Author: Gerald Mcisaac

As I write this, the American government shut down has entered its twenty second day, officially making it the longest such shut down in history. Close to a million government workers are either out of work, or forced to work without pay. The number is growing, as other government agencies, such as the federal courts, also run out of money.

The workers are not taking this lying down. They are proud people, who want to earn an honest living. They are asking only for a ”days pay for a days work”, which is completely reasonable.

Instead of jobs, the government is advising them to ”have garage sales and walk dogs”. This advice the workers find offensive, as indeed it is. They are picketing, and their signs make it clear that they want to work. They are workers, not pawns, not at all happy to be caught in this glorified chess game the politicians are playing. They are also voters, and are making that fact quite clear.

Trump says that these workers approve of the shut down, and that he can relate to them. Of all his lies, this is perhaps the most flagrant. The fact is that he is a capitalist, has been filthy rich all his life, and has more money than he can ever hope to spend. Now to suggest that he can relate to workers who are struggling to make ends meet, is completely absurd.

Into this explosive situation, the New York Times just released another bombshell. As one of the most highly respected newspapers in the country, this report is not to be taken lightly. A source more favourably inclined towards capitalism – to put it mildly – would be difficult to find. That being said, it is safe to assume we can trust the details which they report are accurate. These details may well cause Trump to be removed from office.

The headlines are completely shocking: ”FBI Opened Inquiry Into Whether Trump Was Secretly Working On Behalf Of Russians”.

When I refer to this as a bombshell, that is not an exaggeration. If these allegations are true, then Trump, the president of the United States, could well be charged with treason.

The NYT reports that the FBI became suspicious of Trump and his associates even before he became president, but was running for office.  As they phrased it, the FBI was ”uncertain how to proceed with an inquiry of such sensitivity and magnitude”.

We can hardly blame the FBI for not immediately proceeding with an investigation into a candidate for the presidency. Such an investigation would have very likely resulted in the career suicide of the agents taking part in the investigation. Self preservation instincts kicked in, prompting their silence.

The situation changed dramatically shortly after Trump became president and fired the head of the FBI. At that time the American capitalists, the bourgeoisie, determined that their golden boy was a loose cannon, and had to be removed. It is very possible that the Russian capitalists were of the same opinion. Either way, the people who work behind the scenes, on behalf of the bourgeoisie, ”advised” the FBI to proceed with the investigation, as Trump was considered to be a liability, and had to go.

As the NYT reports it, the ”FBI opened an inquiry into whether Trump was secretly working on behalf of Russia”, either ”knowingly or had unwittingly fallen under Russian influence”. This is considered a ”possible threat to national security”.

That is a masterpiece of under statement, as the Russians are considered ”foreign adversaries”.

The writers for the NYT certainly have a way with words.

The investigation, which first began as a possible ”obstruction of justice”, on the part of Trump, has expanded into an investigation into a possible ”threat to national security”.

If Trump is indeed working for the Russians, then it is safe to say the ”threat to national security” is very real.

This helps to explain the hiring of a small army of lawyers, at the expense of the tax payers, of course, whose job it is to protect the ”executive privilege” of the president. Trump does not want the members of the public, the working people, or the politicians, the democratically elected members of the House and Senate, to be made aware of that which he has been doing. As that very likely includes being in the service of the Russians, as the NYT alleges, such an attitude is completely understandable.

The investigation into Trump, which was started by the FBI, has since been turned over to the Special Prosecutor. It is expected that his report should be finished soon, and Trump is determined to bury it. Perish forbid that tax payers should find out just what he has been up to.

It is up to Marxists to stress to working people, including those who are currently unemployed due to the government shut down, that Trump and the capitalists can afford to hire an army of lawyers to protect the president, to shield him from the members of the public, as well as members of congress, to keep the tax payers in the dark as to the manner in which their tax dollars are spent, but cannot afford to pay government workers!

It is only the Senate that has the power to remove the president from office, and only by a vote of two thirds, and only upon conviction of charges of ”treason and other high crimes and misdemeanors”, as specified by the Constitution. The crimes which Trump is alleged to have committed certainly fit that category.

