Lenin once wrote, in Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, that ”Crises of every kind -economic crises more frequently, but not only these- in their turn increase very considerably the tendency towards concentration and monopoly”. The current situation in America is certainly proof of that statement. The country is currently facing several crises, not just an economic crisis, and political power is becoming ever more concentrated. The middle class, the petty bourgeois, is being decimated, with ever more members being forced into the ranks of the working class, the proletariat.
As far as the capitalists are concerned, they are facing a ”perfect storm”, a convergence of crises. The Corona Virus, which has killed over 200,000 Americans, is flaring up again, now that restrictions have been lifted, and it is anticipated to return with a vengeance, as soon as the flu joins forces with the virus to form a ”twindemic”. As well, the economic stimulus package, in the form of checks to alleviate the effects of the virus and unemployment, have run out and Congress cannot come to an agreement to continue such payments. This is expected to dramatically increase the unemployment rate. As well, the number of homeless is expected to skyrocket, as the laws protecting tenants from eviction is due to expire.
As a result of this, the stock market is fluctuating wildly, in anticipation of a second Great Depression. It is just a matter of time before it crashes completely, as it did in 1929. The bourgeois economists, in the simplicity of their souls, have responded with characteristic enthusiasm, as they anticipate a full ”economic recovery”. In fact, they perform a fine Guy Smiley imitation in the face of economic catastrophe. But then it is in their interest to pretend to be so naive.
As well, the Senate is fighting over the nomination of the next Supreme Court Justice. The protests against violent police repression, especially as regards minorities, is becoming ever stronger. To top it all off, the politicians, journalists and political scientists are finally figuring out that Trump has no intention of stepping down in January, regardless of the results of the November election. What is more, he may have found a way to stay in power, quite legally!
A noted journalist, writing for one of the most conservative, highly respected magazines in the country, was able to determine precisely the course of action Trump is pursuing. The journalist found it completely appalling, or as he stated it, ”scared myself writing this story”. Effectively, he merely faced the fact which he already knew, but chose to deny. For that matter, countless other journalists and politicians have also been denying the same facts, which they know to be true. The fact is that the American voters do not elect the president! The president is elected by the members of the electoral college, and the American voters do not elect the electors! The electors are appointed by the state legislature! The only requirement to legally remain in office, is to have the majority of the electors vote for Trump! The presidential vote is merely a formality! It is not legally binding!
With that in mind, Trump is approaching various state legislatures, encouraging them to appoint electors who will vote for him. They are being encouraged to ignore the popular vote. The journalist who determined this, is of the opinion that it is ”quite disturbing, dangerous, not normal, not customary”, that the ”system is not designed to work that way”, but there is ”no umpire”. He neglected to add that such actions are also quite legal.
Even top ranking members of his own party are accusing Trump of ”taking aim at one of the election pillars of democracy.” One such party member, a distinguished lawyer, is suggesting that the upcoming election ”could break America.” Others are saying that Trump is threatening to ”push American democracy to the brink”.
As Trump now openly admits his refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power, if the vote goes against him, their fears are well grounded.
It is very likely that the fact which irritates the bourgeois most is the fact that this threat to ”break America”, this threat to ”American democracy”, is coming, not from the Left, not from Communists, but from Donald Trump, one of their own!
One high ranking Republican Senator became quite indignant over the idea of a less than peaceful transition of power. He mentioned that such a peaceful transition of power is guaranteed in the Constitution. As if political power can be guaranteed by a mere stroke of a pen! Clearly this fellow has led a very sheltered life. He has missed his calling. As a starry eyed optimist, he really should have joined the Peace Corp!
A second such Senator is of the opinion that ”the American people will not allow a dictator”. In this, he is absolutely correct. There is sure to be a transition of power, but it will be anything but peaceful. No doubt Trump will merely declare himself to be president, possibly for life, and the American people will rise up in protest. After Trump is stopped and possibly arrested, the good Senator will then expect the revolutionaries to put down their weapons and disperse, like good proletarians. Not likely!
