Terrorism
Published at 10:01 on 23 April 2025
Timothy Snyder seems quite sure that it will come, and Trump fascists will exploit it.
His essay is incomplete, though. It fails to mention the possibility of left-wing, anti-Trump terrorism. Or, should I say, politically-motivated crime, since that is basically what “terrorism” is. “Crime” is of course itself a political term, as it merely means anything the government has proclaimed to be a crime.
It doesn’t even have to involve violence in the normal sense, i.e. violence against people. Vandalism of Tesla property is now being called “terrorism” even though vandalism has traditionally been considered a property crime, not a violent crime. Of course, that doesn’t stop politically-motivated vandalism from being labelled “violence”, either.
The above all just goes to show how politically-charged common terminology is. Even the Associated Press, normally regarded as one of the better mainstream news agencies (to the point that it is currently engaged in a court battle with the Trump regime), is getting in on the game.
Anyhow, don’t dismiss the possibility of some real terrorism on the Left, as Snyder apparently does in his essay, seeing as how he simply doesn’t mention it. Margaret Killjoy is considerably more honest in her recent essay that touches on the same subject.
However terrorism comes, if it comes, Trump is likely to exploit it. And if it comes in the form of left-wing terrorism, Trump is particularly likely to exploit it. However, it might not come. Contrary to popular mythology, the American populace, especially the more left-leaning parts of it, is remarkable in particular for its docility.
This makes left-wing terrorism less likely, but it makes a backlash more likely should it happen, because many otherwise opposed to Trump will side with the fascists if it does. Gotta take a firm moral stand against “violence,” after all, even if nobody gets hurt in the “violence” and the State is engaging in far worse actual violence.
As Killjoy points out, this would be a strategic error. Trump wants to create a fascist state regardless of what the Left does. Trump exists in the context of a nation with an exceptionally docile and acquiescent Left. Just compare the USA with the likes of France and Greece when it comes for the propensity for unrest to emerge in response to outrages from the Right, or with what the Left was doing in Germany, Italy, or Chile before those countries underwent fascist transitions in the 20th century.
Yet it is the USA that is presently undergoing a transition to fascism, not France or Greece. If a docile Left actually prevented fascism, we would not be where we are today.
To sum up: If fascists try to take freedom away, some people will attempt to resist it. The resistance will not be 100% coordinated and optimized. Some elements of it might choose tactics you (or I) disagree with and/or regard as unstrategic. The root problem is, however, not the resistance. It is the fascism.
I don’t know what to do about this other than to point it out. To fall for the whole “the Left provoked fascism” garbage is basically the same thing as a battered wife falling for her abusive husband’s lie that she is forcing him to hit her, and that she needs to try to be a better wife.