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Let's get to the original subject - why the collusion conspiracy theory isn't catching on. In the first place, "conspiracy theory" is usually used by Marxists as a put-down of any story they don't like. I have absolutely no tolerance for a genuine conspiracy theory of history, but that's totally different from understanding that, yes, various forces in society do engage in conspiracies. As to the facts of this particular matter: I think it is beyond any serious question that the Trump campaign did collude with representatives of Putin. All you need is one simple example: What was that June, 2016 meeting between Donald jr., one or two others and some Putin representatives in Trump Tower all about? It was an attempted collusion. Pure and simple. And Donald sr. knew about it - and obviously approved it - both before and after the meeting. Nor should that meeting be seen in isolation. There are all the long and deep ties between the Putin oligarchy and such top Trump officials as Manafort and Carter Page. As for Trump, himself: I'm coming to that. The question is raised whether the election of Trump vs. Clinton "would have made much difference." Of course it would have made a difference, and a rather huge one at that! No, a Clinton victory would not have resolved anything. Under her, the world and the US as part of that world would have continued to get worse.However, the Trump presidency has enormously accelerated and intensified the crisis of US capitalism. It has also brought forth a new aspect of that crisis. At the very, very least it's like saying that whether you're in the middle of a forest fire or in the middle of a raging hurricane with 120 mph winds doesn't make any difference. In either case, you're in a crisis, but the nature of the crisis is very, very different. I think a major reason why the issue of Trump's collusion with Putin is not catching on is that most people cannot see it in a wider picture. And what is that wider picture? It's the fact of his having been a money launderer for the Russian oligarchs for so many years. As far as I know, the mainstream capitalist media has raised this issue on only three different occasions in the last 14 months or so. Most recently was MSNBC ( https://www.msnbc.com/brian-williams/watch/report-russian-mob-money-helped-build-trump-business-empire-1002228291948 ) and the New Yorker ( https://www.newyorker.com/news-desk/swamp-chronicles/where-did-donald-trump-get-200-million-dollars-to-buy-his-money-losing-scottish-golf-club ) and a few months ago the SF Chronicle ( https://www.newyorker.com/news-desk/swamp-chronicles/where-did-donald-trump-get-200-million-dollars-to-buy-his-money-losing-scottish-golf-club. Back before that was "whowhatwhy" back in March of last year ( https://whowhatwhy.org/2017/03/27/fbi-cant-tell-trump-russia/) As I have said many times, the reluctance to raise this stems from the fact that the entire US real estate industry is rampant with money laundering for the drug cartels. But why have socialists so ignored the issue? I think the explanation lies in the comment of Michael Marking that "It doesn't matter if Putin helped Trump or if Wikileaks got the DNC files from any specific person or what really was behind any gas attack in Syria: the class analysis subsumes these things." Michael can be forgiven for this view since he says he's new to Marxism, but how about the rest of us? Isn't a serious study of what is happening *within* the capitalist class absolutely essential? Is it enough to simply know that capitalism is in crisis, without having an understanding of the nature of that crisis? How in the world can we figure out where things are headed otherwise? So, yes Trump & co. absolutely did collude with Putin's representatives and, yes, it does matter, just as it matters whether Trump or Clinton is president. Not because we fall for any sort of nonsense about the "national interests" or (even worse) "patriotism", nor because we support the thoroughty capitalist-controlled Hillary Clinton, but because we cannot understand the nature of the crisis of US capitalism without understanding the most basic facts of this crisis. And as to the fact of Trump being a money launderer - I think it's a symptom of the degeneration of the left that it still to this day fails to publicize this fact and fails to explain the importance of it. John Reimann -- *“In politics, abstract terms conceal treachery.” *from "The Black Jacobins" by C. L. R. James Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