Other journalists have described this as an ”authoritarian crisis”, that Trump is ”taking a wrecking ball to the presidency”, that he is ”dismantling the presidential election”. Trump is being compared to the former president, Richard Nixon, who declared that the president is above the law. As Nixon put it, ”when the president breaks the law, it is not a crime”. That is precisely the attitude of Trump, and it took the journalists this long to figure it out!
Other comparisons have been made, in regards to the presidential election of 1972. At that time, most voters were of the opinion that they were being forced to choose between a ”crook and a jerk”, in that the Democratic Party nominee was not highly respected. As a result, the overwhelming majority of Americans voted for the crook and Nixon won the election in a landslide. It is entirely possible that history could repeat itself. Despite all the lies, deception and election rigging, Trump could honestly win the election, as people may once again choose to vote for the crook, rather than ”Sleepy Joe”!
As long ago as May, Trump appointed a new Postmaster General, with a view to slowing down the delivery of mail, so as to ensure that the election ballots which are sent in, do not get counted on time. He is also challenging the validity of mail in ballots, and anticipates that it will end up in the Supreme Court. With that in mind, he is determined to appoint a new member to that Supreme Court, and before the November election. In short, he is covering all the bases. One way or another, he is determined to stay in power.
Lest we give too much credit to Trump, bear in mind that he has a small army of lawyers working for him. They are pointing out the loopholes in the system, clearly earning their pay.
From a Marxist perspective, the important thing is that voter interest is now reported to be ”off the charts”. This is no doubt true, as it is only during a time of reaction that citizens become apathetic. The current situation is anything but a time of reaction! It is revolutionary, as people are determined to enact change. For that reason, we can expect a record number of people to engage in voting. That is excellent, for as Engels stated, universal suffrage is ”an index of the maturity of the working class. It cannot and never will be anything more in the modern state.”
As this anticipated voter turn out is expected to set a record, it indicates a high level of maturity of the working class. We can further anticipate the votes to be universally ignored, which will no doubt infuriate most people. They will complain that this is not democratic, while in fact it is most democratic. It is bourgeois democracy. This must be explained to them.
This is where conscious people, Marxists, Communists, come into play. It must be explained to people that democracy is not majority rule, as is taught in all bourgeois schools. It is a system of government in which one class crushes another class. This is to say that it is a state apparatus, and under capitalism, it is one of the methods by which the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, crushes and exploits the working class, the proletariat. Bourgeois democracy is a dictatorship, a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.
Now it is up to class conscious people to explain this to working people, and in words they can understand, without being condescending. Also explain that a republic does not recognize a monarch, so that America is a republic, while Canada is not, as Canada recognizes the Queen of England. Further explain that the capitalists prefer to rule under the democratic republic, as according to Lenin, ”it is the best possible political shell for capitalism”.
Bear in mind that certain workers are more advanced than others. It is the more advanced workers who are the leaders. The less advanced workers pay strict attention to the more advanced. This is not to say that the less advanced should be ignored, just that they should be spoken to in a manner they can understand. At the same time, at no point should there be any reference to vulgarity.
We indeed live under democracy, but democracy for the capitalists, and only for the capitalists. For the working class, the proletariat, it is a dictatorship, a dictatorship of the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, over the proletariat. The capitalists are in charge and fully intend to remain in charge. The fact that they are currently squabbling among themselves, arguing over the particular method of rule, does not change that.