This is not to say that his removal from office is assured, as it requires very strong pressure ”from below”, as is the currently correct political expression. That means only the uprising of millions of working people will secure his removal from office. It is only under such pressure that the Senate will take action. In other words, a revolution is necessary, and in fact, it is inevitable.

The point must be driven home to the working people that Trump is not the problem. Capitalism is the problem, the bourgeoisie is the problem, removing Trump from office will not change that fact. He will merely be replaced by another stooge of the capitalists, and the class war will continue.

It just means that another clown will assume the office of the presidency – the current vice president comes to mind – and the deception of the people will continue. The current crisis in capitalism will continue to be portrayed as a crisis at the border. The working people will continue to be slandered. The desperate hard working people streaming towards the southern border will continue to be portrayed as thieves, terrorists, rapists and murderers. In fact, they are trying to escape desperate poverty and degradation, seeking a better way of life, just as our ancestors, in a similar situation, came to this country, many years ago.

Only the transfer of all political power to the proletariat can solve the problems of capitalism, that of war, poverty, unemployment and starvation. Further, that transfer of power can only take place through revolution. That revolution can only be successful if the working class, the proletariat, follows the teachings of Marx and Lenin. There is no alternative to scientific socialism.

It was Lenin who stressed that without a revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary motion. That is a fact, just as it is a fact that the Marxist Leninist movement is by its very essence an international movement. It is up to us to support our brothers and sisters, our comrades, who are seeking to enter the country, in their quest for a better way of life. It may help to regard them as our own ancestors of years ago.

Finally, Lenin also stressed that the ”role of vanguard fighter can be fulfilled only by a party that is guided by the most advanced theory.” As yet, there is no such party in existence, so it is the duty of the most advanced members of the proletariat, along with people who are aware of class distinctions, to form such a party.

Now is not the time for despair. Now is the time for action.

It is now day twenty of the partial American government shut down. The press reports that there is no end in sight, as both sides are deeply entrenched. In fact, the government is effectively dysfunctional, unable to pass any pieces of legislation. The partial shut down is about to expand, as the money for the federal courts is expected to run out in a day or two. After that, a great many more federal agencies will shut down on February 8, as that is the day they too will run out of money.

It is now abundantly clear that the ruling class, the bourgeoisie, can no longer rule in the old way. Let us examine the facts:

President Trump is a Republican and is determined to build his wall with Mexico

The majority of the Senate is also Republican and the leader of the Senate refuses to consider any bill passed by the House of Representatives – the Congress –  if they think Trump will veto it

The majority of the Congress is Democratic and absolutely opposed to the wall

The Speaker of the House is supremely well aware that there are a great many new members of the House and if she gives in to Trump on the wall issue, she will face a rebellion and almost certainly lose her position

The Speaker of the House and the minority Democratic leader of the Senate met with Trump and Trump merely threw a tantrum and walked out

Trump now claims that the Chinese leaders are more honourable than the leaders of the Democrats

Trump now denies that he ever said that Mexico would pay for the wall – one of his main campaign promises

The Secretary of State contradicted Trump when he said that American troops in Syria were about to go on the offensive – as opposed to being withdrawn, as Trump has announced

It has been revealed that the former campaign manager of Trump was in the pay of the Russians

The press reports that the Special Prosecutor investigation is almost finished

The White House has just hired seventeen more lawyers, bringing the total up to thirty five, with plans to hire even more, in order to protect Trump

The White House is anxious to protect the ”executive privilege” of Trump

There are reports that the Special Prosecutor may consider the tweets of Trump as a form of obstruction of justice

The White House lawyers are determined to keep the report of the Special Prosecutor a secret from the public and the members of congress

The press is also reporting a ”new world order” in Washington

Trump says he will ”almost certainly” declare a state of emergency

A great many federal workers who have been forced to work without pay are now calling in sick – who can blame them? – and are being threatened with dismissal

The former personal lawyer of Trump will soon be forced to testify before Congress

This is the very definition of a crisis in capitalism, in which the ruling class cannot rule in the old way and has to change their method of rule. The vacillations in the ranks of the enemy is at its peak. It is perhaps not an exaggeration to say that they are at the throats of each other. The executive branch of the government, led by Trump, is at war with the legislative branch of the government. Further, within the executive branch, there exists a self styled resistance, which is determined to stop Trump, ”one way or another”.

