Re: [Marxism] Can Trump keep up the happy face?

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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Thanks to Anthony Boynton for his thoughtful comments. However, I think he
missed one of my points: In the article, I referred to "Trump’s close ties
with the Russian oligarchy/Russian capitalist class. For this very reason,
the investigation into his campaign’s links with the Putin regime cannot go
away." What I was referring to was the fact that Trump has acted as a
money-launderer for the Russian mafia for many years. This is something
I've written about frequently, and what it means is that he has close ties
to one of the main imperialist rivals to US imperialism, and this guides
much of his foreign policy. Witness, for example, his refusal just in the
last day or two to implement new sanctions against Russia despite its being
required by a law passed by the Republican congress. (Note: I'm not
advocating that he should; just giving an example.)

I think that the attitude of the mainstream of the capitalist class is what
you might call schizophrenic. Yes, they loathe him, but they also love his
tax breaks. The Wall St. Journal is a great example. During the primaries,
they had editorials and columns harshly attacking him almost every day.
Now, their editorials largely support him.

I also don't agree that bonapartism is enshrined in the US Constitution;
rather, I think it's a perfect example of bourgeois democracy, in which the
capitalist class ensures its rule as much through persuasion as through
outright repression while at the same time making sure that the working
class can never get ahold of real power through the (capitalist) state.
They are able to do this because of their base in wide layers of society,
and they have many institutions through which they maintain that base. The
capitalist mass media is one of them. Because that media does not explain
the real basis of the crisis of capitalism (of course!), it has lost a lot
of credibility, a lot of authority, among millions of workers. Then Trump
comes along and deals it one body blow after another. They also have other
institutions which are seen as being "above politics" and simply looking
out for the "national interest". The FBI and the CIA are two of them. Yes,
of course, we on this list and some others understand the roles of those
two institutions, but I'm talking about the great bulk of white middle
America. Now, here comes Trump and Co. and they are undercutting that
respect. That's the meaning of this whole struggle over the Nunes memo.

So, as this process continues, what other means do they have to continue
their rule? I find it hard to see anything other than massive increased
voter suppression and outright repression on a scale far wider than
anything we've seen outside the South during the segregation years. That is
what Bonapartism is.

One qualification: I think the mainstream of the US capitalist class does
not believe that bonapartism is necessary, and maybe they are right. Maybe
they will be able to reverse this drift. The problem is that the working
class hardly even exists as a coherent force in US society, so what is
there to push them? DSA? I'll wait to make that suggestion till April 1.

John Reimann

-- 
"No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them."
Assata Shakur
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Re: [Marxism] Can Trump keep up the happy face?

[Anthony Boynton via Marxism]

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I always like a lot of what John writes, but I have to take exception to
some of his observations. His latest, "Can Trump keep up the happy face?"
concludes with,

"In short, Trump will probably get a boost in his ratings following this
speech (his first State of the Union message). But he will not continue his
happy face. He cannot because his entire situation is too unstable. The
only question is when and how will a renewed working class movement
develop. In its absence, Trumps’ slide towards bonapartism will continue."

Trump really did not look all that happy while he was speaking, but that is
besides the important point: Trump has a lot of big problems that are
likely to get much worse soon even though there is no  "renewed working
class movement" in sight. The confrontation between Trump and the FBI, CIA
and the Democratic Party is a real crisis within the ruling class. John is
correct to write about Trump's corrupt relationship with the Russian
oligarch's, but misses the fact that this is exactly the point of conflict
within the ruling class that is leading to a governmental crisis.

The fact that this is happening in the midst of economic growth that has
resulted in labor shortages in places like the San Francisco Bay area where
John and I live has indeed given the working class unprecedented bargaining
power, but this has yet to result in any major advances made by workers
themselves.

That economic growth however, is making the crisis within the ruling class
even sharper, for the Republican Party, despite the fact that it loathes
Trump almost as much as his wife does, has decided to close ranks around
him.

This has brought us into uncharted waters, making this crisis potentially
much deeper than the Watergate crisis.

The second bone I want to pick with John is his talk statement that " Trumps’
slide towards Bonapartism will continue."

John is correct that Trump is attacking the institutions of the bourgeois
state across the board, including even the sacred dogs of the FBI and CIA,
and he is correct to imply that this is a big change from the actions of
his predecessors, but this is not a slide towards Bonapartism. Bonapartism,
in the sense of Louis Napoleon, is institutionalized in the Constitution of
the United States. What Trump is doing is accelerating the undoing of the
time honored and celebrated balancing act that epitomizes American
bonapartism.

While concentration of power in the office of the President has been going
on for a long time, what is different now is that Trump is trying to place
himself as an individual above the law and above the institutions of the
executive branch. This is not a continuation of the Bonapartism of Barack
Obama who also concentrated power, but who relied on and deferred to the
institutions of the executive branch.

Personally, I think this crisis is going to blow up before the working
class comes on stage, and that it will develop in a very unpredictable way
fraught with both danger and opportunity. Like John - I would be more than
happy to see a mass working class movement sweep all of the rascals out of
the halls of government. Who knows, maybe the crisis that is sweeping
through Washington DC will sned off enough sparks to light the fires of
working class anger.

Anthony






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[Marxism] Can Trump keep up the happy face?

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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'“Trump Tries Taking a New Role: Optimist”. So read the headline of the
Wall St. Journal’s report on Trump’s State of the Union speech. It is
largely accurate, and Trump’s speech is nearly certain to result in an
increase in his support ratings. The question is: Can he keep it up? What
lies ahead for him… and for the US working class?'
https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/01/31/trumps-state-of-the-union-speech-can-he-keep-up-the-happy-face/

John Reimann

-- 
"No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them."
Assata Shakur
Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook
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