Thursday, September 03, 2020

The Wolf and the Fox

Trump and Biden will continue to lie about their plans because they serve the rich people that control the Republican-Democratic duopoly. The Republicans and the Democrats are, of course, Rich Man’s Parties. The rejection of Trump does not represent some kind of turning point in history, Bernie Sanders’ and his progressive supporters think they can transform the Democratic Party from below. They are wrong. The Party machine transforms them. The solution is to throw off that party. 

The Republicans openly advocate for the rule of wealth and corporate interests. They seek to persuade the voters the to support the rule of the wealthy with the argument that “what’s good for the bosses is good for the country”, that what benefits corporations is also going to benefit regular people.

The Democratic Party is slightly different. To the people they offer compromises and some concessions — modifications on the platform of the Republican Party. They pretend to act as the honest broker negotiating  “friendlier” policies to influence the voters. Every now and then the Democrats pass an amendment  that gives the appearance they are on the side of the poor.  The potential power of the people is so great that it necessary to have a party such as the Democratic Party to contain, co-opt and demobilize any independent movements of the people. That is the usefulness of the Democratic Party the capitalist class. Historically, they have been successful in terms of maintaining stability for rule by the privileged few, through trickery. They have even succeeded in establishing popular myths that they were once for labor, for civil rights and for peace. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Malcolm’ Xs description of the political system still remains valid: Foxes and wolves usually are the same breed. The difference being the wolf when he shows you his fangs, you know that he’s your enemy; and the fox, when he shows you his teeth, he appears as to be smiling. The shrewd capitalists know that the only way people would run toward the fox [the lesser evil] would be if you show them a wolf. So they created a ghastly alternative [the greater evil].

Trump is vital to liberals and Democrats of all kinds. He is the Trumpocalypse, the president who makes all the other evils appear lesser, the embodiment of the patriotic militias, border vigilantes and white supremacists. It is fear of Trump that holds African-American and Hispanic people captive to the Democratic Party, not any high ideals or a shared worldview or a Democratic track record of policies. In the end, it all boils down to fear of the right-wing that gather under the Trump brand. And there is a small elite within the minorities who actually derive benefits from  the Democratic Party, in the form of patronage and jobs. They cling to the Democratic Party  and curse those who might abandon it.

The two-party system is a self-correcting mechanism that switches political office back and forth between the two parties, and within different wings of those parties, to maintain corporate political control. The same thing will happen in the next election cycle with different names and different faces. Independent working class politics is forever postponed.

Both sets of politicians are careerists seeking self-promotion by offering to the corporate rulers their ability to control and deliver support. Elections are based primarily on money and by accumulating huge campaign war chests — pay-offs for doing favors for the rich donors — most officials face no real challenge at the ballot box and are re-elected. Whoever wins the battle for money normally wins the election. 

The political duo-poly preaches negativism. Nothing can be expected, nothing is possible but what exists, and what we are left with is the argument of lesser evil. It’s the Republicans or the Democrats. Nothing else is possible. The progressives urge people to vote and unequivocal support to Joe Biden. He and his allies serve by the pleasure of Wall St. His authority can be crushed in a moment if the corporate rulers so choose — just by the power of their media, which today is concentrated in the hands of a half dozen giant conglomerates and the voices of the progressives are weak and isolated. Those who call for a “lesser evil” — that is, for evil — will always prevail. The call for a “lesser evil” is what makes possible the greater evil. 

No comments: