Casting the solution to Trump and the far right in terms of guns and muscles is almost indistinguishable from the thinking of Trump’s supporters. To defeat ultra-nationalists and totalitarianism, it doesn’t help to echo their mindset. The antidote is solidarity with the oppressed and exploited of all nations and races.

Our strength against dictatorial rulers is not in firearms (they always have more) but in numbers, in our ability to refuse to fight in their wars or to cast the oppressed (such as refugees) as the enemy. Rebuilding trade unions, particularly to encompass tech workers and others who imagine they are not “working class’ (in spite of owning nothing but a mortgage and the ability to work) would be a major step forward. Turning out for street protests such as BLM, Fight for $15, or the teachers’ unions in Chicago is the way to grow strong, confident and numerous against fascism. The shooting range is their natural habitat, not ours.