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17 0 0 1 (donald trump speaking at the 2013 conservative political action conference (cpac) in national harbor, maryland. credit: gage skidmore / flickr)




trump's victory was a shock to most, especially given the broad support hillary clinton received from the forces of wall street. although trump is a billionaire himself, his criticism of free trade agreements and us policy toward russia angered a broad section of the ruling class. it is the ruling class in control of the banks, military institutions, and corporate boardrooms that usually determine elections in the united states. trump's victory is a product of the ruling system's decline and crisis more than anything else. the question is, now what?




what is urgently needed is a deep investigation of all aspects and contradictions of the trump moment. first, trump won because the capitalist system is in crisis. the laws of the system have inevitably led to such a level of concentration that profit accumulation has turned into its opposite. technological innovation has permanently replaced a large section of labor in the us, creating the deindustrialized terrain trump spoke so much about in his campaign. at the end of the day, the profits that wall street speculated into the ground ultimately came from the compulsion to increase buying power with large debt schemes that could never be paid back by a working class whose wages have been in decline for over three decades .




so when hillary clinton decided to campaign as some sort of united front against fascism, few listened. many people in the us saw clinton as an extension of the ruling establishment that had pummeled working class people into the ground. the black lives matter movement exposed her complicity in the crime legislation that led to the vast expansion of the black prisoner population during her husband's rule. hillary clinton then made the mistake of coalescing with the ruling establishments of both parties in hopes of isolating trump when in fact she merely exposed her role as a loyal servant of power.




some have claimed that since clinton won the popular vote, she was the rightful winner regardless of her flaws. others have argued that the republican party right-wing elites rigged the election . however true, there will be no recall this time around. why? the dnc and the clinton campaign rigged the primaries in order to defeat sanders. in a stunning shift of political legitimacy, the democratic party has eviscerated all difference between itself and its republican party counterparts.




numerous pieces have been written about the dangers of the cabinet trump will select. indeed, trump<u+2019>s possibilities do not deviate from the standard republican party makeup. his potential choices for top positions include "tough on crime" rudy giuliani, austerity magnate chris christie, and privatization enthusiast newt gingrich. however, for the first time in a long time, the president of the united states is accountable to something other than the ruling class. in the past, republican party and democratic party presidents dutifully served its paymasters while using manipulation to ensure that their respective bases were effectively neutralized.




more... defeating white liberalism in the age of trump brian cloughley: <u+201c>the greatest achievement of mr. trump would be engage in positive discussions with russia and china<u+201d> arise president trump (or why it's not the end of the world as we know it) this is not the case with trump. just a month ago, trump was the least desired choice of the ruling class . it was trump's petty bourgeois and working class base of white america that propelled him to victory. it is clear that the need to politically survive in hostile waters will compel trump to choose a neo-con administration. but a neo-con agenda is exactly what his supporters voted against. even those who directly or indirectly ascribe to white american nationalism are sick of endless war and austerity. however, nothing less can be expected from the likes of chris christie and newt gingrich.




the contradictions of the trump era will breed a social confrontation between classes not seen since the great depression. white liberals and white nationalists will battle for the soul of the two-party system. the neo-con establishment will have to confront trump's foreign and economic policy campaign rhetoric, much of which is in direct antagonism with the gop's record. and the democratic party will attempt to use the age of trump as a time to regroup and steer the forces of resistance back into its camp.




how should the forces of resistance position themselves under this new set of conditions? first, the anti-war left needs to confront trump's foreign policy head on and place pressure on him to make good on his promises to scale back nato and its escalation toward russia. the left needs to resist any and all attempts by trump to make good on some of his less savory proposals, such as a the deportation of the million immigrants and the expansion of the us nuclear arsenal. of course, trump<u+2019>s rhetoric must be placed in its proper context. it was the obama administration that signed a one trillion dollar agreement to "modernize" the us nuclear arsenal and deported nearly three million immigrants in eight years, a number unseen in us history. this means resistance to the trump administration's use of the apparatus that obama and the democrats built should be directed at the entire ruling class, not just one of the two parties that represent it.




the vast majority of people simply cannot afford the resurrection of the two-party system. as don debar of cpr news has made clear, the check of white supremacy simply doesn't pay the same dividends anymore. while the wealth gap between white america and black american would take over two centuries to even out , it is also true that merely ten percent white america owns almost all wealth in the us . capitalism's crisis has forced a large segment of the population to live under working class conditions. a unique opportunity exists to build and strengthen a radical left agenda in the us and a start a discussion of what it will take to implement it.




what is meant by <u+201c>opportunity<u+201d> is that a narrow outlook on this moment will breed narrow results. it should be imperative that the left force trump's hand on foreign policy. it should demand that trump use his executive powers to force through a 21st century glass-steagall act and create a federal jobs program to rebuild infrastructure in the us. the left should not hesitate to condemn and protest whatever white supremacist and repressive policies come out of his administration, with full recognition that it was democratic and republican party consensus that got us here. as emotions run high and fear captures a number of people completely disenchanted with the current political climate in the united states, the time has come to spend the time and effort necessary to prepare the people for the war that existed long before trump: class war.
won, now what?
daniel haiphong