The Trump campaign aims to use today's shooting as a sort of Reichstag fire to incite his supporters to step up street violence while calling for more state repression targeting his enemies of choice.

The Biden campaign has already paused all outbound communications and withdrawn their television advertisements, ceding the entire field of narrative to Donald Trump, who will have no compunction about using his status as a victim to advance his efforts to victimize others.

One of the classic mechanics of totalitarianism is that protecting the safety of the leader becomes a justification for violence against large swathes of the population.

As centrists join the far right in paving the way for totalitarian rule under Trump, we have to organize to defend our communities. If you have been in denial about the challenges ahead of us, this should be a wake-up call to find each other and prepare for them.

The shooting at Donald Trump’s rally took place just in time to maximize ratings for the Republican National Convention. The Democrats already seem to be accommodating themselves to a future in which they will be the junior partners in an even more authoritarian reboot of state power.

In response to the shooting, politicians across the spectrum have decried “political violence." But political violence is fundamental to all government—not least the US government. The key to Trump’s appeal is that he is explicitly promising to direct this violence against undocumented people, poor people of color, women, queer and trans people, anarchists, and other scapegoats. Everything that centrist politicians do to pave the way for his return renders them complicit in the bloodbaths ahead.

Anarchists already participated in the round of social unrest that ultimately blocked Trump’s ambitions in 2017-2020. We know that voting, court cases, and liberal op-eds will not protect us.

https://crimethinc.com/TrumpYears

Yesterday, a Trump-appointed judge threw out the entire classified documents case against Donald Trump, defying over half a century of legal precedents. This should give those who marched with signs reading "no one is above the law" cause to reflect.

What is law, anyway? And who does it serve?

Law is not an impartial institution that inherently serves to keep tyranny at bay. It is a weapon in the hands of the ruling class. It is chiefly used against poor people and activists; when it plays a role in internal conflicts within the ruling class, the outcome generally shows the balance of power between the factions.

In this context, promoting obedience to the law as a good in itself means accepting that might makes right. All the legitimacy that Biden and his supporters have invested in the legal system have only made it a more dangerous weapon for Donald Trump to employ, should he return to power.

As we move into an era in which the court system will serve the most authoritarian elements in our society, the argument that it is necessary to obey the law will be used to excuse complicity in more and more egregious crimes against humanity.

Instead of saying "no one is above the law," we should say, with Hannah Arendt, “No one has the right to obey.” 🏴

Our analysis on this subject from 2018 remains evergreen:

https://crimethinc.com/abovethelaw

The pressure to immigrate to the United States is itself the consequence of US foreign policy and worldwide neoliberal economic policies that have impoverished millions, forcing them to flee war zones and economic crises. Soon, we will see even more people displaced by environmental disasters caused by industrially produced climate change.

Again, these are the fault of the ruling class, not the poor.

By immiserating both overseas populations and residents of the United States while suppressing anti-capitalist protest movements, neoliberal centrists created a situation in which fascists can pretend to be the only ones offering an alternative. But the supposed alternative represented by politicians like Donald Trump will only speed up the process of wealth concentration that caused this problem in the first place.

Organize to resist fascism and abolish capitalism and the state.

More on capitalism:

https://crimethinc.com/work

More on the scapegoating of immigrants:

https://crimethinc.com/borders

¿Por qué detenerse en la destitución de Biden?
El centro no lo puede sujetar

https://crimethinc.com/2024/07/11/por-que-detenerse-en-la-destitucion-de-biden-el-centro-no-lo-puede-sujetar

Parecería una metáfora pesada si no fuera nuestra realidad actual. Un anciano patriarca, representante de un proyecto político centrista que se derrumba, se niega a dar un paso al lado incluso cuando es seguro que se enfrenta a la derrota a manos de un aspirante a autócrata. Esto resume las perspectivas globales de la democracia en la actualidad.

No es un político en particular el que se ha vuelto senil, sino todo un sistema político.

#Español

"How do you feel about people who would say that direct action, shutting off the streets to traffic and so on, is really not a democratic way to go on? What would you say to that?"

"I don't agree with democracy, anyway, because democracy is about handing your power over to other people, it's still about a minority of people controlling the lives of everyone. Direct action is really simple, it just means taking control of your life, taking your freedom, which comes with your responsibility and your self-awareness and your awareness of your impact upon other human beings."

https://crimethinc.com/ReclaimtheStreets