Having watched several law firms and Columbia University capitulate to what I’m hoping one day will be known to history as Donald Trump’s short lived fascist regime has me thinking about the The Trail of Political Consciousness, better known as Nemik’s Manifesto from the magnificent Star Wars show, Andor. The manifesto reads:
There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy. Remember this. Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they’ve already enlisted in the cause. Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward. And then remember this. The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that. And know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empire’s authority and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege. Remember this. Try.
These institutions that immediately bent the knee forgot to try. Others haven’t. Harvard told the Trump regime to go fuck itself and now the administration is claiming that it was just a mistake. Law firms are successfully fighting back as well. Deportations are being stopped by the Supreme Court.
Individually, no one has a chance against a state actor. It’s impossible. It takes everyone. It takes all the big fights and the little fights put together. The state’s resources are not infinite. If each and every one of us gang up together to fight every single thing these fascists do, one day, there will be one fight too many. One single thing will break the siege. Remember this. Try.