Opinion: We Must Resist Trump and Advocate for Transformative Change

Love, Justice and Climate Change
Donald Trump and his minions are deliberately destroying our federal government and the economy, giving control to billionaires and far-right extremists, enriching themselves, waging war on workers, immigrants, and marginalized populations, worsening the climate crisis, stealing our private data, and eliminating government services that have protected our health, safety, and security.

This is not just an extreme version of our two-party politics. This is something we have never seen before in the U.S. It is a full-out fascist coup by MAGA forces that seek to end democracy and the rule of law in the U.S.

Right now, Trump and MAGA have virtually all the federal governmental power. They are doing tremendous damage and causing great harm. It is not clear whether they can be stopped or defeated.

Polls Are Turning Against Trump — Grow the Resistance
The polls show that many people are turning against the Trump/MAGA forces. ABC News reported that 100 days into his presidency Trump had the worst approval rating of any President in 80 years. Other polls show widespread disapproval of many of his signature policies and actions. Millions have participated in protests, with protests occurring day after day in small towns and big cities across the county. The protests are making a difference and we need to keep them up and grow them — building and sustaining mass resistance.

More and more people disapprove of what Trump is doing, but getting a majority to oppose him will not be enough. Too often in world history, minority governments have been able to terrify and dominate their people and stay in power despite widespread disapproval.

Advocate for What We Do Want
To be successful in stopping the fascist forces, we will need to also advocate for what we do want from our government. We will need to engage people in building a new vision of what is possible for our federal government and our society — and agenda that will attract more supporters than either political party has had in the recent past.

Not What We Had Before
First, let’s be clear that we do not want to go back to what we had before Trump. This country was already not working for large swaths of the population. Even before Trump, we had widespread homelessness, poverty and hunger. Many, perhaps most, of our people were, and are, experiencing insecurity of one kind or another.

We have a broken healthcare system that leaves many without care. Our slow response to the climate crisis is hastening widespread destruction both globally and domestically. Perhaps most importantly, as Robert Reich wrote recently, “big money was taking over our democracy and siphoning off most of the economy’s gains.”

Time Magazine reported that “the top 1% of Americans have taken $50 trillion dollars from the bottom 90%” in the period from 1975 to 2020. This occurred during both Republican and Democratic administrations. No country can meet the needs of its people, have justice, or maintain democracy with that sort of wealth (and accompanying political power) being concentrated in such a small portion of its populace.

(Moreover, the wealthy are disproportionately responsible for a huge amount of climate change, with two -thirds of global warming since 1990 attributable to the wealthiest 10%.)

Anti-establishment Anger
Anti-establishment anger is justified. Trump has drawn it to a regressive populism that blames immigrants, the deep state, DEI, etc. That same anti-establishment anger can now be drawn to a progressive populism that puts the blame where it belongs – on big corporations, Wall Street, and the billionaire class. The working class and more privileged progressives can join together to advocate transformative change that will benefit working people and the common good dramatically better than either Trump or the pre-Trump status quo.

End the Concentration of Wealth
Ending the concentration of wealth among a small number of ultra-rich individuals will be key. We can advocate for taxing the ultra-rich to finance an income floor for everyone, Medicare for all, plenty of housing, and essential steps to meet the climate crisis. As Reich says, we can strengthen unions and require big corporations to share their profits with average workers. We can get big money out of politics, break up the largest corporations, and regulate Wall Street. We can build a society that respects and works for everyone and protects the most vulnerable.

Bernie and AOC Are Showing the Appeal of Such an Approach
None of this will be easy, but Bernie Sanders and AOC are demonstrating that such an approach has broad appeal across class and political party differences. Despite the disastrous effects of the Trump/MAGA phenomenon, we currently have the best conditions that we’ve had in a century for attracting large numbers of people to a platform that calls for taxing the rich and taking away their disproportionate political power.

The Trump/Musk destruction of government agencies and the protections and services they provide, has helped many people have a new appreciation of good things that a federal government could do to make the lives of ordinary people better.

A Society That Works for eEeryone, Where No One Is Left Out
We will need to learn to talk with respect, interest, and curiosity with people with whom we disagree about many things. The way that racism has been manipulated by the far-right to divide us will be a problem. But I am convinced that we have an opening to attract many people, of all identities, to the idea that we want a society that works for everyone — where no one is left out.

Russ Vernon-Jones was principal of Fort River School 1990-2008 and is currently a member of the Steering Committee of Climate Action Now-Western Massachusetts. He blogs regularly on climate justice at www.russvernonjones.org.