Entering a third week, this government shutdown isn’t about a border wall. It’s about a power struggle, and neither side represents us.
As Republicans and Democrats grandstand and posture, thousands of government employees are on furlough or working without pay. To help, the federal government released tips for employees without wages on how to offer their landlords free labor in exchange for rent.
The $5 billion Trump insists on won’t even come close to building his border wall. And the reality is that walls are not effective barriers to immigration anyway, as a rising percentage of “illegal” immigrants come to the US legally, then overstay their visa. Trump is doubling down on nationalist, anti-immigrant rhetoric to further galvanize his social base. Additionally, the federal government, governmental checks and balances and bourgeois democratic rights all pose challenges to the autocratic political power needed to implement fascistic policies. Therefore, it is in his interest to destroy the federal government, to encourage privatization and to repeal democratic rights.
On the other side, Democrats have offered $1.3 billion for border security, and their claims to fight for immigration reform, abolish ICE, or support dreamers will never address the root cause of immigration.
Whether those crossing the border are seeking political asylum, relief from poverty, or safety from gang violence, the root of their hardship can be found in U.S. imperialism. This isn’t an unfortunate downside to our prosperity, but a calculated and profitable system of undermining other countries for the expansion of U.S. capital both overseas and at home.
No Democrat, no matter how “radical,” “progressive,” or “diverse” they claim to be on Instagram, will ever confront this reality. They will offer unrealistic distractions of “healthcare for all” and make calls to “Impeach the motherfu***r” while the exploitation of people and planet continue to increase exponentially.
The term “progressive” has been co-opted to simply mean anyone in opposition to conservatism, which allows capitalists and those who represent them to now be “progressive.” A true Progressive actively participates in pushing back against the dominating societal formation in a class-divided society.
What we are seeing is a power struggle between different fractions of the capitalist class and their representatives – those who are pushing for the consolidation of fascism (Trump et al) and those resisting it.
Fascism arises as a political and ideological alternative to deal with economic crises of capitalism. This current crisis is structural, rather than cyclical. Banking, hedge funds, credit and speculation have toxified the global economy by becoming dominant over industrial production. At the same time, because capitalism must continually expand, industrial production has brought us to environmental crisis and global climate change.
Again, capitalists and politicians who resist fascism are not progressive, because every alternative they bring will reinforce capitalist interests and societal arrangement – the very reason we are in this mess.
However this ongoing power struggle between Democrats and Republicans ends, we must recognize that it will not play out in our interests.
At this moment, we need to recognize that only we – the people dominated and exploited by capitalism and imperialism – can provide a truly progressive alternative. To do so, we need to get organized, outside capitalism and imperialist interests, their elections and politicians.
We need to build political unity and consciousness. We must build independent and autonomous organizations in our workplaces, schools, apartment buildings, neighborhoods and cities. Let’s construct a movement capable of resisting and weakening fascism, capitalism and imperialism. Let’s build new ideas, new alternatives.
Stand Up. Fight Back. ORGANIZE.
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