JFK: New Yorker's Protest Trumps ban on Muslims (Not Saudis) |
By Richard Mellor
Afscme Local 444,retired
The system of checks and balances set up by the US bourgeois all those years ago may save them yet as the Predator in Chief is backing down on some of his earlier statements. He has reassured China that he will abide by the “One China” policy that recognizes Beijing and not Taipei as the “sole legal government of China”. And he has played a game of golf with Japan’s Abe assuring the Japanese leaders that Japan’s security is still paramount.
The system of checks and balances set up by the US bourgeois all those years ago may save them yet as the Predator in Chief is backing down on some of his earlier statements. He has reassured China that he will abide by the “One China” policy that recognizes Beijing and not Taipei as the “sole legal government of China”. And he has played a game of golf with Japan’s Abe assuring the Japanese leaders that Japan’s security is still paramount.
That being a head of state is somewhat different to being a
real estate speculator seems to be dawning on him although there is no doubt he
is coming under intense pressure from the US bourgeois, at times different
sections of them, to curb his wild and unstable behavior.
The tech bourgeois are strongly opposed to his immigration
policies as foreign workers and entrepreneurs are heavily represented in this
sector. Many Indians are involved in the tech industry as investors in
start-ups and as engineers and all things computer. Trump’s immigration laws,
walls and nationalist rhetoric has many skilled immigrants and millions of
others, on edge. Japan seems to be taking advantage of Trumps nationalist
threats loosening its Green card requirements. It will now take just one to two years for skilled
foreigners to get permanent residency in Japan as opposed to five years. Other
changes are on the table as well to make it easier for foreign workers,
companies and investors to come to Japan. US capitalism's global role and the credibility of its government is threatened by Trump.
G.E CEO Jeff Immelt, points out in the latest issue of
Business Week that GE is, "….a $22
billion exporter from the US. And we import $5 billion or $6 billion. " Immelt adds that, “We believe in trade, in the free flow of goods,. Inherently, we don’t
think things like walls are good ideas.” The more sober US bourgeois is well aware of the damage to the economy and profits that increased
protectionism will bring as well as a potential for violence that can arise if it goes too far and as others retaliate. We live in a world economy like it or not.
The credit agency Fitch, released a report claiming that, “The Trump administration represents a risk
to the international economy and global government creditworthiness….”, the Financial Times writes this weekend.*
Ray Dalio, head of Bridgewater, world's largest hedge fund,
is unnerved by the dangers of "nationalism,
protectionism and militarism." Seth Klarman, another hedge fund manager warns
investors that markets are “overly
optimistic” and he is concerned about Trump’s “high volatility” pointing out,
“…investors generally abhor volatility and shun uncertainty. “ “Not only is Trump shockingly unpredictable…”
says Klarman, "...he’s apparently
deliberately so; he says it’s part of his plan.” Capitalists like stability
and won’t invest, or will certainly curb investment in unstable conditions threatening the global economy with a dangerous slump. Ignoring the real dangers that Trump’s approach brings to
the fore could lead to, “a lengthy
decline in dollar hegemony, a rapid rise in interest rates and inflation, and
global angst.” Klarman adds. Not a
very pretty picture.
It remains to be seen how far Trump will go in his battle
with the Judiciary. So far they seem to uniting in opposition to his assault.
Even his choice to fill the US Supreme Court vacancy, Neil Gorsuch has publicly
commented saying Trump’s comments about the judiciary were “disheartening” and “demoralizing”.
One Republican Senator has even claimed Gorsuch said that any attack on the
“…..brothers and sisters of the robe is
an attack on all Judges.”** Class solidarity in action.
And this is the crux of the matter. The US bourgeois set up
the checks and balances to protect their interests as a class, a sort of way of
maintaining some honor among thieves. It is the capitalist system of production
and the political superstructure on which it rests that the checks and balances
seek to maintain by having these different branches of government, legislative
(law making) executive (law enforcing) and judicial (interpreting the laws they
make) have a level of independence from each other. History taught them something. James Madison wrote:
“The accumulation of
all powers, legislative, executive and judicia[l] in the same hands, whether of
one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self–appointed, or elective, may
justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny” (James Madison,
Federalist No. 51, 1788).
