Owen Jones is Right. Blame The Democratic Party Machine, Not the Voter

Richard Mellor

Afscme Local 444, retired. HEO/GED

Absolutely spot on assessment from Owen Jones. There is a deep political crisis in the United States as the two established capitalist parties come to the end of their more than century and a half of domination  over US political and economic life. 

This has been a long time coming. I have written of it in the past. How the trade union bureaucracy for example, the agents of the Democratic Party within organised labor have failed not only their members but the US working class as a whole. They are equally responsible for the present situation as they continue to push the Democratic Party on their members despite their members abandoning it a long time ago. 

The heads of organised labor see themselves as the CEO's of employment agencies basically, as labor brokers. They too are responsible for Trump and the shift to the right of sections of the working-class. 

And Democratic Party hacks like Robert Reich are still rather widely and contemptuously calling on the US electorate to get them back in power. But he's dishonest about it and will inflame most workers further as he announces that, “We’ll respond in the 2026 mid-terms and 2008 Presidential Election by electing true leaders who care about working people and the common good”. Yes it is comical in a way. But it reflects the utter contempt the strategists of the other capitalist party has for working people. Workers know the we in Reich's world is Democrats and they are not impressed. We do learn lessons you know.

The trade union officialdom uses the same language as I have pointed out many times in the past. They too can no longer point to the Democratic Party as the alternative.  When I first came to the US 51 years ago I even saw headlines in a labor paper calling on us to "vote labor" meaning Democratic.

Where did this advice get us? (image left)  This publication is from my national union, Afscme. Afscme People was the union's political action arm basically for funding money to the Democratic Party and its candidates. The guy with Feinstein in the picture was our legislative representative at the state level, I can't remember his official title but, just like our national conventions that are modelled on the conventions the two capitalist parties have, our political representatives function the same way in the legislature without the power the two parties have. They are lobbyists begging for some crumbs from the candidates of Wall Street. "please be a little less aggressive."

Many labor officials of one sort or another make their way in to state or national politics through the Democratic Party. The head of the San Francisco Labor Council (SFLC) when I was active, a guy named Tim Paulson was also on the Executive Board of the California Democratic Party. Shamefully, one of the leading figures of one of the self styled socialist organisations who was a delegate to the SFLC and his son who has found a comfortable niche for himself writing for Jacobin I last saw, acted as covers for Paulson, and the labor officialdom.  This is not uncommon among some so-called revolutionary organisations as they are drawn to the slightest left shift among the labor hierarchy. Many of them, are tolerated in union bodies like District Council or AFL-CIO labor councils as long as they do not challenge the class collaborationist policies of the leadership. They enter the movement in the wrong way, Bill Fletcher is another one. The union hierarchy uses them as they are generally more skilled and come out of the universities. I am not saying we don't work with the labor officialdom, I was a delegate in the Alameda Labor Council for 12 years and when they take forward steps we support that and when they don't we don't and explain why. With no open platform geared to fighting the bosses' offensive and a real foothold in the rank and file, one is pretty powerless.

Someone mentioned to me a couple of days ago that maybe Trump will force people to act. I think that this chaotic regime will definitely force people to act. The points Owen Jones makes though are valid and the supporters of Biden are in a dilemma if you're going to attack those that voted for Trump. And Jones is correct to point to the Democratic Party establishment not the voter. As far as Sanders goes, he is also guilty. Much of his program is supported by the US voter. Many young people looked to him as an alternative. Over the past period the percentage of workers and youth identifying as socialists has been as high as 36%. Social Democracy I would say is a more accurate description but there is no doubt millions of US workers are for a national health care system available at point of use. They support a woman's right to abortion, They opposed Biden's genocide and were disgusted that no Palestinian was allowed on the stage at the Democratic Convention. We want our education system fixed, our transportation system improved and we relish our environment. I worked with many men, and some women, who hunted game and they were very strong conservationists, most of them ate what they shot. We're not all fascists here  no matter what the mass media says.

There will be a pushback but we certainly can't rely on the Democratic Party for that. It will come and it will be wrought with some contradictions and some confusion. It is a reality that class consciousness has been driven backward and that the scourge of identity politics has been a major strategy in that regard.

It is a mass movement that will stop Trump, who is by the way a symptom of the decay not a cause, and such a movement will be in the workplaces, streets schools and communities where workers spend our lives. It will be internationalist, and this is something socialists and certainly I have neglected in the past, the indigenous people's of the world will play a crucial leadership role in it. I am convinced a movement will arise and such organisation will inevitably seek political expression and, from this writer's point of view the transformation of society and the economy along socialist lines is the most likely and necessary outcome if we are to survive on this beautiful planet. There are no guarantees in this world but we fight on.