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LESS PROTEST MORE ACTION is coming from below, beyond the control of any
party with a stake in state power. In this scenario,
Steve Bannon and the white nationalists loseat
Its time to strategize. Should we fight a thou- least temporarilyand we duke it out with the
sand defensive battlesor a single offensive Deep State.
one? Protest Wont Change AnythingResis- This scenario involves tremendous risks. Re-
tance Will. Protest is so 2003, people. Resis- member, this is basically what happened in Egypt
tance is the new black. It is all well and good in 2013 when the Egyptian military deposed
for thousands or even millions of people to Morsi and installed the strongman al-Sisi in his
assemble in the street. However, doing so ac- placeeffectively bringing the so-called Arab
complishes nothing in and of itself, as many Spring to a close and re-stabilizing totalitarianism
of us bitterly remember from the lead-up to in the Middle East. If we count on elements in the
the invasion of Iraq fourteen years ago. On government to take care of the situation, they will
the other hand, gathering at times and places do whatever they have to do to sideline or sup-
where our presence impacts the day-to-day press radical activityand people will look to the
operations of essential infrastructure can ac- state to solve their problems for another full gen-
complish a great deal, as many of us remem- eration or more. On the other hand, if we proceed
ber fondly from the airport occupations two into open battle with the Deep State in conditions
weeks ago. This is the difference between of upheaval, we had better have a great deal of
symbolic protest and direct action, which an- thing from getting drastically worse is by going all
the population behind us, and we had better do
archists have been pointing out for upwards of in on revolution. Huge segments of society are
so in a way that doesnt leave any space for white
150 years. Less protest, more action, please. angry and afraid, full of fresh ideas and energy,
nationalists to regain their footing in opposition
open to radical perspectives, paying attention,
White conservatives and a small number of web- movements while we are reeling from repression.
well informed, struggling to survive, and ready to
based reactionary activists versus people of fight. Resistance to the Trump regime will suc- Finally, it is possible that there will be a crisis of
color, white liberals, a seasoned cadre of radicals ceed or fail depending on how effective we are at legitimacy but Trump will come out on top, using
and progressives, and the vast majority of Millen- finding each other and making the most of our it to purge the opposition and wipe out protest
nials? Lets do this. They may have more guns, various strengths. We need great numbers of movements. In this case, Steve Bannon and the
but we definitely have more numbers. Home team people to participate if we are going to prevail. No white nationalists will win and everyone else will
bats last. crack team of specialized activists can do this on lose. This seems to be the least likely sce-
Seriously, there is no point in pleading with this their own. No judge or politician is going to set nariobut most of us were surprised by Trumps
government or registering our opposition to its things right. Nobody can save us but ourselves. victory, too. In this case, it will be possible for
policies. They truly could not care less what we That should be more than enough. Bannon and his ilk to portray anarchists as tools
think. We need to make it impossible for them to of the Deep State at precisely the same time as
The most likely possibility is still that the Deep
govern. We can do this. For the moment, it may they are able to silence us with repression.
State (as represented by entrenched elements in
be enough to simply start picking targets to shut the CIA, the neoconservatives in the Republican Reviewing these possibilities, a few things be-
down, sending out calls over Twitter, seeing how Party, etc.) will manage to rein Trump in some- come clear. It is essential to organize in a way
many people show up, and taking it from there. I how, permitting him to carry out the ordinary rac- that distinguishes us from all state actors and
think that the airport actions were the right idea ist aspects of his program but preventing him leaves no space for the state to regain legitimacy;
we just need to apply that model to some part of from going overboard with economic protection- antifascism must mean opposition to the state
the government itself. ism, haphazard foreign policy, and collusion with itself, lest we topple Trump only to pave the way
They always say that the best defense is a good Russia. Repression will keep pace with escalating for an equally authoritarian regime. The sooner a
offense, and it did just work out that way for the social tensions as the law-abiding Left sells out crisis comes, the better, before Trump, the Deep
Patriots in the Super Bowl. The Trump admini- protest movements in return for another shot at State, and the Democratic opposition have the
stration is trying to send us scrambling in a thou- state power. In this scenario, we lose, Steve Ban- chance to get their feet under them; at the same
sand different directions at once. Its a trap. They non and the white nationalists lose, and the Deep time, we have considerable work to do making
hope to prevent us from capitalizing on the fact State wins, stabilizing capitalism for another four our proposals comprehensible to the general
that their government is out of step with the val- years or more. public. Last but not least, if regime change takes
ues and desires of most American people and place, the momentum must come from the
Those losses would be temporary, how-
holds questionable legitimacy in the eyes of mil- streets, not from within the halls of power. As
everthroughout such an administration, anar-
lions. usual, well get out of revolution what we put into
chists would compete with white nationalists for
it, nothing more.
It is true that many of us have to stay focused on the allegiance of increasingly disillusioned sectors
solidarity work, mutual aid, and self-defense. of the Left and Right. In such a scenario, it should In any case, our work is cut out for us and the
Theres no way around that. However, the time be possible to make the case to white working stakes are double or nothing. Well see you at the
has come to ask ourselves: under an extremely people that the bankers and businessmen have front.
hostile administration, is it more realistic to set bamboozled them once again by getting them to
out to overturn the Muslim ban and halt further back Trump.
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construction of the border wall, help our friends It is less likelybut possiblethat Trump will face
and loved ones evade ICE roundups and stay out a real crisis of legitimacy. In this case, protest
of prison, stop the DAPL and Keystone XL, pro- movements will rise to a boil, forcing the Deep
tect our drinking water and slow down global State to choose between Trumps presidency and
warming, tame the financial sector and stop the the stability of the state itself. If the Deep State
police from killing people and defend abortion steps in to depose Trump, whether covertly or
access all at the same timeor to take down the overtly, real social change may be on the ta-
government itself? blebut only if the momentum that drives events
We may find that the only way to prevent every-

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