The Average Person's Guide to Fighting Fascism in the USA

It's time to resist Donald Trump, his Make America Great Again movement, and his oligarch cronies

When I started this Substack I thought I was going to focus mainly on Ukraine and the Kremlin propagandists’ efforts to turn worldwide public opinion against Ukraine. But then Vladimir Putin's biggest ally, Donald Trump, decided to run for president again and he was allowed to do so despite being a convicted felon who also attempted the violent overthrow of the US government on January 6, 2021. No one stopped him and he barely managed to win the election. There is plenty of blame to go around for that debacle but I already wrote about it.

So now I'm focusing more on Trump than Ukraine because I'm an American who lives near the nation's capital of Washington, DC and everything Trump says and does will directly affect me more than what is going on in Ukraine. But at least Ukraine and those who are against Trump share a common enemy who is directly responsible for what is happening in both of our countries—Vladimir Putin.

If all that weren't enough, one of the first things Trump did after winning on Election Day was to make Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy the co-chairs of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an unofficial organization that is not a federal executive department because that would require approval of the Senate, whose sole purpose is to cut what it deems as wasteful government spending. Ramaswamy has since left DOGE, leaving Elon Musk to call all the shots.

And boy has Musk delivered, starting with trying to shut down USAID. I had a friend who worked for USAID for most of his career until he suddenly died last summer. I remember at his memorial service people talking about how he was very passionate about his job. I know that he would have been heartbroken at the recent news.

But then it gets worse. Last weekend Elon Musk and DOGE had suddenly taken over the federal payment system that's responsible for all kinds of payments including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, federal employee paychecks, and much more. To say that it could be potentially disruptive is an understatement.

So where do we Americans go from here? Sure there's the option of leaving the country but if you're poor, that's something that's easier said than done.

I came across this Substack post on Fighting Fascism: How We Push Back and Win. It has some great tips and ideas.

I also recently came across this podcast from Keith Olbermann where he has suggestions for what the Democrats in Congress can do right now to stand up to Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

In that podcast Olbermann cautions against ordinary people doing street protests similar to the Maidan protests in Kyiv because, at this point, Donald Trump needs an excuse to declare martial law and street protests would be enough. Even if they are nonviolent there's a danger that some cops could just violently crack down on protesters or these protests could be infiltrated by agent provacateurs whose sole goal is to make those protests violent and give Trump an excuse to suspend the Constitution.

This is why I'm getting suspicious of this antifascist protest that's being organized on social media for February 5 where people are urged to march on all 50 state capitals against Trump's implementation of Project 2025 that's being called 50501 (for 50 states/50 protests/1 day). They even include some eye-catching graphics like this one.

It's being organized mainly on this Reddit forum but the details are sketchy. For example, I live in Maryland so if I were to participate, I would go to Annapolis to protest. But there are no details on where protesters should gather. Do we go straight to the front doors of the State House? Do we meet at Lawyers Mall? Do we meet at the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley memorial and march to the State House? Do we meet outside of the historic St. Anne's Episcopal Church and march? Do we meet on the campus of St. John's College and march? Or do we meet elsewhere? I wouldn't know just by looking at Reddit.

What's more, I don't know who is behind organizing those protests. Is it an individual, a small group of people, or is it a union or some other type of organization? I wouldn't know by reading Reddit. All I can say with absolute certainty is that the Poor People's Campaign have absolutely nothing to do with this. (After taking a couple of months off after Election Day, the leadership has scheduled a nationwide conference call on February 12 where I will find out about any future plans for the Poor People's Campaign.)

I found this screenshot of a post on Substack Notes that is also expressing suspicions that these protests may be some kind of a trap that will ultimately enable Donald Trump to completely suspend the Constitution and rule as an absolute dictator. She cited the lack of specifics (such as where people should meet, have the organizers gathered the necessary permits, etc.) as well as organizers not answering questions.

Keith Olbermann is right, we shouldn't give Trump a real reason to become a full dictator less than a month after assuming office. People really need to do some quick research about any announced protest before attending it in person (such as doing a Google search on the person or people responsible for organizing that protest). If you don't get any satisfactory answers about the people behind the announced protest, do not go. Your personal safety should be your top priority. Attending a protest that's really a trap designed to get you arrested or even killed is the last thing that you need.

But that doesn't mean that ordinary people can't do something on their own in the meantime. Here's something that I provided a link to just a few days ago but I'll mention it again.

During World War II the precursor to the CIA, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), came out with a book titled Simple Sabotage Field Manual, which was written to instruct people living in fascist countries on how they can quietly and nonviolently sabotage operations. What's more, if they are discreet about conducting these operations, then there is less of a chance that they will get caught and reported to the authorities. Many of these tips in that manual can still be used today. You can download a free declassified version right here.

Another thing to do is to get a hold of a copy of Timothy Snyder's book On Tyranny, which is about how authoritarian countries operate and how a person can deal with it. The first rule Snyder has is this: Do not obey in advance. During the early phase of a new dictatorship the new dictator will test people to see how pliable they are and how much he/she can get away with controlling other people. Obeying in advance means that you've exposed yourself as a total pushover and it empowers the leader to become more and more controlling.

And here's a fun fact: On Tyranny author Timothy Snyder also has a free class on YouTube in conjunction with Yale University titled Timothy Snyder: The Making of Modern Ukraine, which is based on his semester-long class on the history of Ukraine. It's definitely worth watching if you want to learn more about the historical background of the current Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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