There is no difference in the class nature of these branches
of course, the ruling class (in our case, capitalists) make the laws, enforce
the laws and their judges, the judicial system, interprets
them. The government and the state,
“checks and balances” or not, is a capitalist state and the ruling class,
capitalists. We live in what is
technically a bourgeois (or capitalist) democracy. Just because a system is
called a democracy doesn’t mean it is a democratic system for all its citizens.
Athenian democracy is often championed as the bedrock of western civilization
but in that democracy slaves could not vote---it was a slave owners’ democracy.
The opposition to Trump is mounting among the US bourgeois and
former supporters are beginning to turn on him, not because he’s a misogynist a
racist or because he will savage unions and workers in general---that’s not a
real problem for them as long as it is well thought out---- but because he is
threatening, and did so during his campaign, to undermine the integrity of the
system, to undermine the legitimacy of their rule.
Lawrence Tribe, professor of constitutional law at Harvard
had this to say: "Were dealing with a president who has no respect for the basic
institutions of our society, including an independent judiciary and the Fourth
Estate"
Readers will remember the shock after he suggested during
the debates with Clinton that he might not accept the result of their “democratic” election process. This is
very dangerous as if he can reject the result of their so-called “democratic” elections, so can any other
force in society, most notably, the working class. This is why, all the
partisan bickering aside, “reaching
across the aisle” is so crucial to maintaining power. This is why Gore
never challenged Bush and why Hillary Clinton, despite being called nasty names
and treated in the most unprofessional way by the predator, accepted the
result, undemocratic as it is.
It is why she turned up at the Inauguration as did most of
them. For others, the pressure form
their constituents was too great, the hatred of the racist Trump too pronounced,
to allow them any room to reach out a hand to Trump or give him any
credibility. But even Obama, as he always has, gave the election result
credibility. He learned much at Harvard on how to defend the capitalist system.
Trump has brought in to the Executive Branch, a number of
characters that threaten the stability of US capitalism, Nazi’s, white
nationalists, Klan elements and other out and out racists. It is unquestionable
that the big bourgeois, sections of them at least, are meeting and talking
privately about what to do about this crisis as Trump is somewhat of a
fool. In response to O’Reilly’s
reference to Putin being a killer, Trump blurts out, "There are a lot of killers. You think our country's so
innocent?" Trump is absolutely
correct on that. I will not give him credit for it however, as a broken clock
is right twice a day, but that is dangerous talk from the top representative of
US capitalism that presents itself to the world as the champion of democracy and
justice, (or more accurately to its own citizenry as the rest of the world
doesn’t believe it).
As we point out in our After
the Women's March: A Statement From Facts For Working People, we are in
an historic turning point in the US. We saw an unprecedented three million or
more people demonstrating against Trump on January 21st. People, especially women, who had never taken
any political action in their lives other than at the ballot box, went on marches in hundreds of locations
throughout the US. There were huge
protests at numerous airports against Trump’s ban on mostly Muslim people
entering the US.
The present gang in Congress will continue their racist
agenda and their attacks on women, workers rights, immigrants, LBGQT and all
those that oppose their policies. What we witnessed on January 21st
will not go away. Trump is the representative of a decaying system and US
capitalism is driven by the laws of the system to wage an aggressive war
against its own working class. Sometimes
the working class needs the whip of a counter-revolution to force it to its
feet and Trump and his gang is that whip.
The resistance will not go away, it will suffer setbacks,
steps back but also leaps forward. The trajectory is determined to a great
degree by leadership. But we learn
through struggle. As workers move to change our conditions for the better we
are met by the force of the state in all its forms, the police, the media, and
at times the military, a more dangerous option for them as they are not as reliable when used domestically. We draw conclusions about the world around us
and the system in which we live.
Trump was correct with his statement about US capitalism not
being “innocent”, having plenty of
killers in its midst. He needs to be careful, US capitalism is a violent
machine and will resort to any means to protect the system. The Kennedy
brothers and others are proof of this; they will remove recalcitrant members of
their class if they have to.
Workers must see these developments in this way. What we are
witnessing is a both a political and economic crisis of capitalism---a squabble
between our enemies. There is opportunity for us and we can be optimistic. It
is inevitable that as a movement develops there will be all sorts of confusion,
that there will be opportunism and other elements. In the women’s march we saw
the influence of the liberal middle and upper middle classes, film stars,
performers, Hollywood lefties and such. We should not be pessimistic simply
because they are present, if we have the right approach and help build the
movement correctly this will separate the wheat from the chaff and also, allies
can come form unexpected places. The absence of the trade unions in any major way allowed the liberal middle class types to play a larger role than they should. The trade union leaders that met with Trump are a disgrace as is the leadership of the public sector unions.