Strangely enough, the press has largely forgotten about this resistance. They have managed to expose the lies and hypocrisy of Trump and the impotence within the government as a whole, but have overlooked the resistance. This faction within the Trump administration may be the most dangerous.

The members of the House and Senate, commonly referred to as both houses of Congress, are members of the legislative branch of government. It is their duty to enact laws, and it is the duty of the executive branch of government, headed by the president, to enforce those laws. But now the president wants to take over the authority of the legislative branch, and it remains to be seen if they are prepared to abdicate their authority. If Trump indeed declares a state of emergency, then the legislatures, the members of congress, plan to appeal that executive decision in the federal courts, which could take a while, especially as the federal courts will soon be shut down.

This could well explain the reason that Trump has held off on declaring a state of emergency. He may be waiting for the federal courts to shut down. Then the only way the democrats can challenge the state of emergency is by providing money for the courts and the only way that can happen is by agreeing to the funding for the wall. Either way, Trump wins.

It is not clear just how this proposed state of emergency is different from a state of martial law, although I suspect that in the eyes of Trump, they are one and the same. As soon as a state of emergency is declared, Trump may send in troops to build the wall and also send in troops to other parts of the country to restore ”law and order”.

That proposed state of emergency may be just the thing the White House Resistance is planning, as a means of seizing political power. They could well place Trump in ”protective custody” and take over the government.

That could well trigger the revolution as the working class rises up to defend their democratic rights. The activity of the most advanced strata of the working class is very high and may well rise to new heights as the revolution breaks out into open revolt. The vacillation and back stabbing within the ranks of the enemy can only help our cause.

Now it is up to class conscious people to raise the level of awareness of the working class, and in particular the most advanced strata of the working class, to the level of Marxists. The most advanced will lead, while the less advanced will follow.

For the moment, that ball is in our court, and time is not on our side.

As I write this, the December holiday celebrations are a thing of the past and Trump is still president. The American ”resistance”, as they call themselves, people whom I refer to as the White House Resistance, have yet to remove Trump from office. The people in charge of the American military, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, those who are very likely members of that Resistance, have as yet resisted the temptation to arrest Trump and declare martial law. Possibly they think they cannot get away with such a course of action, as it would likely trigger a revolution, as the American people rise up in protest.

The members of the White House Resistance may be entirely reactionary, but they are not entirely stupid.

With that in mind, they cannot bring themselves to face the prospect of two more years of Trump as president. The first two years were a nightmare, and the next two years are shaping up to be far worse, as the insanity of that man merely intensifies. He takes action based on impulse, just as he has in the past. He lies constantly, if only out of force of habit. To tell the military that they are about to receive a huge pay raise of ten percent, which is not true, makes no sense. Any respect the members of the military may have had for him, is long gone. All are aware that the man is a liar, from the highest ranking general to the lowest ranking enlisted man. It is safe to say that the morale of the military is at a low point.

The military high command as well as the civilian members of the Trump administration are well aware of this, and are determined to take action, to stop Trump, ”one way or another”, as they put it. As yet, all of their efforts have been to no avail. If anything, their efforts have back fired, as Trump fires anyone and everyone who tries to talk sense to him. Now the only people left within the administration are the hard core belly crawling boot lickers. They stoop to great depths, in their efforts to justify the lies and deceit of Trump. In the process, they degrade themselves and bring shame and ridicule upon the American government, which is now the laughing stock of the world.

This is not to say that the White House Resistance is taking this lying down. Indeed, they have hatched a new plan to resolve this ”constitutional crisis”, as they refer to it. One of their brainstorms is to limit the members of the senate to two terms of six years each, and to limit the members of the House of Representatives to three terms of two years each. It is not clear just how this will serve to stop Trump, in his mad quest to destroy the American empire. Perhaps those same people have not thought this through to its logical conclusion. In other words, such a course of action will serve no purpose whatsoever.

By contrast, their latest idea is more creative, and may even have a reasonable chance of success. They plan to indict Trump.

