#106: First as Farce, Then as Tragedy
:Why the Democrats are responsible for Donald Trump’s return to power
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Listen to the Episode — 18 min
Summary
Donald Trump has won the 2024 election. In order to understand what we’re up against, let’s look at how we got here. In many ways, the Democrats are responsible for Donald Trump’s return to power. Over the past four years, the Democrats have beefed up the institutions through which the fascists will enact their policies, normalized violence against the people that the fascists intend to target, turned over the communications platforms via which people share information, and discouraged people from the kind of tactics one needs to fight against a fascist regime.
Notes and Links
- Table of Contents
- Introduction {0:37}
- The Hot Potato Changes Hands Again {1:12}
- The Party of Complicity {3:03}
- The Road to Fascism {5:07}
- The Police {5:15}
- The Law {6:17}
- The Media {8:05}
- Emptying the Streets {9:28}
- The Political Rachet {11:56}
- Desensitizing the Public {14:04}
- The Road Ahead {15:10}
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This episode offers an audio version of History Repeats Itself: First as Farce, Then as Tragedy, published by CrimethInc. on November 6th. The article makes the case that, in many ways, the policies of the Democratic Party are responsible for Donald Trump’s return to power.
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For background on the events described in this article, consult The Billionaire and the Anarchists, which traces Twitter from its roots as a protest tool to Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform; Take Your Pick: Law or Freedom, which explores how the slogan “Nobody Is Above the Law” actually paved the way for tyranny; The Trump Years, a chronology of grassroots resistance from January 20, 2017 to January 20, 2021; and Why Stop at Removing Biden, an analysis of why it took the Democratic Party so long to remove Joe Biden and what the consequences were bound to be—a forecast borne out by the results of the 2024 election.
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Regarding the argument that state power has become a “hot potato” that burns whatever party holds it, consult this article and Chile and this earlier article about Ukraine.
- For a point of departure regarding how people can organize ahead of a second Trump administration, consult Don’t Doom Scroll, Organize: How to Get Active in the Current Terrain.