Chris Nineham writes:
No wonder people are protesting all over the US.
It’s going to
be a groundbreakingly horrible presidency.
Previously fringe discourse - casual
condemnation of Muslims, Mexicans, unashamedly misogynistic and racist drivel -
is now coming from the main stage of US politics.
From forced deportations to
the new Mexican wall, chilling and provocative policy proposals just keep on
coming.
Hard right groups and fanatical reactionaries are rejoicing, and from
what I hear from US friends, minorities and most straight-thinking people are
shuttling between deep anxiety and outrage.
As Trump hunkers down to
select his administration, both responses are in order.
Steve Bannon, now
Trump's main strategy advisor, is a racist fanatic who wants to turn the clock
back on all sorts of gains made last century.
The list of cabinet possibles is
a roll call of reactionaries including Rudi Giuliani, Sarah Palin and John
Bolton.
Trump's own record of bigoted outbursts hardly needs repeating.
But when it comes to the
real policy direction, there are more unknowns than knowns.
The way things
actually shape up will depend on just how ideological Trump turns out to be,
the nature of his team, and most importantly, his interpenetration with the
state machine.
The state he is in
Reports suggest the
president elect is having a tricky time in Trump Tower with what commentators
laughingly call "the balancing act" between unsavoury characters jockeying for
places on his team.
This reflects his first and biggest problem; how to
maintain an outsider image when he is really going to be at the centre of the institutions
of the World's No.1 Capitalist State.
This immensely powerful
bureaucracy will do its best to mould him according to the interests it serves,
those of corporate America.
It exists, amongst other things, to control
and limit the difference elections make to actual policy.
As even Bush
supporting small-stater John Yoo argued earlier in the year, "A
determined president acting alone can only temporarily rein in the bureaucracy.
"He would have to surrender enormous policy-making power back to Congress,
exercise great vigilance in policing subordinates, and resist the temptation to
solve all of society’s ills."
And as the financial press has reported widely, the
bulk of the US capitalist class are not keen on Trump.
What is going on right
now behind the scenes is an attempt at correction, at damage limitation.
The extent of the pressure building on Trump within the establishment was
on show on Thursday when more than 150 members of the House of Representatives signed
a letter urging him to rescind Bannon's appointment.
The selection process is
further complicated by the fact that this is a moment of real disagreement and
tension within the Republican Party and the wider ruling class about how to
take American capitalism forward at home and abroad when its power is under
extreme challenge.
There are differences over international trade policy, how to
stimulate growth at home and how to deal with the rise of China, Russia and the
crisis in the Middle East - all differences that will be inflamed by the
election upset.
Not 1933
The cabinet that emerges
will be an unpleasant and unstable concoction of these different tendencies.
Undoubtedly it will represent a swing to the right for the US ruling class and
will lead to intensified attacks on a spectrum of minorities, and on working
people in general.
But the analogy that
some people are making with the period when the Nazis took power in Germany is
unhelpful, to put it mildly.
Fascist regimes took power in the 1920s and 1930s
on the basis of a broad agreement in ruling class circles that a radical break
from previous forms of class rule was necessary in order to annihilate working
class and other opposition in the aftermath of insurrectionary levels of
struggle.
Amongst other things
this involved mobilising armed militias from the middle classes and the
unemployed to smash any and all resistance. In the words of Leon Trotsky, one of
fascism's sharpest analysts:
It is possible that Trump may start to mobilise
popular forces to smash up opposition and democratic organisations - there
are clearly groups in the US that could be drafted in and developed
to perform this kind of function.
But any such moves would dramatically change
the situation and take the crisis on to a completely new level.
They would cause grave
concern amongst corporate leaders let alone anyone else.
Given that he is now
head of the most heavily armed state in world history it seems more likely that
he will use these institutions to pursue whatever strategy he and his team
develops on behalf of US capital.
It is clear too that
whatever the exact balance of opinion, the bulk of his support base would not
be ready for a full frontal assault on democracy.
As the Financial Times reported, the bulk of his
voters don't support mass deportations, let alone closing down democracy, as
the FT reports, "the Pew Research Center found that only 32 per cent of Trump
backers were in favour of an effort to deport unauthorised immigrants."
Being forensic
Having a reasonably
accurate assessment of the actual balance of forces matters because it is
essential in trying to calibrate a viable counter strategy.
To believe that the
Trump victory is a fascist takeover is a counsel of despair, because it would
mean the fight has already been lost when the truth is there is still everything to play for in a very dangerous situation.
Recognising that Trump's
vote was not an improvement on previous republican votes is
essential.
So is absorbing the clear evidence that Trump's vote amongst
workers - such as it was - was largely powered by anger over an economic system
that hasn't delivered for working people in a generation.
Identifying tensions
within the ruling class is crucial, too, as they can open up space for
victories from below.
It is also worth considering that, given the state of the
US economy, let alone his own inclinations, Trump is not going to be able to
deliver on many of the promises he made to the working poor to win votes.
Because there is one
factor in all this flux that the establishment - while monitoring it carefully
- will not want to discuss publicly.
That is how ordinary people react to the
most right wing President ever.
The big demonstrations already taking place,
the momentum behind plans for protest on inauguration day, and the anger that clearly
exists in US society, all point to the possibility of a popular pushback.
That will require clear heads, and audacity.
Defeatism just won't cut
it.
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