Opinion: DC’s Dissent into Dystopia Didn’t Start with Trump
Let’s face it. DC is becoming more and more dystopian by the minute. Just like the frog in the pot of water that’s slowly coming to a boil, we District of Columbia residents are likely to get used to it. In truth, the water’s been simmering for a long time, well before Trump took control of the stovetop. Things are getting hotter though. The question is will we survive or get out of the pot in the nick of time?
Dystopia: A society where life is miserable, oppressive and dehumanizing. Characteristics include a suppression of dissent, constant surveillance, arbitrary arrests and detention, environmental collapse, extreme inequality, etc.
Dystopias persist not only because we don’t realize we’re in them—’that’s happening to them, not to me’—but also because they’re not bad for everyone. For a small few, dystopia is the foundation for their own personal utopias. Those who benefit, even if only temporarily, will do whatever is necessary to keep them going. Those not oblivious to the suffering, who also have enough time and resources, may choose to fight as allies alongside those clearly targeted by the regime in power. Most will find ways to physically and/or emotionally insulate themselves. Some will simply relocate to happier climates.
So where does that leave the rest of us—the targeted, the soon to be targeted, the complicit? In 1971, the revolutionary George Jackson made this strongly worded suggestion:
“Settle your quarrels. Understand that fascism is already here, that people are already dying who could be saved, generations more will live poor butchered half-lives if we fail to act.”
We’ve been dying and living poor butchered half lives for generations. Sometimes it’s more of us, sometimes it’s less.
What’s true for everyone is the need for security, shared resources, and the ability to cooperate on complex problems. This is why societies come together. Here on Turtle Island, most commonly known as the United States, we humans formed a representative democracy as the basis of our society. We rely on elected officials to create and enforce laws that respect our rights and dignity, to use our tax dollars to meet our collective needs, and to achieve things that we couldn’t possibly achieve as individuals.
But do we rely too heavily on our elected officials to act on our behalf? George Jackson wasn’t talking about the government failing to act, he was talking about us. Yes, Trump has turned up the heat, but in a democratic republic ultimate power rests with the people, at least theoretically. Thanks to Trump, many who may have failed to act in the past are standing up now. This is especially true in the District of Columbia. Activists, advocates, go-go bands, artists and just regular folk have hit the streets. But is our mayor and city council backing them up?
As our elected officials, they should be doing all they can to make sure our rights are upheld and our collective needs are met. With its diverse population of Blacks and immigrants, its lack of federal representation and subjugation to congressional oversight, the nation’s capitol is a ripe juicy target for the Trump Regime and its band of oligarchs and low self-esteem MAGA followers. We can’t be surprised when they fire federal employees, terrorize immigrants, criminalize homelessness and take over policing in the District of Columbia. After all, we were warned about this by Project 2025. Here’s the thing though. Disrespecting DC workers, clearing out homeless encampments, and over-policing DC’s streets was happening long before Trump was elected.
Let’s take a look at the record of our city council and mayor:
The Sanctuary Values Amendment Act of 2020 kept DC police from working with ICE but didn’t do anything about employers who exploit undocumented workers. Despite common beliefs, it also does not provide undocumented immigrants with benefits like SNAP, TANF or housing vouchers. Undocumented immigrants pay over $70 million in taxes and are lucky to get access to healthcare in return.
DC residents tried twice to phase out the tipped minimum wage using Voter Initiatives 77 and 82. The City Council repealed 77 outright and amended 82 to keep restaurant owners from ever having to pay servers, busboys, bartenders and barbacks a standard minimum wage.
Despite the city’s alleged support for Black lives, the City Council recently passed the ironically named Peace DC Act which lengthens mandatory minimums, weakens the police choke hold ban, increases pretrial detention, imposed an emergency curfew on youth even before Trump sent in the national guard and restricts local protests. None of this was done at the behest of Temu Hitler, but it’s hard to imagine that he doesn’t approve.
Mayor Bowser has been clearing encampments for years despite not having the infrastructure to house them. In 2023, when she claimed that DC had only 221 homeless individuals, she sounded a lot like the man in the White House who also claims that things are better under his leadership than they actually are.
Trump’s orders are not anything new, they're just an extension of what Mayor Bowser and the City Council have been doing for years. How did we get here? How is it that ever so blue DC is enacting policies that ultimately support the goals of Project 2025?
There are a lot of reasons we are where we are. I’d cite neoliberalism, respectability politics, Citizens United vs the Federal Election Commission, etc. Perhaps the overriding issue is one that DC residents share with the entire country, an acceptance of the economics of scarcity. We assume that resources are limited and that some will have to do without so that others can thrive or even simply survive. Denying the rights of some people seems necessary if we believe those same people are taking resources that our family and/or community needs and deserves.
While we all try to hold onto our piece of the scarcity pie, we ignore the influence that the rich and the super rich have over our elected officials and the policies they enact. We’re convinced that the needs of the rich and the super-rich outweigh the needs of the rest of us because without their businesses and real estate investments development will slow, fewer jobs will be created and less taxes will be collected. Or so we’ve been trained to believe.
The truth is money doesn’t trickle down like water and economic growth, despite the demands of stockholders, is not infinite. Investments in workforce development, education and housing do a lot more to build a healthy tax base than stadium deals, low tax rates for the rich and incentives for businesses that already benefit enormously from being in the nation’s capital.
There’s only one way out of the dystopia that we’re heading into and the dystopia where some of us already exist. Yes, protest Trump. If you can, join the demonstrations against oligarchy and authoritarianism, remind ICE and the national guard that they work for us and violating rights is not in their job description. But it's just as important that we hold our elected officials accountable on a local level. Mayor Bowser and the City Council have to actually represent us and if they don’t they have to be replaced by people who will.
Grassroots DC’s event page covers organizations that are working to change legislation and policies that negatively impact those of us living in D.C.’s dystopia. If you aren’t already doing so, check out the page, find your issue and join them in the fight. Don’t see something you planned or plan to go to? Submit community events at info@grassrootsdc.org.