The 2024 U.S. presidential election has concluded with a victory for President-elect Donald J. Trump — and with it, the harsh reality of our situation has been made apparent. Vowing dictatorial policy on “day one,” the incoming Trump administration represents a dark and distressing day. With a campaign built upon xenophobia, misogyny and anti-LGBTQ+ vitriol, the rights and lives of people of color, women and the LGBTQ+ community are drawn further into the line of fascist fire. As the aftermath of the election begins to unfold, the bitter truth of our situation has become clear: Voting is not enough.
Trump’s winning the popular vote represents the troubling reality that a significant portion of the country aligns with supremacist values. It is a statement on how deeply the country is strangled by right-wing anti-intellectualism, and how so many are willing to side with fascist movements with the intent to improve their own material conditions by cozying up to an oppressive ruling class.
In a country whose electoral system prioritizes a winner-takes-all approach over the actual votes of the people, it is hard to argue that this election is a failure of democracy when the system that elected Trump is hardly democratic to begin with. We do not vote to directly elect — we vote to decide who state leaders will elect on our behalf. Thus, filling out ballots cannot suffice as our only means of political engagement.
As we reflect upon the political theater of the 2024 election, we must realize the truth. Republicans have continued to solidify their base of power as Democrats crumble under self-sabotage. They were unwilling to break their allegiance to U.S. imperialism — for instance, in their refusal to stop providing weapons to the Israeli government.
Democrats could have chosen the people over imperial interests if they truly wanted to. Because they decided against integrity, they enabled Trump’s return to power and participated in the national shift toward right-wing demagoguery. As for Republicans, their further descent into fascist and anti-intellectual vitriol is palpable.
As Trump and his political allies brandish violent xenophobic, misogynistic and transphobic rhetoric, the truth is clear: They are coming for those they publicly demonize most. We must be prepared for the worst when it comes to exterminatory policies that aim to enforce white supremacy, homophobia, transphobia and misogyny. As the leaders of the MAGA movement galvanize their supporters to a militant modus operandi of white supremacy, we must remain vigilant to protect one another. Fascism is not “at our doorstep,” as some have said. It has broken down the door.
Caught between the fascist tirades of Republicans and the failures of the Democrats that enable them, we cannot rely on politicians to help us, nor should we ever rely on the ruling class to save us from itself. We need to engage with politics more deeply than a quadrennial ritual whose very design only consolidates power for those who already have it. As this election has shown, fascism cannot be stopped by the myth of bourgeois benevolence. We are the ones who keep each other safe, for the people are the true agents of political change.
We must seek community action over political theater, providing equity and care by our own hands. We must be willing to be there for one another not just in words but in deeds. We must be ready to protect one another, providing aid to those who need it and organizing in the name of social and political change. When all we have is each other, the future will always contain a glimmer of hope.
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