a lot of time here trying to assess why Harris lost the election. There are others who are much more expert in this area, including CounterPunch Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey St. Clair. I will say that as far as I’m concerned, the fundamental reasons for Trump’s victory are misogyny, racism and the ignorance that fuels these phenomena. As any honest observer can tell you, neither phenomenon is limited to any particular class or region of the country, but it seems fair to say that the South and Midwest are home to populations where such sentiments may be present among the majority of voters.

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

You can’t sit in your living room and curse the television and hope it will go away. As history clearly shows, fascists will not stop until they are stopped by the forces opposed to them.

This fact means getting organized.

That means getting off your ass and taking to the streets.

This means not compromising with those in your union, your church and your community who advocate fascist programs of austerity and division.

If (or maybe I should say when) ICE comes to your town and starts rounding up immigrants for deportation, no one can turn away because it doesn’t happen to their family.

When women are denied the choice to procreate and are threatened with prison time for asserting their right to that choice, we cannot compromise with the authorities who lock up these women.

When Medicaid and other government subsidies for health care are taken away, leaving people without health care, we can’t just be happy that it’s not them. These are just a few examples of when and where to oppose programs that will almost certainly be implemented in the months to come.

Some will say that Trump is not that bad. They lie. You only need to look at his vice-president (who became almost invisible during the last weeks of the campaign) to understand the real agenda of the Trumpist government. Although the leadership of the House 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 is in charge. If the House flips to the GOP, we will live in a one-party state. I do not hesitate at all when I call this a fascist regime. I don’t think the reader should either. This describes the power the opposition faces. The current crises of capitalism demand authoritarian government. We recognize that our future requires dismantling government.

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

Don’t cry, get organized.