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> Gary's post has stimulated me to try my hand at an explanation of how I > see the US situation --- (as a complete outsider, I found his take on the > UK situation persuasive and look forward to seeing a thread of commentary > should it materialize) > As I see the US, (and many have seen me say this) Trump and Trumpism represents fascism --- I have been concerned about this issue for at least two decades -- I was persuaded of the danger by reading Chris Hedges' AMERICAN FASCISTS which saw the nascent fascism inherent in right-wing so-called "Christian" fundamentalists -- who represented in his view a mass base for a particularly American brand of fascism --- unlike Hitler who claimed to be anti-religion, in the US, the "Christian" fundamentalist fascists actually cloaked their fascism in religious garb --- using ridiculous interpretations of the Bible (particularly parts of the Book of Revelations) to stoke the fantasies of too many people with --- for example -- the "LEFT BEHIND" series --- With Trump capturing the Presidency, the possibility of a complete change of the American political superstructure is upon us --- neo-liberalism was mostly an ECONOMIC set of policies -- but with Trumpism, the neo-liberal policies can be cemented into the political superstructure via the Courts, gerrymandering, voter suppression -- etc. The analogy I would use is what happened in the American South after redemption and the challenge to planter rule (a kind of comprador class in the Southern semi-colony of northern finance) by a potential coalition of black and white farmers in the Farmers' Alliances (with a separate black organization) and then the Populist Party --- (the integrated government of Wilmington, NC that had to be defeated by military means in 1899 was a coalition that included Populists) --- I remain persuaded by the old work of C.Vann Woodward about the rise of Jim Crow --- which occurred only AFTER the white populists "gave up" on the black-white alliance and opted for 'race solidarity' instead of class solidarity ---- By giving up on a class based fight, white working class and rural Southerners sacrificed any hope they had of enjoying the fruits of economic development that swept the nation in the first half of the 20th century in exchange for being SUPERIOR. Trump and Trumpism is trying the same thing --- (it started one could argue with the defection of Southern "dixiecrats" -- first in the 1948 Thurmond campaign -- and then in 1964 with the Goldwater campaign .... followed by Reagan grabbing the so-called "Reagan Democrats" from northern and western unions --- ) ---- There have been ebbs and flows -- the high water mark of the US version of social democracy (a pale imitation of the European versions) was the Lyndon Johnson Administration with not just the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act but the Immigration Act of 1965 which for the next 50 years has been a repudiation of the anti-immigrant xenophobia reflected in the restrictions enacted in the early 1920s ...In terms of economic policy, however, the high water mark was actually the NIXON-FORD administration with the creation of the EPA, a really dramatic Keynesian tax cut to combat the 1974=5 recession --- Reaganism didn't change the POLITICAL landscape even as the economic policies of neoliberalism became the focus of BOTH parties (Clinton of course was a neoliberal -- he was set to introduce a partial privatization of Social Security when the Republicans overreached with impeachment) --- the failures of neo-liberalism exemplified by the financial crisis and the refusal of the Obama Administration to do ANYTHING remotely resembling the kind of reforms pushed through by FDR and Congress (the Wagner Act was not something FDR asked for -- it came from Congress and he acquiesced) has led to Trump's election -- But it is the set of policies pushed through by Trump that in my view create the political superstructure for a radical departure into fascism --- Turning back away from neo-liberalism as Corbynism will try to do will become very difficult if not impossible if Trumpism can be consolidated --- Because I believe that the resistance to Trump has been very strong -- especially at the grass roots --- whoever is nominated for President by the DEMS ---EVEN BIDEN (can't believe I'm writing this!) -- will be forced to try to reverse the steps Trump has taken towards fascism should the DEMS take back the White House .... THUS --- while I strongly support those who want to get Warren or Sanders nominated (I would throw my support to which one seems strongest as primary season gets under way and STRONGLY urge the other to throw his/her support to the stronger one in order to take the nomination) --- I will work hard for whoever the DEMS nominate because Trump and Trumpism is fascism and that MUST be resisted -- (and I am not even mentioning the argument that in my opinion four more years of Trump will guarantee that the planet will burn up --- perhaps become uninhabitable --- because we will have put enough carbon into the atmosphere to blow past the 2 degree celsius "limit" --- The Dems may not be green enough but they can be pushed ....) Sorry for how long this was -- sorry to those of you for whom what I wrote was OBVIOUS --- and sorry to those who think I am totally off base re fascism (I have received plenty of pushback over the years of saying similar things on various sites!) For the one person still reading, thank you (!!!) Mike _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: > https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/mameerop%40gmail.com > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
