by Nikoli Weir
It is quickly coming to pass that the institutions of capitalist democracy are no longer capable of adequately serving the needs of the capitalists as a class. Both of the establishment parties in this country have, over the past four to eight years, been undergoing a gruesome metamorphosis, and only now have they finally emerged from their transformative slumber. The Republican Party has, after a period of brief and impotent internal dissent, become nothing more than the political tool of Donald Trump.
Trump stands for nothing but his own personal gain, and as such he is the perfect representative for the tens of millions of Americans who exist in the twilight zone of capitalist society. That class which has no future except extinction, and which desperately fights to keep hold of the little it still has left; the petty bourgeoisie. In the person of Donald Trump they see their hopes, their dreams, their aspirations and their struggles. But in the petty bourgeoisie, Trump sees nothing more than cannon fodder for his war against his impending bankruptcy and obscurity.
It was the petty bourgeoisie (the middle classes, small business owners and managerial caste) who, in 2016, elevated Trump to the highest office of our shattered republic. But just as soon as his position was secure, he turned against his own army in a betrayal worthy of a Shakespearean tragedy; he cut taxes for the big capitalists and forced more of the burden upon the lower classes, the petty bourgeoisie included; he put in place tariffs which increased the price of goods for the sake of protecting “American” financial interests against foreign interests, which in reality benefitted only large corporations and conglomerates, and which further burdened the lower classes with a higher cost of living; he appointed corrupt conservative justices to the Supreme Court who have made continuous rulings against the rights of working people and small proprietors and in favor of the interests of the big bourgeoisie. The treachery of Trump goes on, but the loyalty of his duped footsoldiers is endless.
By his incompetent handling of the Covid-19 Pandemic, Trump (whether knowingly or not) further betrayed the interests of his supporters. By failing to institute any measures that would have stabilized the finances of the petty bourgeoisie and the working class (besides a meager monthly stimulus check), he delivered them directly into the hands of predatory creditors and monopolies. Rent and repayment was due, interest was piling high, and the petty bourgeoisie could not pay. The monopolists and financiers could barely keep their fangs in their mouths as they salivated over the abundant harvest of ruined livelihoods.
In his second term as President, Trump will no doubt continue along the same path as before, but this time it will be magnified tenfold. The mask will fall from the face of the mimic, and the true nature of capitalist rule will stand naked for all to see; the rule of the interests of finance capital enforced by the bloodied blade of state repression.
For their part, the Democrats have performed magnificently. They wish to be the human face of capitalist tyranny, always opposing in the most meager way every step taken by the Republicans in matters that are incidental but agreeing with them on every fundamental issue. The two issues that the Democrats have distinguished themselves by, abortion rights and LGBTQ rights, are used only as empty slogans; in reality they have done as little to protect these rights as the Republicans have done to destroy them.
The Democratic Party is nothing more than a massive apparatus which serves to co-opt genuine political dissent, and it has done this more effectively than any other institution in the history of politics. In doing this it serves as an essential weapon in the arsenal of the capitalist class, and is funded by the same capitalists who also fund the Republican Party.
When push comes to shove, the Democrats are capable of the same brutality as the Republicans; it was for the most part Democratic mayors who oversaw the brutal repression of the student protests against America’s funding of the Palestinian genocide; it was Kamala Harris who declared at the Democratic National Convention that she would make the US Military “the most lethal fighting force in the world.” If Harris had won, she would undoubtedly have continued the policy of her predecessor, which amounts to a more or less veiled war against the interests, influence, and power of the American working class.
Either electoral outcome would have reinforced and strengthened the rule of the capitalist class, which will, as the years go on, continue to weaken the already feeble institutions of democracy that exist in this country. As democracy fails to ensure the interests of the capitalists, they will turn to a tried-and-true method of control, fascism; for fascism is nothing if not the death throes of capitalism. It is what happens when capitalists, having exhausted all their options, resort to rule by brute force and mafia-style gangsterism.
The Revolutionist 