In the source of this struggle people will become more open
to socialist ideas if we explain them in a non-sectarian way as we build a
revolutionary current in movement and do not make the mistakes that the left does
of placing the building of a small group ahead of building the movement as a whole.
Revolutionary activity is being able to understand the
period we find ourselves in and develop perspectives based on this analysis. I
do not describe myself as a Leninist but recognize Lenin as one of the great
leaders of the working class in history. We have to be on our guard, and Lenin
pointed out during the summer of 1917, ‘We must be especially
attentive and careful, so as not to be drawn into a provocation...one wrong
move on our part can wreck everything...’ Perhaps the Black Bloc can benefit from that advice.
No
ruling class commits itself to the garbage can of history and the capitalist
class is no exception. But capitalism will destroy life as we know it if it is
not overthrown and replaced by a democratic socialist world, a global
federation of democratic socialists states.
We
appeal to our readers that if you agree with our ideas in general, join Facts
For Working People, help build our blog which is very successful so far having
over 1 million views, a following on FB and other outlets and weekly phone
conferences where we discuss events and perspectives for the movement. We want
to contribute, as our statement above says, to the strengthening and building of
the Resistance Movement that Trump has unleashed.
We
can be contacted at: we_know_whats_up@yahoo.com
or on Facebook at:
* US President’s
Aggressive Tone Poses Global Risks: FY 11-2-17
** ibid
2 comments:
you quote Lenin's warning: We have to be on our guard, and Lenin pointed out during the summer of 1917, ‘We must be especially attentive and careful, so as not to be drawn into a provocation...one wrong move on our part can wreck everything...’ and add "Perhaps the Black Bloc can benefit from that advice." you also state that the "resistance will not go away".
the Bolsheviks did in fact have such a moment during the July 1917 demonstrations. Lenin went into hiding. Trotsky was jailed for a period of time by the provisional government. it wasn't fatal. the Bolsheviks recovered and carried out the defense of Petrograd and then the October (November) Revolution.
you begin the article by noting that the bourgeoisie can make adjustments and recover their equilibrium. they did so after Nixon's Vietnam escalations. the mass demonstrations evaporated once the particular irritant (the Vietnam War) was removed.
if the planned demonstrations have the effect of removing Trump from office (a possibility i dearly hope for), the flagrant irritant will be removed and for a period of time we'll have a right wing equilibrium.
the left has yet to develop a following in the organized working class--i don't give much credence to the Labor Notes' low level economism...sorry. less than 10% of workers in the USnA are unionized. the left has more resonance in movements against the Dakota Pipeline, the fight for 15, immigrant rights and Black Lives Matters.
you and others on the socialist/ communist left are correct to point to the power of the working class in general and, hopefully, in the future this class will act for-itself as opposed to being a mostly inert (or worse) class in-itself. that will happen (i think) when the movements of the oppressed and less privileged layers of the working class population are championed by unions with socialist/ communist leaderships. with some notable exceptions, we're not seeing that...yet.
i've enjoyed the articles posted by Facts for Working People and hope my comments are taken in the comradely sense that i intend. i share your optimism for this period and hope the left can use it to regroup while playing a greater role in the various movements. at the same time, my enthusiasm is tempered by long experience.
Richard another excellent article. Thank you. Thank you also Comrade De Leon for your very helpful comments. I feel we have a lot of agreement. I particularly agree with your last statement where you write"I share your optimism for this period and hope the left can use it to regroup while playing a greater role in the various movements. At the same time my enthusiasm is tempered by long experience." We in Facts for Working People are paying particular attention to this. Trying to see how we can develop a non sectarian revolutionary current in the working class. We have some ideas on this which i would like to share with you. And will when i get the resources put these on the Blog. Our statement which is on the Blog on the women's march movement gives an idea of how we see things: Advocate for a mass Alliance, a mass United Front against the Trump agenda and within this build a non sectarian revolutionary current. To perhaps paraphrase yourself, this is easier said than done. But to refer to Trotsky the crisis of humanity is the crisis of the proletarian leadership. We have no alternative but to try to do this. Sean O'Torain.
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