Now Is The Time
On December 23, 1776, Thomas Paine, the radical republican, wrote:
“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.”
This was published as part of a series of letters called The American Crisis.
George Washington liked the December 23rd letter so much he had it read out loud to his soldiers.
Two hundred forty-five years on, we have, perhaps, “obtained[ed] too cheap” our freedoms, so that “we esteem [them] too lightly.” We’ve voted not once, but many, many times for politicians who value power and wealth over democracy and freedom. Politicians who see military imperialism abroad as an entitlement of American exceptionalism, rather than a denial of democracy and human rights. And now one of these politicians, and the party he leads, are preparing to end the American experiment.
We know Mr. Trump’s end game. Dr. Heather Cox Richardson, in her “Letters from an American,” succinctly expressed the danger:
“What is really at stake is the delegitimizing of Democrats altogether before the 2020 election. Today Jenna Ellis, senior legal adviser to the Trump campaign and one of Trump’s personal lawyers tweeted: ‘No Democrat should EVER AGAIN be elected in the United States in any capacity. The government’s constitutional obligation is to preserve and protect OUR rights, not to preserve and protect their own power. They are willing to sacrifice America and our freedom and liberty. NO!!!’”
Dr. Richardson also notes Mr. Trump’s red baiting and racism.
“The Executive Order blames the protests in Portland on ‘rioters, arsonists, and left-wing extremists who… have explicitly identified themselves with ideologies — such as Marxism — that call for the destruction of the United States system of government.’ It says that those calling out racial bias in America are seeking ‘to advance a fringe ideology that paints the United States of America as fundamentally unjust and have sought to impose that ideology on Americans through violence and mob intimidation.’ It claims: ‘These radicals shamelessly attack the legitimacy of our institutions and the very rule of law itself.’
The language and tactics of Mr. Trump’s regime are not new or unique to him. They are the well-tested words from the playbook of our past, beginning in the 19th century, and they’re always uttered as preludes to repression. Every expression of dissatisfaction with the status quo was stirred up by “socialists” and, later, “ungodly communists.”
Mr. Trump’s racism is also part of a pattern begun early in American history, as planters feared their wealth was in danger of disappearing into the rebellious hands of poor Whites and Black slaves. Separating White people from Black people through the creation of false racial pride preserved wealth. Never mind that poor Whites and enslaved Blacks were the majority of the population of the so-called democracy, they were suppressed to safeguard wealth.
Wealth and power, power and wealth. Mr. Trump and his Republican Party strive to permanently acquire both.
Elected Democrats are making a little noise, but the dangers are so great they should be screaming, not clearing their throats. Instead, a few days ago Democrats in the House passed out of committee a budget for what is now clearly a dangerous Department of Homeland Security, designed to control the empire at home, just as the military budget controls the empire abroad.
This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t vote for Democrats — we should, especially in the 2020 election — but it is to recognize that Democratic politicians are, at best, unreliable allies of freedom and democracy. Without pressure from the streets, they will default to serving their Wall Street donors and the military-industrial complex.
Democrats, unless pushed from behind and below, will not save us.
Now is the time for action. Whatever the level of activism you’re capable of, now is the time to engage. Sign up for a civil liberties organization like the ACLU. Join a more openly radical group, like Code Pink, the Poor People’s Campaign, the War Resisters League, or the Democratic Socialists of America. Participate in a rally or a march, write letters, make phone calls, send emails, donate money. Stage a one-person protest at a nearby federal building. Anything!
Silence is consent. Silence is complicity.
As Elie Wiesel said in his Noble Prize speech:
“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”
