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On the one hand, there’s no sugarcoating how progressives feel as President Trump retakes office: rough.
Trump and his allies in Congress are already rolling out plans to cut taxes for billionaires, slash services for the rest of us, pollute the planet, and deport people who’ve lived here their whole lives.
But if you look closely, you’ll see signs people aren’t just going to accept all this. Here are five that caught my eye from this past election year.
1. Populist anger is boiling over.
Americans have had it with economic elites. Union activity has been on an upswing for a few years running now, with union petition filings in 2024 significantly up over 2023.
And now Trump consciousness purports to claim – or reclaim – control over America: the land of white Christian nationalists and no one else, damnit!
But of course that level of selfishness – mine, mine, mine! – is only possible to maintain with a huge helping of fear alongside it: fear of the enemy. Fear of “them.”
Thus Alexandra Villarreal, writing in the Guardian about Trump 2.0’s first day in office (on Martin Luther King Day), noted: “He immediately involved the military, ordering the armed forces to ‘seal’ the US’s borders ‘by repelling forms of invasion including unlawful mass migration.’
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Following every Israeli war on Gaza, numerous narratives emerge. Some claim victory for one side and defeat for the other, while others—knowingly or unknowingly—attempt to exploit the aftermath for their own purposes.
The latter is not always nefarious, as the humanitarian calamities resulting from Israel's actions are undeniable—especially as Israel and its allies often use aid to Palestinians as bargaining chips for political concessions or to exert pressure on the Strip and its leadership.
This dynamic often results in the exploitation of Palestinian suffering to raise funds, sometimes by organizations with high overhead costs, leaving independent researchers puzzled over the discrepancies between the funds collected and the funds allocated.
Additionally, Gaza lacks an independent commission to track all received funds and their usage, which leads to controversies and public accusations at times.
Exploiting Gaza
On the one hand, there’s no sugarcoating how progressives feel as President Trump retakes office: rough.
Trump and his allies in Congress are already rolling out plans to cut taxes for billionaires, slash services for the rest of us, pollute the planet, and deport people who’ve lived here their whole lives.
But if you look closely, you’ll see signs people aren’t just going to accept all this. Here are five that caught my eye from this past election year.
1. Populist anger is boiling over.
Americans have had it with economic elites. Union activity has been on an upswing for a few years running now, with union petition filings in 2024 significantly up over 2023.
