Why We Write: Resisting Terror is Not Terror
Consider this post to be an introduction to why we at The Beltway Breaker are doing this. While we won't get too personal, we want to outline why we think it is necessary in this day and age to gather a small group of like-minded friends and write about everything going on. The quick, easy answer? Things are bad, and we want to help people learn, think critically, and have hope in the face of the exponentially long list of horrors we are living through. There are two driving factors that lead us to want to write, and they overlap heavily: our degrading information environment, and the takeover of our technology space by right-wing actors.
Look anywhere today and you'll see formerly democratic, left-leaning organizations and individuals prioritizing and emphasizing right-wing voices, narratives, and thoughts. The examples are numerous, but it isn't really a new phenomenon. From mainstream outlets – both TV and newspapers (Democracies not "in darkness," but behind a paywall) – failing to properly cover Donald Trump during his first term, through their continued failure to condemn the complicity of either Joe Biden or Trump in the ongoing genocide in Gaza (you too, New York Times), to the entire broken profit-seeking system that supports all of this, it is clear that legacy media, who many saw as a key bastion of democratic thought, has failed to do so. If existing systems fail to uphold faith in the status quo, liberal institutions, let a lone true left-leaning values and emancipatory goals, it is up to us, the people, to fill that void and provide a true alternative perspective.
The rightward shift of the technology space is actively contributing to the collapse of democratic norms in the US and around the world. From as far back as then-Facebook's (now Meta's) promotion of violence against the Rohingya to Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter (now X), the right – amidst whining constantly about the "censorship" of their ideas, now owns most of the technology space that we use every day, for everything we do. While the takeover of Twitter may have acted as a wake-up call for some, left-leaning voices have been trying to bring attention to this problem for years, and it is high time we be listening to (and joining) them. Not just social media, but virtually ever component of the technology we use to communicate is now being pulled under increasingly centralized, far-right ownership, who are both enabling far-right ideas to proliferate on the sites themselves, and bending the knee to the current fascist administration's demands to do so.
The combination of the above factors is what led us to where we are today – a definitionally fascist American government, run by tech oligarchs and former and wannabe podcasters who depend on defining their opposition as "undesirables" to proliferate false narratives to their base of hateful bigots (whether or not that bigotry is conscious). The world is in desperate need of a counterweight to the emboldened far right, and some recent European elections (along with, critically, Kamala Harris' election performance) have shown that when the right pulls further right, the left must pull further left to effectively counter it – not follow them to the right (This one's for you, Democratic Party strategists who are definitely reading this).
The Trump Administration published National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7) on September 25, 2025, falsely claiming that resisting fascism is anti-American, violent, and "terrorist." By designating the very concept of anti-fascism as a "terrorist threat," the Administration has, it appears, finally put all their cards on the table, declaring the shift towards anyone they don't like being "anti-American." But, if everyone they don't like is "anti-fascist," what does that make them? That's right – fascist. Enter the irony of writing this just five weeks after the publication of this memorandum, which ostensibly designates everything we stand for as "pre-terrorism" (Hello, Red Scare two?). To go as far to say that "planning and organizing opposition" is criminal, surely evokes the "thought crimes" of a certain novel that has been gaining popularity recently.
Join us, and don't back down in the face of unsubstantiated threats to free speech!
But they don't really have the power to do what they want to do, nor the resources; so join us, and don't back down in the face of these wholly unsubstantiated threats to free speech. Fascist repression backfires because it attacks the very core of our belief system: the right to free speech is guaranteed to all.
The defining thread here is actually fairly simple, in our estimation: capitalism is dying, and those in power seek to drag us all down with the ship, all while building bunkers to ride out the "end of the world." Wealth, personal advancement, bigotry, or personal discomfort seem to be key determining factors in the collapse of society, as politicians, CEOs, and legacy media institutions all clamber over each other to embrace authoritarianism. There is a better way, and we must plan and prepare for a post-capitalist world, to ensure that what comes next is better, not worse; not just for you and I, but for all of us. This better world is possible – do not forget that. We believe in a future where all labor is valued, where communities freely support each other, and governments support everyone, emphasizing care for the most vulnerable among us. We believe in a future where economies aren't defined by military equipment exports, where economic monopolies are impossible, and where healthcare is universal, because everyone's basic needs deserve to be met.
We believe that you, reader, can be a part of that better world too. Alongside providing our perspectives and opinions, this publication seeks to amplify other left-leaning voices providing journalism, support, and other critical community resources to ensure that you have the ability to contribute to the better world you wish to create. If reading this makes you feel seen, heard, or understood, know that you are not alone. Just as only you can prevent forest fires, only you, with the support of your friends, family, and community, can prevent our descent into fascism.