This calls for a little explanation. To be indicted is to be charged with a crime, and that is different from being tried for a crime. As Trump is the head of state, it is likely that he cannot be tried for any crime, at least not while still in office. Which is not to say that he cannot be charged with a crime, while still in office. At least, that is the very thing upon which the White House Resistance people are staking their claim.

Their concern is with the statute of limitations, which applies to most crimes. A great many people are alleging that Trump has committed a great many crimes, many of which are covered by the statute of limitations.

This means that after a certain period of time, which varies according to the crime and the state within which the crime was committed, no charges can be filed. If the crime violated federal laws, then a federal statute of limitations comes into effect. Either way, the charges have to be placed within a certain period of time, or not at all. If people find this confusing, it is only because it is confusing.

Perhaps an example will be helpful. In one state, the statute of limitations for a particular crime, say rape, may be five years. In another state, that same crime of rape may have a statute of limitations of six years. Same crime, different statute of limitations. That is just the way it is.

There are a few people who pay strict attention to these legal details, and that includes lawyers and mobsters. It is in their interest to pay attention to such details.

As well, there are a notable number of celebrities, several of whom have been mentioned in the news, who are also counting the years that have elapsed since they were sexually assaulted. As well, the men who committed these sexual assaults are also counting the years. It is safe to assume that there are numerous others, whose names have yet to be mentioned, who are also counting the years. If the time which has elapsed after the assault is great enough, then the individual who committed the assault is immune from prosecution.

A great many members of the Me Too movement are also well aware of the statute of limitations, to their anger and bitterness. At least, they have every reason for being angry and bitter. First, they were sexually assaulted, frequently after first being drugged, and now they have to face the fact that the creep who raped them cannot be charged. As if it is their fault that they were too scared or too ashamed to come forward immediately!

A similar dilemma is being faced by members of the White House Resistance. They allege that Trump has committed various crimes over a period of years, and many of those alleged crimes happened many years ago, and fall outside the statute of limitations, so that no charges can be placed. Their concern is that Trump allegedly committed crimes more recently, such as at the time he was running for office, and unless he is soon charged, he may be immune from prosecution.

That is certainly possible, just as it is possible that he has already been charged, if only by the special prosecutor, and the charges are sealed by the court. As yet, the members of the public have no way of knowing. The only thing we know for sure is that the White House Resistance is giving consideration to bringing charges against Trump, while he is still the president, the head of state. The plan is to bring charges against Trump now, and bring him to trial after he leaves office.

This is commonly referred to as grasping at straws. Assuming such a plan is successful and Trump is charged, that will not change the fact that he will remain president and continue to do considerable damage. The ongoing partial government shut down is proof of that statement, and leaves room for no doubt.

There are other voices being raised, by people who tend to be more progressive, and are encouraging working people to run for political office. All Marxists should most emphatically get behind this movement, and encourage working people to run for any and all political office. Those same working people should be advised to also become card carrying members of both mainstream political parties, and persuade their family and friends to also join the two parties. Then they can run for political office as a member of both parties, which should drastically reduce the cost of campaigning. After all, such individuals have no one to campaign against.

The most advanced workers will gain valuable experience in leadership, and these are precisely the skills which will soon be in great demand, after the revolution. Soon, workers with very little training, or even no training at all, will be placed in positions of authority. Any training such workers can receive now will prove to be quite valuable. At the same time, they will learn that the capitalists are deeply entrenched, and that no change of face, no matter how sincere, is capable of making any substantive change.

In the mean time, Trump is determined to secure the five billion plus for his wall, which is merely a down payment on that wall. As the border is very long, the price of the wall is probably ten times the amount he is currently demanding. That is aside from the fact that even if completed, it will prove to be completely ineffective.

This has been pointed out to Trump, notably by members of the press, and merely serves to irritate him, further hardening his resolve to build that wall. He is as a spoiled little brat who wants a toy and is prepared to throw a tantrum until he gets that toy. His current tantrum comes at the expense of 800,000 government workers, half of whom are laid off and the other half are expected to work without pay. He says this shutdown could last ”months or even years”, and blames it on the democrats, even though he also said that he would be ”proud to take credit for a shutdown”. This is typical Trump. If his lips are moving, it is safe to assume the man is lying.

