Tony Chiado

I know not everyone can leave a fascist country. Many can, though, and for them the question is fight or flight. In recent weeks, it’s become more of a hot topic. Where some liken the hour to 1933 Nazi Germany as they tell people to make exit plans, others insist that because some can’t leave, no one should and it certainly shouldn’t be promoted. My position is that whether you should fight or flight is up to you and your particular circumstances. Who am I to decide for you?

I get the call to fight. America, being the modern empire it is, exerts great socio-political influence over the globe and there is genuine reason for concern that what happens here will spread elsewhere. Fascist social media control only magnifies that risk. If we don’t stop fascism here, it’s possible we won’t be able to hide from it elsewhere. For the vulnerable who can’t leave, we also hear a moral calling to stay to stand up for them and the America that we know must be. There are good reasons that people might stand their ground by choice or necessity.

But I can’t even bring myself to call on people to stay and fight. How many will face death or imprisonment if they stay? How many children will grow up without fathers or mothers because they were disappeared in the night or lynched by the Proud Boys? The more tomorrow comes into focus, the more violent it feels. I can’t call on people to willingly endure that hell when a safer and more hopeful future exists elsewhere. Our natural rights include the right to life and liberty. These are not exclusive to the United States and we cannot handcuff our peers to the loss of these natural rights against their will.

Whether you choose fight or flight, I get it. Maybe you’ll choose both at different times and in different situations. Much can be done to oppose fascism whether on U.S. soil or somewhere else. The world is complex and fluid. Your duty compels you, sometimes, in multiple directions. To family but also to community, for example. All I ask is that you exercise your conscience to weigh how you can best make a positive impact in this world and go from there.