Notes on Escalation

On the road to fascism.

If we do not organize for a better future, we will not have one.

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is as old as I am, older by just a few months. Its purpose has always perplexed me. Who gives a shit if people are documented or not. I would bet real money that the average person does not think about someone’s immigration status much if at all.

Recently, ICE has been conducting raids in primarily black and brown community centers across the country. They have detained Native Americans and immigrants without criminal records. Just today, they arrested NYC Comptroller Brad Lander for expressing solidarity with local immigrants and asking to see their judicial warrant.

Earlier this week, officers (unclear if police or ICE) arrested one of my Senators, Alex Padilla, for just wanting to ask puppy shooter Kristi Noem questions regarding the ICE raids in Los Angeles.

The American government has shown this capability for violence and authoritarianism for quite some time; just look at the war on drugs or the creation of police stations or the way police have reacted to peaceful protests my entire life and my parents’ lives.

This is terrifying. What is even more terrifying are the calls to remain non-violent in the presence of systemic violence.

I just finished watching the most recent episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. He very astutely points out that we’re sliding down the slippery slope to fascism. These actions by our government against their very constituents is authoritarian. Arresting and detaining those who criticize those actions is authoritarian.

In February, I had the most incredible luck: I got to have lunch with Nobel Peace Prize recipient Maria Ressa. She revealed that she still had to ask permission from judges in the Philippines in order to travel out of the country. Her crime? Openly and routinely criticizing authoritarian actions and policies of former President Duterte.

One of us asked her if she regretted any of her articles published on her news site Rappler; she said she did not. It was her duty to inform the public, especially a public constantly subjected to politically influenced news that may not show the full story.

Her speech later that night centered on drawing parallels from the Philippines to the U.S. She discussed Duterte’s condemnation of so-called “fake news,” just like what President Trump has been doing since 2016. Now, Trump has fully defunded NPR and PBS, claiming that these are left-wing organizations spreading propaganda to the American public.

As someone studying journalism and history, I had just one question I most certainly had to ask Ressa: is there anything we can do in the U.S. to prepare for this authoritarian outcome?

Her answer? Imagine the worst that could possibly happen and make a plan for it. For her, that greatest fear was the government physically coming into her office and arresting them. Once she made a plan for that, she thought of the second worst outcome and created a plan for that. No matter what happened, Ressa and her team would not allow Rappler to be shut down; because of their preparedness, they never shut down.

Maria Ressa published a memoir detailing this saga and more entitled How To Stand Up To A Dictator. I highly recommend checking it out from the library if you can, or at the very least read the linked article.

In high school, my AP U.S. History teacher encouraged me to listen to “Bedtime for Democracy” by the Dead Kennedys. The album, the last studio release from the band, details the key issues of the late ‘80s from the genocide in South Africa to the Satanic Panic. Jello Biafra expertly enunciates each word amongst each distorted guitar; not only is it political, it’s also incredibly produced.

There are certain phrases that have stood out to me while listening, such as the breakdown in “Macho Insecurity:”

Why do you want people to be so afraid of you?

Why are you so scared of everything that’s different?

No one’s ever there when you need friends, you wonder why

It’s because you take yourself so seriously

But being such a clown

Gives the rest of us the right to laugh at your

Macho Insecurity…

…’cause you can’t stand yourself.

The most prominent line, however, stems from “Chickenshit Conformist:”

The more things change, the more they stay the same
We can't grow when we won't criticize ourselves
The '60s weren't all failure, it's the '70s that stunk
As the clock ticks, we dig the same hole
Music scenes ain't real life, they won't get rid of the bomb
Won't eliminate rape or bring down the banks
Any kind of real change takes more time and work
Than changing channels on a TV set
So, why are we so eager to please peer pressure decrees?
So eager to please peer pressure decrees
Make the same old mistakes, again and again
Chickenshit conformist like your parents

This time, we cannot let these same mistakes be made again and again. Everything will be a lot more terrifying if we don’t start acting up now.

Protests in America as they currently stand are ineffective; what’s the goal of a Women’s March? What’s the specific demand? Is there something we can demand or are we performing the role of protestor to make ourselves feel involved?

We must organize ourselves to fight against fascism. Currently, we must stop ICE from carrying out their deportation scheme. We must also protect transgender children and adults; we need to have bigots like Riley Gaines forced out of sports and we need to enshrine their right to gender affirming healthcare.

First things first, we can email our senators, call our congresspeople, and hone in on direct local action. Local action is the most effective - thanks to protests in Glendale over their police department housing ICE officials, they cancelled their contracts. I couldn’t find a template for exactly what to send to elected officials, but this toolkit from 2020 is rather informative. Check out the Immigration Justice Campaign or the ACLU for more ways to take direct action.

Second things second, we can keep ourselves intensely informed on one or two issues that we deeply care about while not over-investing in sensationalist news. For me personally, I keep tabs on anti-LBGTQ+ legislation and political detainments. For an up-to-date map on anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, please check out translegislation.com.

As far as non-sensationalist news goes, I typically get my news from either the Associated Press or NPR. I am very blessed as far as local news goes as my university’s paper is pretty great. I would double-check your local news station with this list of stations owned by Sinclair as they have been pushing right-skewed news more frequently as of late.

Please consider going to local protests. Please vote locally. Please get involved. Remember, if you do not stand up now, who will be there to stand up for you?