As we enter the final few weeks of the latest political gong show, known as the 2020 presidential elections, a series of ”tell all” books have just been published. No doubt the authors deliberately waited until the election was in ”full swing”, so as to get as much press coverage for their books as possible. Assuming that to be the case, they are sure not to be disappointed.
The journalists are quite cheerfully reporting, even gleefully, that no less than five books are exposing the inner workings of the White House. Each book is even more damning that the previous one, to the delight of the reporters. As Trump has consistently slandered the reporters, professionals one and all, as ”purveyors of fake news”, who can blame them?
They are especially excited by the book authored by the famous journalist, investigative reporter and writer, one whom interviewed Trump possibly eighteen times. Each interview was recorded, at the permission of Trump, so that any denial lacks credibility. Not that any such little detail ever stopped Trump from lying before, so we can expect him to stay in form and continue to lie.
In anticipation of those lies, the press is playing the recordings, in which Trump stated, in early February, that he knew the virus was ”even more deadly than strenuous flu”, that it was ”dangerous, highly contagious, air borne and deadly”. He went on to say that he ”did not want to start a panic”, so he deliberately ”downplayed the risks”. Now that over six million Americans are infected, with nearly two hundred thousand dead, everyone knows that he was right. It is indeed ”deadly”. Perhaps the relatives of the deceased can take some comfort in knowing that no panic was created!
This is not to imply that Trump accepts any responsibility for the virus which is devastating the country, because he does not. As he stated in an interview in July, ”The virus has nothing to do with me. It’s not my fault. China let the damn virus out”.
As one journalist pointed out, ”Trump does not seem to grasp that a President has a responsibility to protect the public.” In fact, such a ”grasp” is beyond the intellectual capacity of the man. That same journalist blamed it on ”hubris”, which is defined as excessive pride or self confidence. Trump certainly has no shortage of that!
In addition, his niece has written a book, which is also less than flattering. Even though related by blood, she is clearly not a big fan of his. Or perhaps, given a chance to make some money with a tell all book, she just could not pass up the opportunity. Such attitudes may well run in the family. No member of the family has ever been known to stand on principle.
The journalists are also reporting that the Attorney General, the ”top cop” in the country, has sunk to a greater depth. Each time they think he has hit bottom, he finds a way to go lower.
In this particular case, a certain lady, a writer, claims that Trump raped her in the nineteen nineties. Of course, the statute of limitations has long since expired, so he cannot be charged. But then, in response to her accusations, Trump called her a liar. She in turn responded by suing him for ”defamation of character”.
That is quite straight forward, a simple civil law suit, not a criminal matter, certainly no concern of the Department of Justice. Yet the Attorney General has seen fit to volunteer the services of that government agency, to act as personal attorneys for Trump, at tax payer expense of course.
In other news, the governor of New York state is accusing Trump of trying to ”kill New York City”. As Trump tweeted ”Drop Dead NYC”, it is clear that the governor has a point. It would appear that Trump is doing his best to provoke the North East to separate, and form a separate independent socialist republic.
As well, the Director of the National Intelligence has just told Congress that there will be no more personal briefings, at least concerning election security. When the Congress responded that this was a violation of section 6507 of the National Defence Authorization Act, the Director made no response. Apparently he takes his orders from Trump, not the Congress.
It is clear that the ruling class, in this case the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, can no longer rule in the old way. The two party system, which has served them so well for so many years, has ”let them down”. Trump, one of their own, no less, is now a ”loose cannon” and has to be stopped. That is the reason they have allowed the publication of the books which are so critical of Trump. Then too, the journalists have been ”turned loose”, and in fact are in a ”feeding frenzy”. They have been given the ”green light” to expose Trump as the liar, crook and sex offender that he is. This they are doing with great enthusiasm.
According to Lenin, one of the requirements for a successful revolution is the inability of the ruling class to rule in the old way. That requirement is clearly being met. He further stated that the other requirement, or the other side of the coin, or the other aspect of the contradiction, comes at a time when the oppressed class is no longer prepared to live in the old way. That time is now.
As the journalists are focused on Trump and the upcoming presidential election, the protests which are happening around the country are being largely ignored. At best, they are mentioned largely in passing, almost as a footnote. Still, it is clear that the protests in Portland, which have now been going on for over one hundred days, are showing no sign of slowing down. On the contrary, they are escalating, with a Molotov cocktail being thrown. That is the popular term for a glass bottle, filled with gasoline and fitted with a cloth fuse. Then the cloth is lit and the bottle thrown. As the glass breaks, the gasoline catches fire and the results can be most unpleasant. That is certainly a dramatic escalation of the protests.
Trump and his administration are so concerned with the protests that they are sending in federal troops, dressed in plain clothes, driving in unmarked vehicles, with the goal of quelling the ”uprisings”. The fact that this is against the law, or unconstitutional, to put it in legal terms, does not concern Trump. Breaking the law is his idea of restoring law and order.
