"A great civilization is not conquered from without, until it has destroyed itself from within."

Empires Fall from Within

Author: Raúl Zibechi: When the issue of tariffs gains widespread prominence, the hegemonic culture believes that it will be China that will succeed in defeating Donald Trump's United States, as it would be in a better economic, social, political, and technological position to supplant its hegemony, giving way to a multipolar world. The entire analysis focuses on Trump's personal characteristics and what China is doing to counter him. The people, the true protagonists, remain in the shadows.

The growing militarization of societies like the United States is the response to the rise of collective action, which is forcing the entire political spectrum to become increasingly far-right and make repression its main argument. Those at the top are very clear, because it is a constant in history, that empires fall from within, due to the active or passive resistance of the people.

 

“The closer the collapse of the Empire, the crazier its laws are.”- Marcus Tullious Cicero

A recent article in The Guardian, titled "US intensifies crackdown on peaceful protests under Trump," from April 9, addresses the issue with rigor. It is striking that it was written by Katharine Viner, the newspaper's editor-in-chief, something unusual and indicative of the importance given to the issue.

It begins by stating that in the first four months of this year, 41 anti-protest bills have been introduced in 22 states, compared to a total of 52 in 2024 and 26 in 2023, according to the International Center for Nonprofit Law's tracker. According to the author, these are criminal penalties against peaceful protests protected by the Constitution, targeting “college students, anti-war protesters, and climate activists with harsh prison sentences and heavy fines, a crackdown that experts warn threatens to erode First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, assembly, and petition” (https://goo.su/QPKb9).

 

Had the Ottoman Empire been saved rather than sunk?

She also highlights the Safe and Secure Transportation of American Energy Act, which creates a new crime applicable to protests that disrupt planned or operating natural gas pipelines, “which would be punishable by up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 for individuals or $500,000 for organizations.” This repressive legislation is a significant leap forward since the 2016 anti-pipeline protests in Standing Rock, North Dakota, led by Indigenous peoples.

The Guardian editor argues that the new provisions seek to “discourage people from speaking out, in addition to being incredibly repressive.” Lawmakers typically respond with more and more repressive bills whenever a movement takes to the streets. “In 2021, 92 bills were introduced in 35 states in response to the social uprising sparked by the murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota.”

Jenna Leventoff of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argues that the raft of anti-protest laws “aim to scare people and discourage them from protesting, or worse, criminalize the exercise of constitutional rights.” Cited by Viner, David Armiak, research director at the Center for Media and Democracy, argues: “The sheer number and variety of anti-protest bills introduced in just three months, combined with the revocation of student visas and the disappearance of student protesters by the administration of the self-proclaimed ‘law and order president,’ indicates a move toward fascism.”

Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor, writing in the same outlet last Sunday, argue that “we must recognize that we are not facing familiar adversaries. We are facing end-times fascism.” In the article “The Rise of End-Times Fascism” (https://goo.su/2AN7T), they argue that these far-right movements “lack a credible vision for a hopeful future,” unlike classic fascism.

For those at the top, collapse is a kind of “regulation” of humanity. Trumpist Steve Bannon claims the world is going to hell because "the infidels are breaking through the walls of containment." That's why they're barricading themselves in bunkers and even dreaming of fleeing to Mars, like Elon Musk himself. That's what they're doing, militarizing, repressing, and building their worlds without the poor or people of the color of the earth.

Roman Empire Collapse

 If anyone can defeat the far right around the world, it won't be China. Just as we must understand that the far right sweeping the world is a reaction to the people's progress and the ongoing collapse, we must also accept that only the people and organized groups can stop them. Knowing that what they do is because they fear us should give us courage in such difficult times. We mustn't be distracted by looking to leaders.