I have for the overwhelming majority of the last 22 years been the quintessential armchair socialist and radical. This means that I have studied economics, especially radical political economy, for about 22 years now, both formally and on my own and out of my own passion and interest and yet I have never been much of an activist to bring about progressive social change. I have, however, been quite active for brief periods of time, such as during the movement against the Iraq War, and with other city workers to resist cuts, layoffs, and closures threatened by the Great Recession and how that decimated the budget of the City of L.A. It is not like I have never chipped in. And any democratic movement for progressive socioeconomic change absolutely needs its scholars and theorists. In previous posts I have tried my best to bring my own ideas as they have formed from the teachings of others and of course my own life experience into a coherent whole that may be of some good to teaching others and to the movement.  Although it is true that I am an ardent scholar for socialism I have done precious little to actually help nudge any favorable form of it into being. This has bothered me a great deal, although studying on its own is also to be highly valued, not thought worthless. People battle over ideas and to win or least hold your own you have got to know what you are talking about.

Into this mental state of affairs came November 8th, 2016, at about 10:00 p.m., PST. The election of Donald Trump is an absolute catastrophe to this country and to the world. I was taken totally by surprise, I thought the U.S.A. would wake up the next day to its first woman President, a progressive thing all by itself even though Hillary Clinton is far from being the ideal progressive or liberal candidate. I physically sickened and sunk into an empty feeling of despair–not unlike the sinking in of the death of a loved one–came over me as I knew that the worst had happened. I felt afraid for my wife, an American citizen but born in Mexico City, because of the hate that she might be subjected to as militant racists and nativists were surely to be empowered by the election of their repulsive champion. I felt afraid for the poor, for unions, for Muslims, for women for whom it might be just a little more O.K. to sexually assault and harass. I was profoundly disillusioned with my working-class countrymen–they actually thought a monomaniacal billionaire capitalist would be their savior? Unless he or she is unusually enlightened, billionaire and other capitalists want to rule over you, control the means to your survival, and pay you the least amount that they can get away with–a power they have because they control the very means to your existence. Donald Trump is far from an enlightened human being as he has proven countless times, and as he will prove countless times as this nation’s president.

This Donald J. Trump catastrophe has really awoken my political senses as perhaps nothing else in the past has.

In left-wing, progressive, or liberal circles I have often heard the phrase, to “get organized” as a way to bring about positive social change. Often, we are implored to ‘get organized’ without any sort of explanation as to how, although this is not always the case and contact information of relevant organizations, etc is often provided. Still, what exactly did this mean, I often wondered. To get organized and do what? Sure, organize to take political action of some kind but how and for what? After November 8th the answer comes to me loud and crystal clear: organize for action. Organize for action to resist Donald Trump, his coming administration, and the utterly racist, white supremacist, nationalist, misogynist and overall reactionary (that word meant in the strictest political sense: driving things back to the past) movement he has created and awakened (although not ‘from scratch’; in the socioeconomic and or political realm, nobody creates anything ‘from scratch’).

This is what organizing, or at least the beginnings of organizing, means: to organize means to CONNECT AND STAY CONNECTED with people who feel the same way as you do and want to see the change you want to see. For starters, inform yourselves, and keep those in your circle informed as they also strive to keep you informed.  Connect, talk. Those in your circle or group ultimately converse and argue with many outside of it and so what needs to be know will get further exposure. Write emails and Facebook posts. Read relevant articles and books from good sources and share. This is at the core of organizing, sharing information that can lead to action.

For example, an article in the L.A. Times today explained how it is not known what faction of the Republicans, more traditional or Trumpist (right-wing, authoritarian populist) will make up Trump’s cabinet and administration. This has an effect on what many of us want to do, as well as determining the exact form of suffering for the majority. If Trump has essentially lied to those who supported him during the campaign, then we might be faced with a more austere Republican administration. The economy in this case will contract, jobs will be lost, working and poor persons squeezed. If he governs according to his campaign promises, then we will probably see the formation of a right-wing authoritarian or even Fascist regime in the United States, which may even (probably?) include those conditions in the more ‘traditional’ Republican regime. (Come to think of it, the Democrats and their regime are actually similar.) Really in either scenario opposition from us must be intense, committed, and well organized. It must also involve the greatest number of people possible. But in the Fascist scenario, civil liberties, such as Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Assembly may be severally curtailed. One of the key features, the defining features of Fascism, is how repressive, often violently oppressive, to any resistance to its reactionary economic and social objectives. Of course, we may get a system with features of both options mentioned here.

The goal of political organizing is of course being organized to take political action in order to achieve favorable (e.g., socially just, revolutionary) objectives. For starters, imagine all of the threatened persecution of religious, racial, and ethnic minorities during the Trump campaign and how that persecution is becoming a fact (notice the rise in Hate Crimes against racial and religious minorities, for this see the Southern Poverty Law Center site) and how much worse it will get. We can create quite a tragic list of those who are going to be victimized by the regime of Trump and his henchman.

What is just as scary will by the activities of  Donald Trump’s ‘support’ groups, who might not be using non-violent tactics and their vigilantism. These will most likely be legion, well-organized, funded, armed to the teeth, and may be indirectly supported or willfully ignored by law enforcement. Much support for Donald Trump will also take ostensibly, non-violent forms such as demonstrations and boycotts. I say ostensibly because even non-violent support from someone who is probably a Fascist is to support the violence, e.g., against immigrants and Muslims, that Fascists carry out.

I hope I am wrong about how bad this can all get, but stay in the game. Get connected. Get organized. You may not even like everyone in your political club or organization, yet be faithful to your cause and keep your eyes on your goals. Chances are, however, you will get along quite well with others in your group and even make quite a few friends. We can even have some fun. As they say, “don’t mourn, organize”. We will be stronger, invincible, together.