By law, the federal government can send in federal troops, usually in the form of the National Guard, only at the request of the governor of the state. As numerous governors are reluctant to call in such troops, Trump has decided to go around the governors. With that in mind, he has created something called PACT, or Protecting American Communities Task Force. Officially, they have been created to ”protect American monuments, memorials and statues and combatting recent criminal violence”. As a result of this, any protesters who are arrested can be charged with a more serious crime, as the violation of the ”order to disperse” is now a federal offence.
This too is an escalation in the class struggle, in response to the ”protests”, which is nothing more than revolutionary action. This escalation has the effect of alienating certain members of the bourgeois class, so that we can expect some of them to join the revolutionary movement. This is an indication of the strength of the revolution, just as predicted by Marx.
A further indication of the unwillingness of the working class to live in the old way is being played out on the far side of the country. In the city of Rochester, New York state, a mentally ill black man was killed by police. That resulted in many nights of protest, seven police officers being suspended, and the police chief was forced to resign.
In Essex, New Jersey, hundreds of families lined up for a food bank. Within a couple hours, they ran out of food. A great many people are now going hungry. Most of those people never thought they would see the day that they would have to rely on hand outs. They are out of work, soon to be homeless, and now they have been degraded. Make no mistake, they are no longer content to live in the old way.
That is the other side of the coin, the other aspect to the contradiction, to state it in scientific terms. So now we have a ruling class which can no longer rule in the old way, and a working class which is no longer prepared to live in the old way. In short, the situation is truly revolutionary. The stage is set for a successful socialist revolution.
Now that Trump is under pressure, he is lashing out. The mayor of Rochester is absolutely correct when she says, referring to Trump, ”his only desire is to bait people, to act with hate and to incite violence that he believes will benefit him politically”. That lady is a fine judge of character!
This is not to say that Trump is the problem. The class of people whom he represents is the problem, and that is the monopoly capitalists, the bourgeoisie. They have to be overthrown, a socialist republic has to be established, and the former ruling class, the capitalists, those who are concerned only with their profit, the bourgeoisie, have to be crushed under the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.
That is a fact, a fundamental tenet of Marxism, just as it is a fact that it is not reasonable to expect the working people to be aware of this. Scientific socialism and the working class motion evolve separately, and it is now necessary to merge the two. The working class movement and the movement for scientific socialism must become one movement. The only way that can happen is by having proper leaders, which is to say that we are in desperate need of a truly Communist Party, one which calls for revolution and the subsequent Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.
With that in mind, may I suggest that in 1895, in Czarist Russia, Lenin got together with a group of intellectuals, met in secrecy and led them in creating a Russian Communist Party. At that time, it was called the League of Struggle For the Emancipation of the Working Class.
Even though they met in the utmost secrecy, they were still ”ratted out”. Most of them, including Lenin, were immediately arrested and thrown in prison. Even under those conditions, the League of Struggle took shape, as Lenin was able to write and smuggle the illegal material out of prison.
One of these illegal works was titled Draft and Explanation of a Program For the Social Democratic Party. That is of particular interest to us, as it gives us an idea of the program of the current American Communist Party, which must soon to be created.
As Lenin put it, ”The Party’s activity must consist in promoting the workers’ class struggle….to join up with the workers movement, to bring some light into it…to uphold the interests of the workers and to represent those of the entire working class movement”.
From this it is clear that it is the duty of Marxists, Communists, to ”join up” with the working class movement, and not to attempt to divert it onto some harmless path of social reform. As for the idea of ”bring some light into it”, this is to say that the working class is not aware of itself as a class, certainly not aware of the revolutionary theories of Marx, and the working class must be exposed to these Marxist theories.
Lenin refers to this as ”developing the workers class consciousness…means the workers understanding that the only way to improve their conditions and to achieve their emancipation is to conduct a struggle against the capitalist and factory owner class created by the factories…that the interests of all workers of any particular country are identical, that they all constitute one class, separate from all other classes in society… that to achieve their aims they have to work to influence the affairs of state, just as the landlords and capitalists did, and are continuing to do so now”.
Those who are about to create a new American Communist Party would do well to bear that in mind. Most, if not all, Leftist parties and organizations, seek to divert the revolutionary movement onto some harmless path of social reform. Whether they know it or not, and many of them are not aware of this, they are working in the service of the bourgeoisie.
Without doubt, the situation is truly revolutionary, as the ruling class can no longer rule in the old way and the working class is no longer prepared to live in the old way. As that is the case, certain bourgeois intellectuals are breaking away from their class. It is up to these intellectuals, those who are aware of the revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin, to form a proper American Communist Party. Only such a Party is able to lead the working class, to raise their level of awareness, to make them aware of themselves as a class, of the necessity of revolution and further of the necessity of crushing their class enemies under the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.
Only with the proper leadership, that of a true Communist Party, will the revolution succeed. The alternative is to continue to live under the rule of the capitalists, the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. That is a fate worse than death.
Gerald McIsaac Science Project 