Why the Resistance Matters

Why the Resistance Matters

Anti-authoritarian “neighborism” and cross-racial solidarity from below are a massive problem for the regime, exposing Trumpism’s structural weaknesses and ideological blind spots.

Some thoughts from my new piece:

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https://steady.page/en/democracyamericana/posts/d7e07dc3-dad1-41e3-992a-28b4aa4e0b47

As the resistance in Minneapolis is holding, the paramilitary occupation of the city is providing a window into the weaknesses of the MAGA regime, a case study of the potential limits of violent authoritarianism, and a reminder of what democratic solidarity can achieve.

The “Where are the protests?” lament after Trump’s inauguration was always based on a (willful) misperception. Over the past year, protests have been far more numerous, more geographically widespread, and more sustained than what we saw in 2017, for instance.

And “protest,” in a narrow sense, isn’t even the right term for what we are seeing now. Crucially, in reaction to the regime sending an occupation force of masked goons, a new form of resistance emerged: Communities responded with collective action through locally coordinated networks.

These are not “protests,” but what Adam Serwer has so aptly called “neighborism”: Acts of democratic solidarity that directly confront the political project that is fueling the violent occupation and defy the MAGA vision of terrorizing those who don’t “belong” into isolation.

A smarter, more prudent regime would have changed tactics long ago. But the Trumpists have kept escalating. This is not a momentary mishap. Their stubbornness is fueled by significant structural weaknesses and ideological blind spots.

The Trumpists have bought into their own propaganda: When they took power, they really believed they represented the “will of the people.” And they exist in a rightwing information bubble that constantly affirms such nonsense.

Secondly, ideological hardliners like Stephen Miller simply don’t believe there is such a thing as an authentic, organic protest. If MAGA is the embodiment of “real America,” then by definition those who object are not actually “American.” They can be identified and purged from the “Volk.”

That there might be millions of white American citizens who are animated by a deeply felt solidarity with their neighbors, a sense of commitment and responsibility that can’t be extinguished with a bit of violent intimidation, is not something the regime properly accounted for.

Finally, the Trumpists conceive of power entirely in the categories of domination and subjugation. They lack an understanding of exerting influence that incorporates persuasion, co-optation, and tactical compromise. Any resistance they meet they seek to break with brute force.

In Minnesota, the MAGA regime must now reckon with the fact that a lot of white “heartlanders,” who Trumpist intellectuals love to idealize as “authentic Americans,” are not willing to let race and religion define the boundaries of their solidarity.

Even if millions of white Americans understood the authoritarian nature of the threat, there is a visceral quality to the realization forced by the images of the public executions in the streets of Minneapolis that is different: We are all at risk. And if we don’t act, we are all implicated.

For MAGA, this form of cross-racial solidarity and anti-authoritarian “neighborism” is acutely dangerous. Trumpism as a political project stipulates that whiteness would override other forms of solidarity. If not, then what do they have to offer with their vastly destructive policies?

All the shrill raging from the Right against white “race traitors” can’t change the fact that the type of solidarity that has been on display in Minneapolis is not at all confined to Minnesota.

In Surprise, Arizona, for instance, people are protesting DHS plans to build a detention center for migrants.

That there might be millions of white American citizens who are animated by a deeply felt solidarity with their neighbors, a sense of commitment and responsibility that can’t be extinguished with a bit of violent intimidation, is not something the regime properly accounted for.

For MAGA, this form of cross-racial solidarity and anti-authoritarian “neighborism” is acutely dangerous. Trumpism as a political project stipulates that whiteness would override other forms of solidarity. If not, then what do they have to offer with their vastly destructive policies?