Fascism and the US Elections

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Seattle, USA, Election Day 2020

Fight Fascism with Communist Revolution

November 4—As we go to press, the votes in the US elections haven’t all been counted. The legal challenges have barely begun. There may be a “red mirage” but there was no “blue wave.” Whatever the eventual outcome, it’s no victory for the working class.

That’s always true of capitalist elections, but some things are different. In the US, stores don’t usually board up windows the day before an election. The National Guard isn’t usually on standby. Fascist gangs aren’t usually applauded by one candidate for trying to run their opponents’ bus off the road.

We are seeing a new level of fascism in the US. It’s more like than different from the fascism that the US has imposed and backed all over the world for so long.   Capitalism in crisis requires fascism and we are seeing it now. The US is no “exception,” no “beacon of democracy,” and it never really was. No wonder that so many are so anxious!

And many are depressed, for good reason, that so many white people voted for Trump’s “strong-man” persona and his brand of naked racism and undisguised sexism. This mass base for fascism must be taken seriously.

But fascism doesn’t always come dressed in red hats, white sheets or blue uniforms. Sometimes it comes in business attire, wrapped in the US flag and talking smoothly about “national unity.”   Either way, its essence is to cajole or coerce the working-class masses to accept a declining standard of living to “save the economy,” meaning the capitalists’ profits. To prepare to fight and die for those profits in imperialist wars.

That’s why it’s a dangerous illusion to think or hope that “democracy” (elections) or Democrats can save us from fascism. The record voter turn-out, especially among youth, shows what a strong hold this illusion has on the masses.

But those youth, especially, do not want a return to the “old normal” of racism, war, exploitation and environmental catastrophe. Of evictions, police killings, and a disgraceful excuse for a health care system. Many are looking for a way forward from capitalism.

Whoever sits in the Oval Office on January 20—if it’s decided by then—both sides will continue to fight. The Trump forces will continue to mobilize around violent racism and toxic masculinity. Democratic Party forces, including many unions, will mobilize against them in defense of “democracy.”

When the rulers are forced to mobilize masses, they take a calculated risk of not being able to maintain control over them. They create opportunities for us to bring communism to a wider circle of people in a way that connects to their needs and aspirations.

We must prepare to continue and expand our struggle: the struggle to destroy this vicious racist decaying system. To finish off the wounded, voracious US eagle with its Democratic and Republican wings, once (but no more) the top global predator.

We communists are not passive and we don’t want you to be, either. We dedicate our lives to the struggle for communist workers’ power, not a few hours every few years to the ballot box.

In our party today and in the communist society to come, everyone contributes to making and carrying out decisions, big and small. Everyone helps to shape and implement policies and to evaluate practice. We don’t “choose” leaders – workers and youth like you ARE leaders.

Real change will come only when more Red Flag readers and friends make that commitment to serve and fight for the international working class. To mobilize masses for communism.

Trade Your Vote for a Conversation

I am a 42-year-old American male and I have never voted. As a kid I learned about the system of Capitalism from my mom who happens to be a member of the ICWP. I was given a unique perspective on society, one that most people don’t get.

Under Capitalism, your vote means nothing. You are essentially voting on two of the same thing, just dressed up differently. Both parties thrive on Capitalism and prey on votes from the working class in exchange for “promises”.

As you get older and older you start to see that these promises are never met. In fact, they will never be met because Capitalism allows for nothing but consolidation of power and wealth. The gap between rich and poor increases every four years. The system is much larger than your vote.

Neither party has your best interests…Ever. Both parties will make you see the differences we have, which are very few, in order for us not to see our similarities, which are many.

If workers realized their similarities and were not controlled to believe differently, society would look very different. A society that’s actually “for the people, and by the people.” Under Capitalism that is an impossibility. The system MUST be destroyed, and workers must control the means to production. Only then can we live in an equal society.

When you decide to vote you are contributing to the Capitalist system. If you say to me that it’s “better than doing nothing,” I would say that you are doing the wrong thing. Instead I believe workers of every race need to organize against the racist, fascist, sexist, classist system that Capitalism is.

Instead of voting in this election, I would rather trade that one vote in exchange for having meaningful dialogue with one person about the system in which I and most of the world live. If each voter traded in their vote and talked with one other person and so on and so on. The vote count would diminish and the base to fight for a new system, could be a reality.

As Capitalism continues to fail as it is right now, these opportunities to educate fellow workers become more and more crucial. What better opportunity than now?

—Son of a Red

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