fuckyeahanarchistposters:

Hope Is in the Streets poster, full color version

Hope Is in the Streets poster, black and white version

Resistance Is the Front Lines of Hope

When
Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, anarchists and
other opponents of the state swung into action. While liberals and
party leftists were still reeling, anarchists immediately called for
combative demonstrations at the outset of the Trump regime, and took to
the streets alongside other angry people to show that business as usual
would be impossible under Trump.

In the first days of Trump’s
administration, countless people came together in courageous acts of
resistance, confronting the authorities and shutting down airports and
other infrastructure. This succeeded in breaking the ruling class
consensus around Trump, destabilizing his administration and undermining
its efforts to shift the US government from a neoliberal strategy for
managing capitalism to an overtly nationalist strategy. Had resistance
continued at that intensity, neoliberalism, too, might have been in
danger.

Unfortunately, this momentum was a victim of its own
success. As soon as it achieved a few victories, good liberals began to
stay home watching the news and “liking” things on Facebook rather than
putting their bodies on the line. Meanwhile, realizing that his initial
strategy had failed, Trump demoted nationalist advisor Steve Bannon,
ordered an airstrike in Syria, and tried to cozy up to the neoliberal
elements of the deep state. If he succeeds in doing so, he will be able
to push through his racist, nationalist agenda under the cover of
ordinary governance, just as Obama did.

It’s naïve to hope that CNN,
the FBI, or the Democratic Party will thwart Trump’s authoritarian
ambitions. They are just as essential to the power structure as Trump
himself, just as complicit in its functioning. Grassroots resistance has
been the only thing that has succeeded in putting the brakes on Trump’s
advance. Every victory against him has begun with people taking action
on their own initiative. If we hadn’t blockaded the airports,
would any judge have had the guts to block the Muslim ban? If we hadn’t
flooded the streets, would White House employees have taken the risk of
leaking information?

Going forward, we must remember the lessons
of the opening of the Trump era: that even in the face of the most
powerful empire in the history of the world, we have tremendous power,
as long as we don’t look to others to act in our place. Together, we
can take back our lives and disable the institutions through which our
rulers seek to dominate us. No party, politician, or organization can do
this for us. Let’s become ungovernable and free.

via: crimethinc.com