Now it would appear that the idiot is getting the idea that congress is not about to give in to his demand. Accordingly, he has decided upon a different course of action. His latest brain storm is to declare a state of emergency and use the military to build the wall.

Until very recently, I would say that such a plan has a very good chance of success. But now the situation has changed dramatically, as a result of the revolutionary movement. A great many high ranking members of congress, both of the Senate and the House of Representatives, have taken an early retirement. They have quit politics because they have lost control. The fact is that the ruling class can no longer rule in the old way. They now have to change their method of rule. Just precisely what particular method of rule that is, they do not know. That explains the floundering of the ruling class.

Now we have a great many new politicians in Washington, especially in the House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the Congress. Most of them are young and many of them are female, and none of them are terribly shy. One such member of congress, a member of ”The Squad”,  distinguished herself by declaring that she planned to impeach the mother f—–.

The apologists of Trump, belly crawling boot lickers, one and all, tell us that the use of such language is not appropriate. These are the same people who also defend Trump for saying that if a woman is attractive, it is best to ”grab her by the pussy”. Such people set the standard for hypocrisy.

It is entirely possible that this new generation of members of congress will have the backbone to stand up to Trump, and in fact the House does have the authority to impeach the president. That is the easy part. To be impeached is merely to go on trial by the senate. Only if two thirds of the senate find the president guilty, can he be removed from office. As there are currently one hundred members of the senate, it requires sixty seven votes to remove Trump from office. As the majority of the senators are of the same political party as Trump, which is to say members of the Republican party, that is not about to happen, at least under the current political climate.

This leaves the ruling class, including the members of the White House Resistance, right back where they started, unable to rule in the old way but equally unable to figure out a different method of rule. This is another way of saying that they are desperate, and desperate people tend to resort to desperate measures. In short, they are not predictable and therefore even more dangerous than ever.

As I write this, Trump has just finished a televised broadcast from the Oval office of the White House, possibly his first such broadcast. This is an indication of the desperation of the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, of their attempt to change their method of rule. They are well aware of the fact that capitalism is in a state of crisis, and further well aware of the fact that the members of the public are aware of this crisis. As they cannot deny this, they are trying to obscure it, first referring to it as a ”constitutional crisis”. As they could not make that stick, they are now referring to it as a ”crisis on the border”, a ”national emergency”, a ”crisis of heart and soul”. These are precisely the words Trump used in his speech. As if Trump has had a change of heart and is now a tender hearted humanitarian! This is the same piece of human garbage who ordered young children separated from their parents and placed in steel cages. Those cages were carefully hidden inside buildings, out of sight of the public. No one was allowed to take any pictures or videos of the children who were being tortured. No cameras were allowed within those prisons for children. The public was allowed only to hear the heart wrenching cries of babies calling for their mothers.

The press deserves credit for pointing out the fallacies, which is to say the lies, which Trump spouted out in his short speech. As one journalist put it, a true wit, such a speech ”should have come with a surgeon generals warning, as it was hazardous to the truth”. That is one journalist I admire.

There was some speculation that Trump would declare a state of national emergency, which he did not. But then he did not say that he would not declare a state of national emergency. It could still happen. Martial law could be right around the corner.

This should provide all Marxists with a sense of urgency, as it is clear that the revolution is right around the corner. It could happen any day now. The bourgeoisie are about to force it upon the working people, the proletarians. There can be no question concerning the workers not being ready for the revolution. Just as in 1917 Russia, it happened, and the Russian workers at that time were even less prepared than American workers are now.

Every effort must be made to raise the level of awareness of the working class. All workers must become aware of themselves as a class, complete with their own class interests. They must be made aware of the existence of the capitalist class, the bourgeoisie, with interests which are diametrically opposed to the interest of the working class. They must be made aware of the necessity and inevitability of revolution and the subsequent Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. In other word, they must become Marxists.

This is indeed a tall order, but possibly not as difficult as in days of yore. There is no longer a need for leaflets and newspapers. We have the technology and we would be fools not to use it. The younger generation is far more adept at this form of communication than I am, so I leave it in their hands. After all, there is a reason my children call me a Caveman.

With that in mind, I am hoping Marxists will use social media -if that is the correct expression- to raise the level of awareness of working people. Encourage people to read the works of Marx and Lenin, especially The Communist Manifesto, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, What Is To Be Done?, and State and Revolution. Those are the works which are of particular importance today.

