Our Fight Against Oligarchy

David W. Marshall

You are either against President Trump or you are for him. In the same vein, you are either for authoritarians running the federal government, or you are against it. You cannot be both.

Unfortunately, most institutions are proving to be weak in the face of authoritarianism. The Republican Party with their long history of promoting patriotism, family values and national security was the first institution to accept authoritarianism by anointing Donald Trump as their leader. We can no longer trust that any resemblance of the old Republican Party still exists to form any amount of political or moral resistance. As the livelihoods of everyday Americans are under constant threat, many of those who will be hurt by this authoritarian take over still support the president’s efforts.

At a ceremony in the White House’s East Room, the president recently signed an executive order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education while surrounded by over a dozen children seated at school desks. Before sitting down, the president asked the group of assembled children if he should sign the order. The request was greeted by enthusiastic nods.

The Department of Education oversees approximately 100,000 public and 34,000 private schools across the nation. It funds special education programs for 7 million students with disabilities, provide Pell Grants and student loans for college and career training, protects students’ civil rights while supporting lower-income students in rural, suburban and urban communities.

Trump said he wants Linda McMahon, the billionaire education secretary, put herself out of a job. “Hopefully, you won’t be there too long,” he said. Many of Trump’s supporters, young and old, are like those young children who applauded and nodded their approval but are blindly being used for political purposes. While the young children sat while they were used as props, they were clueless to the long-term harm that is being done to their generation.

That is not the case with the Republican governors and state education commissioners who were in attendance. Our institutions need to be reformed, but not by destruction in this way. Many people who support this move are either blind for various reasons or they simply do not care that we are now a country governed by a small group of billionaires.

The fight against oligarchy has put billionaire insiders such as Elon Musk and Linda McMahon against the “forgotten man”. President Franklin Roosevelt used the phrase “forgotten man” to describe those who are at the bottom of the economic scale whom Roosevelt believed needed help through his New Deal programs. Today’s version of the “forgotten man” is not limited to just the poor.

If you are not considered part of Trump’s billionaire circle of influence, then you are considered an “forgotten man” in their eyes. This transcends economic class, red state / blue state identity, religion, profession, gender and level of education. It includes those who are blinded by their own bad choices and decisions when thinking the Trump administration actually has their back. While Republican governors Ron DeSantis of Florida, Greg Abbott of Texas, Mike Braun of Indiana, Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Jeff Landry of Louisiana and Mike DeWine of Ohio were among the state leaders witnessing the president gut the Department of Education, we have to wonder which of the state executives will be the next Mike Pence who was determined to be no longer needed by Trump. The former vice president quickly became a forgotten man in a different sense when Trump’s form of loyalty had an expiration date.

People of both parties are now angry. Republican lawmakers are facing fury during town halls because the Elon Musk cuts are not just hurting blue states. Democratic lawmakers are facing anger at town halls by being seen as a weak opposition party in response to the president’s actions. Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego were told to “fight dirtier" and “get in the mud” with Republicans. Sen. Bernie Sanders has always spoken out in exposing the intentions of the one percent billionaires during his campaigns for president.

He is continuing to do so, but the stakes are much higher now. Now that the destruction plans of the government are becoming clear, Sanders speaking directly to red America may be how we stop authoritarianism. With his “Fighting Oligarchy Tour, Sanders has begun holding a series of rallies in GOP-represented swing districts to bring attention to his anti-billionaire, pro-democracy message. He is now joined by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The anti-oligarchy mass rallies have brought out record-breaking numbers showing that a widespread desire to resist Elon Musk and Donald Trump exist.

Can the “Fighting Oligarchy Tour” become the organized mass movement that would be needed to keep us from becoming a total autocratic nation? Some form of major opposition has to be done, because passivity will not work. Cracks in the MAGA machine will continue once they realize their social security payments could be in serious jeopardy. If this becomes the organized movement that builds resistance to the takeover, then I’m on board. One day those schoolchildren will be old enough to truly understand why the movement was needed.

~ David W. Marshall is the founder of the faith-based organization, TRB: The Reconciled Body, and author of the book God Bless Our Divided America