“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must — at that moment — become the center of the universe.” -Holocaust survivor, social justice writer, and activist Elie Wiesel in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech on Dec. 10, 1986.

Elie Wiesel’s words are as true today as they were the day he delivered them, as in many ways, our world today mirrors the rising tide of fascism in Europe and the United States from the 1920s through the 1940s.

I write this on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, exactly one week after the second inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States. Over the past decade, Trump and his MAGA legions have relocated the extremist right-wing political fringes from the margins to the mainstream.

With “Stand Back and Stand By” as his not-so-coded battle cry, Trump has empowered his white nationalist Christian soldier “brown shirts” as the literal and figurative head of his sword, puncturing and slashing a Constitutional order that he swore to “support and defend.”  His “strongman” alpha male tactics of intimidation, threats, and bullying are the means by which he uses to control and beat his detractors and opponents into submission, both domestically and internationally.

Behind closed doors, several Republican senators and representatives have anonymously expressed concern and even scorn for his policies and nominees to fill offices in his administration. Very few of them, however, have shown the backbone to publicly oppose him over his threats to campaign against them in the next election cycle. Trump also employs the power of social media to attack and shame anyone who stands in his way.

Following the Trump-led insurrection upon the Capitol building in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021, some Republican members of Congress publicly broke with Trump and severely criticized his actions that day.

Unfortunately, people like Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and former Representative and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) retracted their critical statements and traveled to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago seaside resort to bend a knee and figuratively kiss the tacky gold ring on Trump’s finger in penance for their transgressions. Their supposed spines turned out to merely be melting ice in the Florida sun.

On an international level, Trump’s means of intimidation include threats of imposing tariffs and violating existing treaties. On the day of his inauguration, for example, Trump signed an executive order removing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accords and also rescinded U.S. membership in the United Nations’ World Health Organization.

In his valiant attempt to enforce ethical standards on how other countries should “repatriate” undocumented immigrants back to their native Colombia, President Gustavo Petro barred two U.S. military cargo aircraft from landing in his country. Gustavo expressed his displeasure that the use of these planes treats his citizens as if they were criminals.

Under previous administrations, including that of Biden, deportations were conducted through commercial passenger planes, which Gustavo claimed was more appropriate and humane.

Trump reacted by immediately imposing a 25% tariff, which would rise to 50% after one week. He also instructed a travel ban from Colombia to the United States and canceled visas for Colombian officials. In addition, he called for heightened US Customs and Border Protection inspections on all Colombian nationals and cargo on the grounds of national security, and he imposed US Treasury-enforced banking and financial restrictions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Initially, President Gustavo responded by imposing a 25% tariff on US products coming into Colombia but soon felt that for him to protect the interests of his country, he had to submit to Trump’s terms of allowing military aircraft to transport Colombian nationals.

In recent administrations, the U.S. had relatively good relations with the Colombian government through ongoing open diplomatic channels. But our wannabe autocratic dictator believes he does not need to use diplomacy or compromise with any international leader.

During Trump’s first term in office (and even today), some leaders used the psychological tactic of complimenting and flattering his fragile ego to avoid any consequences stemming from his wrath.  

We can all be encouraged by a stirring speech in front of the European Union Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, one day following Trump’s second inaugural address. Here in its entirety are the words of Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, Irish Labour Party politician and member of the European Parliament:

“Yesterday, we witnessed the inauguration of a man whose ideology embodies everything the EU was founded to reject. The EU cannot just stand for our values when it is easy. It matters most when it comes at a cost. And standing up to Trump will come with a cost. But it is much less than letting this poison win.”

“I am done with the niceties from EU leaders to Trump while his techno buddies call for our laws to be undermined. I am done with the Taoiseach of Ireland, with our historic understanding of immigration and oppression, promoting Trump’s golf links in County Clare in response to his inauguration. And I am done with the so-called “strong men” who, if they had to live for one day in the shoes of an immigrant, a woman, or a transgender person, would quiver with fear.”

“Anyone who believes the founding principles of the EU should be appalled with what we witnessed yesterday. I am appalled, so I resist, and Europe must resist because our history demands it.”

Trump’s enablers, both domestic and international, need to take strength from people like Ríordáin and from Episcopal Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde of the U.S. National Cathedral in Washington, DC, who, during her inaugural sermon, implored Trump to “find compassion” and “have mercy” on LGBTQ+ people and immigrants.

While hardly veiled or clandestine and not as dramatic as the covert partisan legions under Nazi occupation, there are literally millions of good, hard-working people throughout the world laboring diligently to turn back the Christian white supremacist neo-Nazi nativist tide we are currently witnessing.  

Resistance movements have surfaced throughout the planet in an attempt to depose autocratic leaders in countries like Israel, Turkey, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Mainland China, Russia, Hungary, and Poland. 

The Trumpian age must be understood as a national wake-up call, one that has set off a blaring siren, an alert to those who have not previously counted themselves among the throngs of progressive political activists.

Let’s return to the poignant wisdom of Elie Wiesel: “The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.”

Bullies fall when others act. We, the people, will act, and Trump will fall.