It is up to the working class, the proletariat, to change things, and to change things dramatically. The capitalists, the tiny minority, those who are currently crushing and exploiting the vast majority, the working class, must be overthrown and crushed under the proletariat, the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. Lenin also mentioned that ”A Marxist is one who extends the acceptance of the class struggle to the acceptance of the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.” (italics by Lenin, capitals by author)
There is a reason the capitalists must be forcibly crushed after the revolution. The reason is that they are not about to resign themselves to their fate. In fact, such a thought would never cross their minds. They will resort to every subterfuge, every lie, deception, deceit, in order to return to power. Their resistance will be increased ten fold, as they desperately attempt to restore their ”paradise lost”. As Lenin states, socialist development, after the revolution, ”proceeds through the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.” It is only under socialism that the working class, the proletariat, will achieve full democracy, and that is possible only when the bourgeoisie is being fully crushed. The one and only form of scientific socialism is the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. All else is petty bourgeois, utopian socialism, and has been proven to be a failure.
Now the press is counting down the days to the election, much as children count down the days to Christmas. One makes about as much sense as the other. Perhaps the journalists think that Trump will imitate the Grinch who stole Christmas, and have a change of heart!
The working people have no such illusions. They are taking action.
In the city of Louisville, state of Kentucky, a young Black woman, an EMT, was shot dead in her own home, by police officers. No officer has been charge in connection with her death. Protests have erupted across the country, and a curfew has gone into effect in the city. As an indication of the strength of the revolutionary movement, two police officers in Louisville have been shot. As well, a state of emergency has been declared, and the Kentucky National Guard has been mobilized.
The uprising has spread to other cities, with rocks, bottles and fireworks being thrown at police. One officer had his helmet cracked by a baseball bat. Protesters have gathered at the home of the Majority Leader of the Senate, as well as at the memorial of the late Justice of the Supreme Court. At the memorial, Trump tried to speak, while protesters were chanting ”Vote Him Out!”.
This harassment of the capitalists, at their homes and places of business, is most encouraging. They are learning to hit the capitalists where it hurts. Now the working people have got to learn to carry signs and posters containing class content. That is where the proper leaders come into the picture, class conscious people, Marxists, Communists. As ever more of the middle class, the petty bourgeois, are ruined, many of them will no doubt cast aside any illusions they may have of once again becoming successful, and carry the Marxist awareness to the proletariat.
As most class conscious people, Marxists, are current or former members of the petty bourgeois, it is up to them to get active. Create a proper American Communist Party. At the same time, join other organizations, those which are active in the revolutionary movement. Give proper direction to the movement. Suggest that the posters and signs reveal class content. Expect the social chauvinists to oppose this, as they are the devoted servants of the bourgeoisie, working within the working class.
It is important to distinguish between the centrists, those who may be utopian socialists, who may think that socialism is a good idea, and the social chauvinists, those who are determined to strive only for paltry reforms. The centrists are not the enemy, but allies. We want as many of those people on our side as we can persuade. On the other hand, the chauvinists are agents of the bourgeoisie, and they are the enemy.
Remember that we want as many people on our side as possible, as it is far more difficult to start a revolution in a highly industrialized country, a cultured country, than it is in a petty bourgeois country, an under developed country. On the other hand, it is far easier to carry the revolution through, in an industrialized country, than in an underdeveloped country. Hopefully, this will offer encouragement to those who are discouraged by the -temporary- turn of events in the Soviet Union and in China, in which capitalism has been restored.
Bear in mind that the less advanced workers are not the enemy. Such people tend to be followers, not leaders, and for the most part, have merely been mislead. With such people, patience is required. Given time, we can expect them to listen to the more advanced workers. Focus on the more advanced.
We can expect the social chauvinists to say that the working class is not prepared to seize political power. There is some truth to this, as under capitalism, the working class will never be fully prepared to seize political power. The capitalists will make sure of this. Then again, the Russian proletariat was even less prepared to seize political power in 1917. Yet it was forced upon them, and they rose to the occasion.
Very soon, the revolution will also be forced upon the American proletariat. Trump will see to that. There is no time to waste. Any training workers receive now will prove to be of great value after the revolution. At that time, such workers, and even workers with no training, will be placed in positions of authority. With that in mind, I will close with my usual advice:
Prepare For the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat!
Gerald McIsaac Science Project 