There Are Cracks in the Empire
There Are Cracks in the Empire
The U.S. is a fascist country, but we're still here fighting
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I feel immense compassion for anyone struggling with the results of the U.S. presidential election. There’s a lot of tension, rightful anger, and despair going around right now. I was less shocked about Trump winning this time around than in 2016, but it’s still wild to see how popular a rapist racist menace is. For me, I’ve felt lousy about Harris and was not aligned with any of her policies (I’m a communist), especially her penchant for carcerality (“I have a glock. My background is in law enforcement, so there you go.”), militarism (“I will ensure America will always have the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world”), genocide (“I’m speaking”), and crossing the aisle (“I’m gonna have a Republican in my cabinet”).
The Harris Campaign had multiple issues from the start, and I’m hoping that Democrats and Liberals will learn something. This moment of a woman running for president felt a lot like Hillary Clinton circa 2016. By this, I mean it felt a lot like Dems and Libs threw their entire hopes and dreams onto someone solely because they were a woman who fit the political mold since they couldn’t continue with Joe Biden. Let’s be real: Clinton wasn’t a popular candidate, but if people weren’t going to vote for a white woman in 2016, then they most certainly weren’t going to vote for a biracial Black woman in 2024. The U.S. has only moved further right since 2016. The entire Harris Campaign was clear about wanting conservative votes. There was no attention to class, disability or much else. Harris was never going to save us. No politician can.
To the people intent on a woman president: this country might never be ready for a woman president, because this country hates women. No, really. The day after the election, young white men on Twitter wrote, “Your body, my choice, project 2025” under posts by women in despair. This country desperately needs to grapple with its misogyny problem (and yes, many women are also misogynists). This country needs to grapple with its racism, its white supremacy, its culty religiosity. To be clear: a woman president is not any sort of success at or finality of gender “equality.” There is something to be said about girl-bossing too close to the sun after all. People must have some level of narcissism, egoism and elitism to even want the job of president. All genders can exhibit these traits. A woman president, under our current structure, will be the same as all of the men preceding her.
Harris didn’t win this election because we have a country built on genocide and slavery that continues this genocide and slavery here and outside of the imperial core. Harris didn’t win because the Democrats used their embarrassing tactic of “when they go low, we go high.” Harris didn’t win because she failed to show any attempt at care or interest in trans folks, Palestinian folks, poor folks, disabled folks. Harris didn’t win because she literally offered the people NOTHING.
I learn so much from various people online and read K (Toyin) Agbeiyi’s (sheabutterfemme) Instagram stories after the election, in which she wrote:
Trump is not a politician or presidential candidate. He is literally a religion. And we need to attack him from that framework… He is a religious ideology that many people will need to be unbrainwashed from.
This is the truth. You could show and tell Trump supporters how they’re voting against their interests (since many are) and they still wouldn’t believe you, nor would they care. These people are part of a cult and they need to be treated as such. Unbrainwashing people takes a long time. What’s here now is here to stay for a while. This is why it’s even more important to collectivise with those on the left as well as Democrats and Liberals (whenever they’re ready to join us).
To the white people saying they are leaving the country: go ahead. Tell me where you’re going that isn’t fascist, because a lot of countries in Europe are either already fascist or headed that way. Canada also has a rising far right movement. When I see other white people saying they’re going to move to another country, it screams big colonizer energy to me. If you have the privilege to move, you probably have wealth, which you could be redistributing to folks in the U.S. or Gaza or elsewhere. Disabled people can’t flee. Poor people can’t flee. The majority of us can’t flee.
People need to stop relying on voting in this country. I’m not saying don’t vote—especially in your local elections—I’m saying you have to do other things (organize in your community, join mutual aid efforts, etc). There is far too much voter suppression for us to think voting, especially alone, will fix or change things (at least in national elections). Not to mention, so many people didn’t align with the Democrat’s policies this go-round as they’ve moved further right. I’m hoping that this moment will radicalize Democrats and Liberals. It is no one’s fault for not winning an election except the candidate. Blaming third party, blaming non-voters is not going to solve anything. We desperately need to move beyond a two-party system. Join the resistance! Better late than never!
The U.S. is a fascist country. Whether we have Harris or Trump at the helm doesn’t erase this fact. I don’t think this country can make much progress until land is given back to Indigenous folks. In the meantime, we need to invest in our communities. We need to talk to each other. Now is not the time to give up on each other, because we will need everyone we can find to fight and defeat fascism. We need to resist the every-four-years circle jerk election urgency. We have to crave something different.
In a country hellbent on isolating each other due to hyper individualism, we have to consistently defy this. In a country that wants us to be chronically fighting with each other (online and off), we have to work hard to resist.
There are cracks in the empire. An upheaval is on the horizon. There are people from this land who have never left and continue to fight. Don’t let them fight alone. Don’t let any of us fight alone.
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