“If you drink much from a bottle marked ‘poison,’ it is certain to disagree with you sooner or later.”
– Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)

Regardless of whether we have Republican or Democratic leadership, if Americans continue to sip the poisoned bottle of hypocrisy, we will continue to struggle with an impossible truth: the United States’ brand of “peace and prosperity” has always depended on the use or threat of violence. This administration’s callousness has only served to expose the destabilizing feeling that arises when we’re lied to by a politician who claims to be paternalistically looking out for interests of the people, while actively organizing against the very people he claims to represent.

The recent deployment of the National Guard and Marines in Los Angeles to suppress immigration protests and community self-defense; the grotesque spectacle of Trump’s long-awaited parade in Washington, D.C.; the escalating war between Iran, the Middle East, and Israel; and the surge in domestic political violence—these are not isolated events. They are symptoms of a decaying militarized empire clinging to control through intimidation and force, both abroad and at home. The economic system it champions—extractive, exploitative, and indifferent to human suffering—is just as culpable.

The militaristic response to peaceful protest in Los Angeles, particularly to those opposing inhumane immigration enforcement tactics, should surprise no one. In fact, it might be one of the most honest moments in American politics in years. Is it grotesque and shameful? Yes of course. But is it “un-American?” Not if we’re being honest about what “American” has historically meant.

We’ve been asked to believe that the American brand represents strength guided by compassion, but that ideal often applies only to a narrow, white, middle-to-upper-class bourgeoisie vision of the country. The more honest truth is this: America has long relied on terror, violence, and the betrayal of its own stated values whenever it suited its interests (profiteering for the economic elite).

What’s happening now is not new—it’s just happening in a way that’s harder to ignore. As we’ve seen with the current administration, it’s far easier to rewrite history—or erase it altogether—than it is to confront the root causes of the suffering it produces.

Take the illogical talking points from the cultish corners of the MAGA right. They don’t just reflect the theater of the absurd we’re living in—they reveal a complete disconnection from reality. When Trump was asked last week whether he would invoke the Insurrection Act to federalize and militarize the response to protests in L.A., he replied:

“These are paid insurrectionists. These are paid troublemakers. They get money.”

The sycophants carrying out the MAGA agenda have taken this fever dream and turned it into an actual campaign of terror and repression. Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri—the same Hawley who raised a righteous clenched fist in solidarity with the actual insurrectionists on January 6, 2021, and then fled as soon as the far-right extremists breached the Capitol—is now launching a Senate investigation into multiple deeply respected community organizations serving the LA community, including at least the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles (CHIRLA) and Unión del Barrio. Hawley and a host of others are accusing these organizations of “bankrolling civil unrest.” These are but two examples in a sea of scapegoating and sleight of hand tricks the GOP is pulling out of its tired old playbook for trying to evade the fallout of an American policy bent on turning its people against one another.

Our responsibility as changemakers, now more than ever, is to identify and lift up the groups doing real work on the ground to create lasting change for those who once believed the U.S. offered hope for a better life. In the case of Mexico and Central and South America, people are attempting to escape the severe political and economic challenges that resulted directly from systematic looting by the global North. The community groups supporting humans in real-time are manifesting true mutual aid and collective organizing that the federal government has actively tried to destroy.

Unión del Barrio and CHIRLA have worked tirelessly in the LA communities for decades. Unión, founded in 1981, is a self-funded political organization dedicated to protecting the rights and dignity of the most vulnerable people. They resist ICE’s family separation tactics, fight labor exploitation, demand quality education, and call for authentic political representation. This clear-eyed and strong-hearted organization understands that this country cannot function without the contributions of Mexican and Central and South American immigrants, even as it actively organizes against their survival. Unionistas herald that every human everywhere deserves equal access, dignity, and the right of self-determination.

CHIRLA, founded in 1986, also works to advance the human and civil rights of immigrants and refugees—people upon whom this country is utterly dependent. That dependence was made crystal clear just last week when the very administration deploying terror tactics against immigrants and their families ordered DHS and ICE to halt raids on farms, hotels, and restaurants (and then apparently flip flopped a few days later). The message is clear: we don’t want you here—unless you’re serving us.

CHIRLA has been instrumental in fighting injustice for Californians including leading opposition to Prop. 187 in 1994 (denial of education and services for undocumented people), advocating for healthcare rights in 1996, winning the right for immigrants to gain a driver’s license in 2003, and helping pass the California DREAM Act in 2011, to name but a few. These victories have not only uplifted immigrant communities—they’ve benefited this country as a whole. To accuse either of these groups of “bankrolling civil unrest” is ignorant and defamatory.

This week the mainstream media provided a sad glimpse of our future if the current authoritarians continue to shape this country. Tanks roll down Constitution Avenue while howitzers blast shells signaling the arrival of the President, legislators who vote for violent policies sit stunned on national television describing the tragic emotional aftermath of political assassinations in Minnesota, while citizens exercising their Constitutionally-protected rights run from advancing horsemen as flash-bangs and tear gas canisters rain down upon them and the free press. Regardless of the rhetoric, unchecked violence upon citizens by the government is antithetical to any fundamental democracy anywhere.

What organizations like CHIRLA and Unión, as well as an increasing number of Americans, understand, is the profound difference between power and authority.

Power is the river that winds through the land, shaping it over millennia.
Authority is the dam built to try to contain and control it.

Power is 5 million citizens taking to the streets to deliver a unified message that a petty dictatorship is not welcome in this country.

Authority is a $40 million dollar sparsely attended parade of tanks and robot dogs attended by a yawning administration and their corporate sponsor VIPs.

Never underestimate the power of the people.  Keep resisting, keep protesting, and know CLDC has your back!