Yielding to the Administration
It bothers me when people call Trump voters “idiots”. More likely, they’re vile bigots. Or nasty xenophobes. Maybe they’re just poor. But they’re not idiots. I find the “idiot” label to be so wholly unproductive, dismissing both the person and quandary at large. Instead of looking at why or how right-wing leadership has gained momentum all over the world, the answer is simply written off as “this country is full of fucking idiots”. Idiots indeed.
Consider a much wider picture of America—beyond its individual voters—taking into account all of the powerful, influential companies and institutions that have yielded to the right-wing agenda over the last eight years (whether emboldened or just realized it was better for business), and I think it’s easier to start to seeing the whys and hows around Trump’s reelection.
On the tech front, less than a decade ago, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Elon Musk of X, Space X and Tesla, Jeff Bezos of Amazon and The Washington Post, Sundar Pichai of Google, and Tim Cook of Apple were advocating for progressive causes, donating to the Democratic party, and publicly denouncing Trump. But things like innovation, bettering society, taking care of humanity—peace—they aren’t profitable. They’re never going to be profitable. On the other hand, war, surveillance, prison, and destroying the environment sure are. And profit matters very much; like it or not, it’s a fundamental feature of capitalism.
These tech giants all played a role in Trump’s revival, suppressing and silencing so-called “left-wing” topics (usually impacting historically-oppressed people), from fracking to genocide, homelessness to police brutality, and all subsequent demonstrations. In lieu of truth, they force “balanced” dialogue, boosting and normalizing fringe supremacist attitudes. They readily hand over user data and actively aid in lethal defense and intelligence initiatives.
Protesters in Foley Square demanding Mahmoud Khalil's immediate release, 📸 Evan Simko-Bednarski / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty
But it’s not just tech companies that have stepped up their right-wing complicity. Universities have also been facing scrutiny as of late for cracking down on student protestors speaking out against Israel's genocidal campaign in Palestine. Anti-Zionist students accused of “antisemitism” (antisemitism ≠ anti-Zionism) have been suspended, expelled, and, as of March 8, handed over to the Department of Homeland Security and held in an ICE detention center—attorneys and family completely in the dark as to their whereabouts.
I’m, of course, talking about recent Columbia University graduate and green card-holder Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested at his Columbia Residential home on Saturday by ICE agents for “activities aligned to Hamas”—more specifically, for overseeing negotiations between the university and student protesters. ICE is also claiming that Khalil’s student visa had been revoked. Prem Thakker at Zeteo, writes:
The school even accepting “potential visits to campus” by immigration officers seem a far cry from Trump’s first term. In November 2016, the Columbia administration, led by president and First Amendment scholar Lee Bollinger, declared that the school would not allow immigration officials on campus without a warrant – nor share student information unless subpoenaed, ordered by the court, or authorized by the student.
In complying with Trump’s executive order to combat antisemitism by targeting “Hamas sympathizers” and pro-Palestinian demonstrators on college campuses, Columbia has not only blatantly violated the First Amendment, but has also managed to undermine its own institutional integrity.
Khalil is currently being held in an ICE detention center in Louisiana. On Monday, March 10, as a federal court judge blocked his deportation, thousands of New Yorkers took to the streets for an emergency demonstration demanding Khalil’s release. You, too, can demand the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil, here.