We will know we are succeeding when the signs and posters read:

Scientific Socialism!

Workers of the World, Unite!

Dictatorship of the Proletariat!

As I write this, the American ”constitutional crisis”, as that is the name the American press has assigned it, continues to intensify.

The stock market continues to ”plunge”.

The Secretary of Defence is resigning.

The White House Chief of Staff has been fired.

A federal judge has asked a prosecutor the reason that a defendant, Michael Flynn, an individual who was formerly decorated as an army general and was a close adviser of Trump, has not been charged with treason.

The ”Special Presidential Envoy for Global Coalition to Defeat Isis” has resigned. Believe it or not, that is actually a title of a bureaucrat within the Trump administration.

The former personal lawyer of Trump, Michael Cohen, who was also an unofficial hatchet man for his client, was recently sentenced to three years in prison for crimes which Trump does not consider to be crimes. Clearly Trump knows more about the law than the lawyers and the judges. Perhaps anyone who doubts that should merely ask Trump. That man is the undisputed expert on almost anything. Just ask him. He will tell you.

This is in addition to the seventeen separate investigations of Trump and all of his businesses. Not the least of these investigations is that of the Special Prosecutor, the so called Mueller Probe. It is very likely that the older children of Trump will soon face various criminal charges. As Trump is currently the head of state, he may be immune from prosecution. Or not.

On December 21, on the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year, the American government was faced with a partial government shut down. One of the capitalists, one of the few capitalists to still maintain a sense of humour, quipped that it was a dark day for the country.

As far as the government shutdown is concerned, it was only a few days ago that Trump bragged that he would be proud to take credit for such a shutdown. Since that time, he has come to his senses and reverted to his usual stance of blaming others for his stupidity. In this case, it is all the fault of the Democrats. The woes of the stock market he blames on the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, who has dared to raise interest rates, against the ”advice” of Trump. Perhaps he too should really be ashamed of himself. He has the audacity to think that he knows more about the economy than Trump. How dare him! Perhaps Trump should fire the Chairman of the Fed.

The fact that firing the Chairman of the Fed could well prove to be illegal does not impress Trump.

As for the current shutdown, the current bone of contention is the ”Wall”, which Trump swore would be paid for by Mexico. It should come as no great surprise to anyone that Mexico has other ideas. So now Trump has indeed taken action. He has decided to change the name, from that of ”wall” to that of ”Steel Slats Barrier”. He actually thinks that this will be a thing of beauty.

Truly, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In this case, Trumps idea of beauty leaves a bit to be desired.

That particular name change has failed to impress the members of the House of Representatives, or the Senate. They have refused to give Trump the five billion dollars he is requesting, as a down payment on the ”steel slats barrier”, so he in turn is throwing a ”hissy fit”, as the press reports it, and shutting down a good part of the government. This means that several hundred thousand government workers are out of a job. Roughly half of them are simply out of work entirely, while the other half are expected to work without pay. They are being told that after the shutdown is over, then they can expect to get paid.

This calls for a huge leap of faith on the part of government workers, those who are called upon to trust the president, as he has consistently lied in the past.

It is noteworthy that some of the government workers who are expected to work without pay include the members of the Secret Service, none other than the personal body guard of the president. These people are, without doubt, highly trained, professional, dedicated members of the law enforcement community. Each and every one of them is prepared to lay down their lives in the performance of their duties. Their integrity is not to be questioned. All are prepared to stop a bullet for the president, if called upon to do so. That is a fact.

It is also a fact that they are all working people, men and women who have responsibilities, bills to pay, families to feed. Now they are being asked – better yet demanded – to protect a man, a billionaire, whom has never suffered from want, never known the pain of trying to make ends meet. Yet this same billionaire is the man who is effectively placing a hold on their paycheques, completely unconcerned with their financial state. It is to be expected that their enthusiasm for the job may be on the decline. In fact, when the revolution breaks out, those same people, the members of the Secret Service, the personal body guard of the president, may well join the revolutionary forces. We must be prepared to welcome them into our ranks.

