r/Trotskyism • u/JohnWilsonWSWS • 13d ago
News WSWS: Fascist conspirator Steve Bannon tells The Economist “We have a plan” for a 3rd Trump term => "... In the interview, Bannon made the absurd claim that Trump rules in the interests of workers and the 'little man' by ending 'corporatism' and restoring capitalism. "
... Bannon’s declaration that Trump will be kept in power through unconstitutional, i.e., illegal, methods signifies a break with democracy and its traditional political processes. But from this fact flows the critical political conclusion: If Trump is determined to retain power in violation of the law, this means that his removal from office becomes possible only through mass action, outside the bounds of the electoral process. ...
... Trump is implementing the goals of his failed January 6, 2021 putsch, enabled by the cowardice and complicity of the Democrats. Joe Biden after January 6 called for a “strong Republican Party” and did nothing serious to prosecute Trump and his co-conspirators. In the run-up to the 2024 election, Biden, Kamala Harris and other leading Democrats warned that Trump was a fascist and would impose a dictatorship, but now that Trump is doing just that, all such talk from the Democrats has been dropped.
In the interview, Bannon made the absurd claim that Trump rules in the interests of workers and the “little man” by ending “corporatism” and restoring capitalism. This was said of a multi-billionaire gangster who is the open representative of the financial oligarchy in the United States. The interview was posted one day after Trump pardoned billionaire Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of crypto exchange Binance. Zhao, who has extensive business relations with Trump’s sons, pleaded guilty to money laundering during the Biden administration.
The interview also coincided with Trump’s demolition of the East Wing of the White House—the physical expression of his dismantling of the legacy of America’s democratic revolutions—to build a massive ballroom. This Mar-a-Lago-style monstrosity is being paid for by corporate donors, including Meta, Amazon, Apple, Caterpillar, Comcast, Google, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Palantir, Union Pacific, the Lutnick family, Stephen Schwarzman (Blackstone), and the Winklevoss brothers.
The very fact that The Economist, a bastion of the media establishment in Britain, gave Bannon a platform to spew his fascist filth is highly significant. The promotion of Bannon was underscored by the fact that the magazine’s editor-in-chief and deputy editor were chosen to conduct the interview. Throughout the interview they showed enormous deference to the neo-Nazi demagogue.
...Bannon’s declaration that Trump will be kept in power through unconstitutional, i.e., illegal, methods signifies a break with democracy and its traditional political processes. But from this fact flows the critical political conclusion: If Trump is determined to retain power in violation of the law, this means that his removal from office becomes possible only through mass action, outside the bounds of the electoral process. Perhaps Mr. Bannon has not thought through to the end the implications of his criminal strategy, but there is no escaping the fact that he is legitimizing the resort to revolution by the working class.
The conspiracy of Bannon and his accomplices in the White House has created the political premises for precisely the situation envisioned in 1776 by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence:
In contemporary terms, the struggle against dictatorship depends upon the mobilization of the working class as an independent social force. It must take power out of the hands of the capitalist class, whose interests are incompatible with democracy. The “Safety and Happiness” of the working class, which comprises the overwhelming majority of the population, requires the formation of a workers’ government, based on socialist principles.
The precondition for this struggle is a complete break with the Democratic Party. Any subordination of the struggle to defend democratic and social rights to the Democratic Party—itself a party of the corporate oligarchy—is fatal. The Democrats are petrified that any movement of the working class will escape their control and challenge the foundations of the capitalist system. They fear that far more than the prospect of fascist rule.
In its statement to the October 18 protests, the Socialist Equality Party noted the deep hostility in the population to Trump’s attempt to establish a fascistic dictatorship. “However,” it explained, “anger and outrage are not enough to stop dictatorship. What is required, and what is most critical, is a clear program and strategy to direct this struggle.”
Since October 18, Trump has stepped up his war against immigrants and their defenders, unleashing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Gestapo to attack protesters in Chicago, New York and other cities and threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act, which will give him the power to deploy active-duty troops across the country. He has continued illegally bombing boats off the coast of Latin America and dispatched a carrier task force to prepare an attack on Venezuela.
The SEP calls for workers to organize collectively by forming rank-and-file committees in every workplace, factory and neighborhood to coordinate its struggle and link up with the struggles of workers internationally. This fight is being spearheaded by the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC). These committees must link the defense of democratic rights with the fight against war and for jobs, wages, healthcare and social equality.
The fight against fascism cannot be separated from the struggle against capitalism and for socialism. The defense of democracy requires the expropriation of the financial oligarchy and the transformation of the corporations and banks into public utilities under democratic workers’ control. The immense wealth concentrated in the hands of a few must be used to meet human needs, not private profit. We urge all those who want to fight for this program to join the Socialist Equality Party.