The overriding issue in the November 3 election is the future of American democracy, with all the life and death implications that has for the workers fighting for their basic needs. It will be virtually impossible for the millions of Americans discarded by the COVID-19 economy to obtain the food, water, housing, health care, and education necessary to survive, as long as the Trump administration is in power. And it may be impossible to ever get Trump and his clique out of power if he is not thrown out this year.
“Trump’s removal is one of the great moral and political imperatives of our time, however ugly that process might be,” wrote Chicago organizer, writer, and direct-action trainer Kelly Hayes. “I understand the finality of death and the horror of this country’s system of cages, and living to fight another day is always part of my strategy.” Many have pointed out that this is the most important American election since 1860, and they are right. What is at stake today is nothing less than the great vision of democracy and equality that emerged from the Civil War – whether government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall – or shall not – perish from the earth.
On the one side, workers and broad sectors of society are mobilizing for what is being projected as the largest voter turnout in over 100 years, with the aim of removing Trump and continuing the movements for the racial and economic justice they need to be able to live. By October 18, some 27.9 million Americans had already voted, 50 million had already requested absentee ballots, and total voter turnout was expected to be 150 million, or 65% of all eligible voters. All across the country, countless organizations have emerged to recruit and train poll workers, to offer snacks, water, and face masks to lines of voters, and troubleshoot voting machine problems or registration issues. Many of these same volunteers are preparing the strikes, direct actions, and mass mobilizations should it become necessary to protect the election results after November 3.
On the other side, the fascist grouping around Trump is mobilizing to suppress voting, intimidate voters, prevent the counting of ballots, appoint “electors” to vote for Trump against the will of the people, and appoint a Supreme Court that will award the presidency to Trump regardless of the election outcome, who, in any case, has threatened to refuse to leave office.
The motion toward fascism in America today is objective and bipartisan, based on the inability of the private property economy to meet the needs of the people. In the era of automation and artificial intelligence, the ruling class does not need workers. It will not allow them to influence government to distribute social wealth to people it does not need, even though they have no other means of survival. Private property in this situation is absolutely antagonistic to democracy. They cannot coexist, and one will inevitably destroy the other. Fighting fascism requires a strategy and a plan based on organizing the new class rejected by the tech economy to fight to overturn corporate private property and organize a cooperative society.
However, having a strategy by itself is not sufficient. Defeating fascism also means applying strategy by throwing ourselves into the life and death tactical struggle to defeat every fascist policy every time it arises, from COVID-19 death to mass incarceration, police murder, family separation, and voter suppression. It means defeating every flesh and blood fascist who attempts to seize power and crush democracy. Right now, it means voting against Trump and for Biden, and defeating Trump attempts to steal the election or refuse to leave office.
This is a tactic and not at all an endorsement of either Biden or the Democratic Party. We understand that other fascists will come along later, for as long as corporate private property continues to exist. Some of them will be Democrats.
However, the task of revolutionaries is to position themselves inside the battles for democracy that are happening TODAY, when the people rejected by the private property system are beginning to come together and move as a social force. At every turn, we fight for unity around the program of the workers to secure their basic needs. We cannot secure real and lasting democracy without control over the necessities of life. We fight shoulder to shoulder with all organizations resisting fascism in the streets or at the ballot box. The battle for real democracy and to defeat fascism every time and everywhere it appears is an indispensable part of the revolutionary process.
Published: October 20, 2020
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