The press is reporting that this government shut down could be rather lengthy, as a new crop of politicians are to take office in January. As the majority of the House members will then be Democrats, this seems to be a rather reasonable assumption.

All of these little difficulties, among others, are acceptable to the capitalists, the billionaires, the bourgeoisie, the class of people who are currently running the country. This is not a threat to their rule. It is merely inconvenient, and they can live with this.

The latest stunt Trump pulled is not acceptable. He had the audacity to order American troops out of Syria, effective immediately. He also ordered plans to be drawn up to pull half the troops out of Afghanistan. As Trump is president, and the president is commander in chief of all the American armed forces, that is his right.

This is absolutely not acceptable to the bourgeoisie.

This requires a little explanation. The fact is that we live under monopoly capitalism, which is to say capitalism in its highest, most rotten stage. This is scientifically referred to as imperialism, and the people in charge of these countries are referred to as imperialists.

Imperialism has characteristics which are different from pre-monopoly capitalism. Lenin goes into this in detail in his book, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. He explains that imperialism is ”reaction, right down the line.” That is a book which I highly recommend to all, as it explains so much of that which is happening.

The American imperialists are squabbling with the imperialists of other countries, most notably Russia – although certainly not exclusively Russia – for control of part of the world, that which is referred to as the Middle East. They are prepared to sacrifice countless American soldiers in their pursuit of ever more territory and profit. This butchery of workers in uniform is a matter of complete indifference to them.

As explained in a previous article, the American imperialists have already decided to remove Trump from office, ”one way or another”. His order to pull troops out of Syria has merely made the removal more urgent. As they see it, the time to act is now, before the order can be carried through. Besides, it is the holiday season, people are focused on celebrating the holidays, relaxing with their families, not to mention getting drunk on New Years Eve. What better time for a military take over? Trump can be arrested, martial law can be declared, the with drawl from Syria can be cancelled, and the wars can continue.

In the event of such a coup, the working people will be placed in the position of supporting their democratically elected president, in this case Trump, of rescuing him from the military, holidays and martial law be damned. In short, civil war. That is the very pinnacle of irony!

In such a civil war, we can expect an alliance of people from all sides of the political spectrum. This is to say left leaning people, Marxists, socialists and anarchists, feminists, those with a democratic sense and those who think this is just the right thing to do, can be expected to rebel. As well, right wing people can be expected to rise, to challenge the military coup. The most ardent supporters of Trump, Klansmen and members of the NRA, the most backward male chauvinists, can be expected to unite to oppose this military coup.

This is called revolution, and remarkably enough, a military coup could be the spark which sets off the revolution.

It is characteristic of a revolution that people come together, stand shoulder to shoulder, even though such people do not normally associate. They unite against a common enemy.

As for those who swore they would never lift a finger to help Trump, may I remind you that after the revolution, after we establish a socialist republic, after we establish the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat, there will be time to force him to answer for his crimes.

But first we have to establish a socialist republic, and that means forming temporary alliances with people, with whom we may have deep differences. Compromises are required, and this is correct, as long as we do not violate principle. We must not allow personal feelings to influence our actions.

No one ever said that revolution is easy. Let the signs and banners read:

Scientific Socialism

Workers of the World, Unite!

Dictatorship of the Proletariat!

An extinct species of human was recently discovered in South Africa. The scientists have named it homo naledi. The discovery was made quite by accident, as a couple of amateur caver explorers, those who engage in the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems, stumbled upon the bones of human beings. These remains were found in a remote cavern at the end of a system of caves, referred to as the Rising Star System, and was almost completely inaccessible. This is to say that the entrance to the cavern was very narrow. Only the most slender individuals are able to access the cavern. A second cavern, equally inaccessible, was later found, also containing the remains of humans.

A scientific expedition to excavate the remains was organized by Lee Burger, a scientist who specializes in the field of paleo anthropology. For the sake of those who are not scientific experts, I should mention that paleo refers to people who lived many years ago, and anthropology refers to the study of human beings. Quite reasonably, the scientists who specialize in this field are referred to as paleo anthropologists.

Burger immediately organized a team of young, slender, dedicated scientists to engage in the extremely dangerous task of excavating those bones from the caverns. Not too surprising, all of these scientists were female, and the nearly complete skeletons of fifteen individuals were removed from these chambers. No one was seriously injured during this process.

