From RefuseFascism.org

An Open Letter to People of Conscience, Organizations and All Who Abhor the Trump/Pence Regime

January 3, 2018 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

January 2018

We write to you with a shared and urgent concern for the future of humanity.  People all over the world are counting on all of us to act to stop a rapidly unfolding catastrophe that confronts the planet and its people because of the Trump and Pence regime.  We write to invite you to meet and engage with our organization and others about what is the scale, scope and nature of the problem we face with this regime?  What can and must be done to stop it? We can and must find the ways to work and struggle together to stop this regime as soon as possible.

One year of the nightmare of the Trump/Pence regime: the damage done already digs deep and wide, with far worse to come if it is not stopped.  The environment; the very present danger of nuclear war; the terror in which millions of immigrants now live; the aggressive assertion of white supremacy, misogyny, anti-LGBTQ, and American supremacy in every dimension; the demonization of Muslims; the list goes on.  Meanwhile, basic civil and democratic rights, as well as the very concept of evidence and objective truth, are under relentless assault.

Every agonizing and infuriating day since the Trump/Pence inauguration, the fascist nature of this regime has been borne out.  Yes, they have faced resistance and had occasional setbacks.  But it must be faced, their regime has been resilient, bouncing back from crisis after crisis, shock after shock.  They have withstood protests, petitions, legal challenges, mockery, international scorn, twitter storms, a few electoral defeats that were exceedingly close, and damaging investigations.  The regime’s support from one third of the country has hardened with thugs emboldened.  Fascists can and often have tightly ruled from the position of being an aggrieved minority.  Simultaneously, all too many people in this country adjust to a new normal.

RefuseFascism.org has analyzed and said since its inception that “The Trump/Pence Regime is a Fascist Regime. Not insult or exaggeration, this is what it is.”  We have set forth our determination that “In the Name of Humanity, We REFUSE to Accept a Fascist America.” 

We wrote that: “Fascism has direction and momentum. Dissent is piece by piece criminalized. The truth is bludgeoned. Group after group is demonized and targeted along a trajectory that leads to real horrors.”  Doesn’t this describe what has gone down in year one?

If we understand and come to grips with the character of the problem we face, we can find and work on the solution. We will have our differences, which we should acknowledge and engage; such differences, however, can NOT prevent us from uniting and acting together in the larger interests of humanity.

There are those who say that this is not full out fascism yet.  Precisely the point: not yet.  It is, however, a regime that everyday shreds political and civil norms, remaking society and government, moving to consolidate fascism under the signboard of “Make America Great Again.”  Is there not sufficient evidence that this is the direction and momentum of what is unfolding?

Fascism is more than a “gross combination of horrific reactionary policies …[that] what is crucial to understand is that … fascism essentially eliminates traditional democratic rights.”  At a certain point, which could come sooner than you think, it could become too late – there could be a political or international incident that results in a lock down on dissent, with a populace that has either accommodated to the new norm of fascism, or is politically passive expecting that the normal electoral processes of government will prevent the worst from happening.

With such stakes for people here and around the world, how can we fail to make the time to talk and find the ways to seriously work together to stop this? 

There are related important questions to dig into:

* There has been inspiring protest and resistance against the attacks on the people by the Trump/Pence administration. This must grow broader, deeper, and more determined.  We can not continue to have a situation where aside from legal support, the immigrant community is nearly alone in protesting deportations and arrests — including when the Dreamers confronted the top Democrats who conciliate with Trump.

At the same time, 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.

So how do we strengthen this resistance, while more consciously forging the links to a movement  demanding that the whole illegitimate regime must go?  

* What kind of  struggle and movement is required to drive out a regime that controls almost all the branches of government?

We confront a regime that wields a thuggish fascist mass movement as well as all the governmental instruments of repression and control.  Defeating this requires an extraordinary struggle of millions of people protesting in a sustained way – day after day.  If the whole regime is not removed (even if in stages) then, the danger will persist potentially in even more virulent form.

So how would such a struggle be built, and how would this actually work?

As you may know, Refuse Fascism called for mass protests nationwide on November 4, 2017 to launch such a movement.  4000 people came out in over 20 cities, and did so in the face of unrelenting fascist threats broadcast on mass media and the internet, including vicious armed fascists who showed up in 3 cities to threaten. November 4 was an inspiring day, a harbinger of potential, but it did not launch the movement of mass continuing growing non violent protest that was, and still is, needed.

We have begun a process of figuring out why, and we invite you to read some of what we’ve been wrangling with.  The point for now is that we are working on the contradiction between the relative stability of most people’s lives and reluctance to upend that, on the one hand, and their deep and profound revulsion and turmoil over the horrific actions and future of the Trump/Pence Regime on the other: in brief, how does the latter come to the fore?

Part of the problem is this: people have been told by the leadership of the Democratic Party to rely on them, to wait and work for normal process of electing them to office.  People have been instructed that mass protest will only stir the beast of the fascist forces, that it will undermine the Democrats chances to win over “swing voters,” to be “realistic,” and not think and act outside the framework of politics as usual and perhaps see the role of the Democratic Party leadership’s conciliation with the fascists over a long period of time, or even to begin to question the whole set up.

The question, then, is how essential is defiant, non-violent, mass struggle in the streets to driving out this regime and preventing the full horror of fascism? And what is the basis for such a struggle to take place?

* * * *

There is a great responsibility that falls to people in this country to act to prevent the consolidation of fascism in the world’s most powerful nation.  It is with deep conviction and determination that we say “In the Name of Humanity” We REFUSE to let this happen.

As we head into year two of Trump/Pence there are some who are euphoric over a few electoral wins, others who despair of potential to actually remove the regime and are burrowing in to “movement building,” choosing to ignore the reality that with fascism, the rules of the game can radically change overnight, and it can become too late.  And there are some desperately and bravely struggling against the monster.

If you are reading this you are one of millions who wants the nightmare of the Trump/Pence regime to end.  The people can drive it from power.  Refuse Fascism has made a start. Many have resisted and there is a broad reservoir of people who deeply abhor the regime.

Now it depends on you and us together finding the ways and the means to unite to struggle to drive it out.  To do anything else, or less, is to put humanity’s future in peril. That we must not and will not do.

To that end, we invite you to talk with national and local leaders of Refuse Fascism in the next two weeks, as they tour New York, Los Angeles, the SF Bay Area, and Chicago.

RefuseFascism.org

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