What's OUR Story about Trump's BIG, UGLY Bill?

Donald Trump has just signed his massive bill into law, a behemoth piece of legislation that allows him to declare a huge victory even if he doesn't know what's actually in it.

The bill cuts taxes on the wealthiest Americans at the expense of Medicaid recipients, who are among the most vulnerable Americans (and include rural Trump supporters). And, it creates the most expensive federal police force in the nation's history, pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the same agency that has been wreaking havoc on American cities, violating people's due process rights, snatching them up and disappearing them.

In signing this bill, Trump violated his promise to look out for the working class (he is keeping his promise to harm people of color and immigrants). How is this feat of cognitive dissonance possible?

It's possible because of powerful storytelling. The disconnect between rightwing narratives and reality enables Trump to act as a champion of the poor while enriching the rich. We dismiss the power of storytelling at our peril.

Exactly two years ago, City Lights published my book, Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice. In it, I explore how our politics are guided by cultural norms and how culture is built by storytelling.

The right has been inordinately good at telling stories: undocumented immigrants are criminal because they jump the line and cheat their way to get across the border, police create order and safety, poor people are lazy and a drain on finances, billionaires are brilliant and create jobs, government is inefficient at delivering services, etc, etc.

These are the stories that keep unjust policies afloat. They are simplistic and reductive, and easy to refute. But those who ought to refute them the loudest– mainstream media outlets and liberal politicians and pundits–fail again and again, largely because they too are invested in the same power structures that the right reveres.

So it falls to the rest of us–spirited activists, independent journalists, brave academics, and others–to counter the lies of the right with our own truthful stories, to change culture and change policies.

What is the story of the so-called BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL that just passed?

The rightwing story is that it will lower taxes for all, cut fraud and waste, and protect our borders. The handful of billionaires and bigots who control our government currently believe every person should look out for themselves–which is easy if you're loaded. So they bribe us with tax breaks, which puts money into our pockets in the short term and ensures we're on the hook for our own medical bills and other benefits in the long term–costs that will likely be FAR higher than the tax breaks.

The real story isn't just that it will make the rich richer, cut Medicaid to millions, and terrorize immigrant communities. The real story is that the bill is an attack on the idea of democratic governance itself.

In a democracy, we pool our resources–our tax dollars–to pay for social programs that benefit us all: public schools and libraries, roads and bridges, public transit and infrastructure, etc. The best democracies ensure no one suffers and struggles on their own. There is no need for crowdfunding to pay medical bills because everyone's taxes paying for everyone's healthcare, is the ultimate form of crowdfunding.

A democracy is a promise for us to collectively care for one another. THIS is the central theme of the narrative WE need to promote, the core of the story we need to celebrate and popularize.

Today, Texas is experiencing catastrophic flooding, leaving more than 80 people dead. It is also the six-month anniversary of the devastating Eaton Fire that destroyed the town of Altadena, California, an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County whose border lies two blocks from my neighborhood.

In the immediate aftermath of the fire, neighbors came together to help one another, mutual aid hubs spontaneously popped up, people reached out to take each other in, share resources, organize donations of food, clothing, furniture, and other necessities. (There was also government assistance from the federal and state agencies, as well as city and county offices. It came in the form of FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers, grants, tax breaks, legal help, rent assistance, and more. Some of this is now in jeopardy thanks to Trump's actions).

The fires reminded me that when crisis strikes, our human instinct for collectivism kicks into high gear. But are we not in continuous crisis, given our climate emergency, growing inequality, patchwork healthcare, inflation, and the rising cost of living?

We look out for one another, whether via the government's redistribution of our resources, or person-to-person, neighbor-to-neighbor. That can and will continue even as we live in the new, cruel world that Trump's legislation has unleashed.