As there was no indication of predatory damage to the bones, it was clear that predators did not drag the bones into the caverns. Also, the bones of no other animals were found in the caverns, so that ruled out the possibility of the bones being deposited as a result of flooding. The only remaining possibility is that these remains were placed in those caves deliberately. Those caverns are effectively a burial ground of an ancient species of human.

Of course there is no shortage of scientific souls who dispute that conclusion. They would have us believe that apes dragged the bodies of their deceased deep underground, in complete darkness, through caverns and tunnels which were supremely dangerous, in order to place them in remote caverns. Any misstep could have proven fatal and in the darkness, it was all too easy to get lost. This behaviour is not characteristic of apes.

It is my opinion that homo naledi was human, and I suspect they navigated their way through those underground passages with the aid of a light source, possibly torches. It is possible that the smoke from those torches can still be detected on the roof of those caves. There is no mention in the scientific literatures of anyone checking for that soot.

The bones have been extensively studied, and it has been determined that these apes were definitely bipedal, complete with features which were a ”curious mixture of ape and human”. This is to say that it walked on two legs but had also evolved physical features to enable it to spend a great deal of time in trees. This is precisely as I would expect, considering that it is a primitive species of human.

In a previous article, I have argued that in order to become human, an ape first has to become bipedal, so that the the front paws are freed up for labor. This is the correct Marxist understanding of the evolutionary process which an ape goes through, in the transition from ape to human.

Then in the process of labor, of crafting ever more elaborate tools, the front paws are gradually transformed into hands, which is to say the opposable thumb is created, they are able to touch their fingertips with their thumb, corresponding changes also take place to the body, and the ape gradually becomes human.

In particular, Engels explained this quite clearly in his excellent book, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State. The period of transition from ape to human is referred to as the lower stage of savagery, the ”childhood of the human race”. This period may have lasted thousands of years, and the main result of this is the development of articulate speech. During that time, people were ”partially at least a tree dweller, for otherwise their survival among huge beasts of prey cannot be explained.” That is the reason I am not surprised that they have a mixture of ape and human.

That is a fundamental tenet of Marxism, and as I have gone into this in more detail in a previous article, I will not go beyond this brief summary.

The point is that it is my contention that all species of human, which have ever walked the earth, have been, and are now, bipedal apes with opposable thumbs.

Burger reports a number of complete hands have been excavated from the caverns, and it is his belief that these hands ”could have made and manipulated tools”. That is very close to saying that these hands had the opposable thumb.

As that is the case, it proves that homo naledi was in fact human, so there is no point in arguing that an ape with such a small brain cannot be human. Homo naledi was human, but there are no doubt many scientists who will argue the point.

Of course the brains of our earliest human ancestors were small, as they were descended from apes. Engels goes on to quote Morgan, an anthropologist for whom Engels had the utmost respect: ”When two advancing tribes, with strong mental and physical characters, are brought together and blended into one people by the accidents of barbarous life, the new skull and brain would widen and lengthen to the sum of the capabilities of both.”

It is assumed that this species of human lived at the same time as our human ancestors, and then died out. I am not so sure. As yet I am aware of no DNA test to prove this, and the fact is that different species of human have interbred over the centuries. None of us can claim to be a pure bred species.

Most of those bones were recovered from one rather small area, less than one square meter, in one chamber. These human remains are being treated with great respect, properly so, as we are effectively raiding the burial ground of people who lived a very long time ago.

This is not to say that we are grave robbers, as such people merely steal from the dead in order to enrich themselves. That is far different from a proper scientific examination, and in a perfect world, after such an examination, the bones could be returned to their place of burial. That of course is out of the question, as the site has been well marked and grave robbers would no doubt merely steal the bones and sell them on the black market.

With that in mind, I can only suggest securing the Rising Star cave system, in order to prevent grave robbers from climbing into those burial grounds and stealing any remaining bones left in those chambers.

Burger is of the opinion that science should be made more accessible to non scientists. He is also of the opinion that, in all fields of science, extraordinary things are to be found. Possibly this latest discovery will inspire people to begin searching.

I most emphatically agree.