Resisting the MAGA/Musk Agenda
Many of us wondered what Donald Trump’s first weeks in office would look like. It has been horrendous– with more appalling news every day. You may have been following all the details or you may have been intentionally avoiding the news. We’ve gone from incompetent and dangerous cabinet nominees to Trump pardoning all of the January 6th insurrectionists, including those who assaulted and injured police officers. The devastating raids on immigrant communities and subsequent deportations have begun.
On climate, the President not only pulled us out of the Paris Agreement, but also ordered even more drilling for gas and oil, suspended renewable energy incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act, gutted EPA regulations that protected health and air and water quality, prohibited new offshore wind power installations, and cancelled all programs assisting other nations to respond to the climate emergency. It’s full speed ahead for more emissions.
Then we got firings (many of them illegal) of inspectors general, prosecutors involved in January 6th cases, and FBI leaders and rank and file, eliminating impartiality in the criminal justice system and making the Justice Department an instrument of the President’s personal retaliation and revenge.
Elon Musk’s personal takeover
Then came the news that Elon Musk’s team has taken “control of the Treasury’s payment system, thus essentially gaining access to the checkbook with which the United States handles about $6 trillion annually and to all the financial information of Americans and American businesses with it.” Musk’s team also breached computers with sensitive intelligence information that they lacked security clearances for. (Note that Musk is not a government employee and has not been appointed, nor confirmed, to any government position. Some are seeing this as a coup by a private citizen (who happens to be the richest man in the world).
We have new tariff wars that will raise prices in the U.S., inhibit our businesses’ ability to export goods, and damage our relationships with other countries. This is only a very partial list of all the actions by the MAGA administration that are harming people both in the U.S. and around the world. This has all happened in two weeks.
Destroying the federal government
The Trump/MAGA strategy is clearly to attack and offend on many, many fronts all at once, to create chaos and seek to leave those who disagree stunned, overwhelmed, distracted in all directions at once, and feeling powerless. They very intentionally want to destroy the federal government. Some are more focused on eliminating democracy and installing religious Christian patriarchy; others on getting rich and enabling the wealthy to gain even greater wealth; others on protecting themselves by destroying the justice system.
How can we respond?
First, I recommend we acknowledge how terrible all this is and give ourselves full permission to grieve, to scream, and to tremble with fear.
Second, I think it is important for us to remember that Trump got less than 50% of the vote. The country has not all succumbed. At least half of us are opposed to what he and his minions are doing. We have millions of people who agree with us. We can encourage each other.
Committing to a just and caring society
Third, as much as we may want to put our heads down and turn away from it all, I think it is important that we decide that we will engage in creating a very different society than the MAGA folks envision. We will commit to creating a society built on caring and inclusion, human rights for all, an equitable distribution of wealth, and making our planet a sustainable home for all species, including our own. We can make this decision now, even if we don’t know how we will do this or what actions to take.
Fourth, we can be kind–to everyone. Extending kindness even more widely than usual and getting more and more connected with other people, both those like us and those different from us, are powerful forms of resistance to the hate and division that the MAGA leaders are sowing. Being kind will also lift our spirits and help us remember who we really are.
Find ways to show your opposition publicly
Fifth, find some way to join with others and publicly show your opposition to the cruel and harmful policies being enacted by the current administration. Many organizations are now training people, and getting prepared to act when a good opportunity arises. Get connected with a group near you now.
Why Resist Actively and Publicly?
- Sometimes we will win. A huge public outcry helped get the administration to pull back the halt they had put on government payments of all kinds. A court has already blocked the attempt to end birthright citizenship.
- It’s important to stand with those who are being harmed. Even when we can’t win, no one being targeted by this administration should have to stand alone. We can support undocumented immigrants, LGBQT+ folks, and others at risk. We can sign up for rapid response teams objecting to immigration raids, speak up both publicly and privately, and write on social media, letters to the editor, etc.
- Even resistance actions that don’t succeed in mitigating MAGA-imposed harms, can build solidarity among those of us who remain committed to justice and compassion. Strengthening this solidarity is an important task in these difficult times.
Fortifying our spirits
I wrote recently about going to Washington, D.C. to the People’s March just before the inauguration. I have no illusions that that march had any effect on the new administration. However, being there with 75,000 others and publicly demonstrating my opposition to the MAGA agenda, has left me fortified in spirit and sure of my alliance with countless likeminded individuals and groups. I wish similar experiences for you.
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I took the photo above along the Appalachian Trail in Western Massachusetts.
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