Donald Trump ran his presidential candidacy to appeal to the racist, fascist, and misogynist elements residing in the United States. Yet, we see so many surprised and outraged at his response to the violence perpetrated by his people in Charlottesville, Virginia, the weekend of August 11th through the 12th. As David Duke, former Grand Dragon of the KKK stated, Donald Trump is fulfilling his campaign promises.
And, so he is.
The outrage expressed by the people of this country is justified and welcome. What is unexpected is the response of the establishment, congressmen and women of both parties, corporate executives, members of the mainstream media, military officers, state governors, mayors, etc. Everyone is now tripping over one another appearing to be in favor of removing statues and memorials, symbols that honor those who represent the racism and white supremacy that is rampant in US history.
Why this change and why now?
The narrative has changed, especially among our young people. They have demonstrated that they will not passively accept honoring those who fought and died to maintain slavery and Jim Crowism in this country . . . these people are not our heroes.
The establishment or ruling class is nervous. They sense that, with thousands of people, nationally, taking to the streets, they are losing control. Where they used to rely on the moral equivalency argument, both sides are violent, both sides are responsible, etc., they have now expressed rhetoric calling out the Nazi racists.
Their response is to focus our attention on the removal of the monuments and statues in question. Once this is accomplished, they hope everyone will be happy. Then we will all go back to business as usual while nothing of significance will be different.
The monuments are symbols and their removal is important. But if we don’t demand substantive changes in our society, we will have missed a crucial opportunity.
Will these people, the members of the ruling class, support universal healthcare, a livable wage for all workers, affordable housing for all? Will they back up their anti-racist rhetoric with action to withdraw US troops from countries around the world? That is what we should be demanding, not only the removal of symbols, but changes of substance.
Let’s remember who these people are. Fascism has never been a major concern for them. The US has a long history of supporting fascist governments.
For example, as recently as 2014, the US supported and was very much involved in the overthrow of the Ukrainian government and its elected president, Viktor Yanukovch, and the subsequent installation of a fascist government led by neo-Nazis.
The president of the US at that time was the Nobel Peace Prize winning, Democratic president, Barack Obama.
In November 2016, the US was one of three countries to vote against a UN resolution that denounces the glorification of Nazism and other racially-charged trends around the world. The other two countries were the Ukraine and Palau. It is significant that Ukraine is dominated and controlled by a Nazi regime.
This position was taken while the Obama administration, not Donald Trump, was still in power.
Even at this moment, as we speak, while expressing disdain for those fascists who marched in Charlottesville’s demonstration, they are also supporting the fascists who are looking to overthrow Venezuela’s democratically elected socialist government led by President Maduro. In fact, Secretary of State Tillerson has threatened to send US troops into Venezuela.
In 1973, the US, under the leadership of then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, with Richard Nixon as president, provided financial and military support in the overthrow of Chile’s Allende government and the installation of Augusto Pinochet, fascist dictator, as president. Pinochet then proceeded to murder tens of thousands of Chileans who withheld their support of him.
What was the problem the US had with Salvador Allende? He wanted to nationalize some of the industries in Chile so that the people of Chile could benefit from the resources that existed in their own country.
We could even go back to the late 1940s, after WW2, when the US provided sanctuary for many of the Nazis . . . scientists, mathematicians, etc., because they had skills and knowledge that could benefit the US.
These examples are only the tip of the iceberg. Fascism has never been a problem for the US, it has been communism and socialism that have been a threat to the capitalist system, a system that thrives on the exploitation of the working class.
Sinclair Lewis is the author of the book, “It Can’t Happen Here,” published in 1935. In the book, there are two statements that are relevant to what we have been experiencing in the US for decades:
“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” How prophetic was Lewis?
The other comment was, “But he saw too that in America the struggle was befogged by the fact that the worst Fascists were they who disowned the word ‘Fascism’ and preached enslavement to Capitalism under the style of Constitutional and Traditional Native American Liberty.”
The struggle goes beyond Donald Trump and the removal of statues. When Donald Trump is gone and the statues can no longer be seen, what then? What will be different for the working men and women, black, brown, and white, Christian, Jew, and Muslim?
When the corporate capitalist joins forces with the government, the result is inevitably fascism. The capitalist controls the means of production and distribution while the government provides legal cover for the crimes the capitalist will commit in the name of profits. This marriage has been consummated for decades.
The capitalists will never surrender their power, wealth and privilege, it will have to be taken from them.
Donald Trump is nothing more than the next in line in a process of achieving US world domination. The spread of fascism internationally is the most effective vehicle in achieving this goal.
We must keep in mind that what we are fighting against is not only the removal of symbols within our borders but the imposition of fascist regimes beyond our borders.
SOCIALISM OR BARBARISM!
Dave Alpert has masters degrees in social work, educational administration, and psychology. He spent his career working with troubled inner city adolescents.
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Did Donald Trump really discover fascism?
Posted on August 21, 2017 by Dave Alpert
Donald Trump ran his presidential candidacy to appeal to the racist, fascist, and misogynist elements residing in the United States. Yet, we see so many surprised and outraged at his response to the violence perpetrated by his people in Charlottesville, Virginia, the weekend of August 11th through the 12th. As David Duke, former Grand Dragon of the KKK stated, Donald Trump is fulfilling his campaign promises.
And, so he is.
The outrage expressed by the people of this country is justified and welcome. What is unexpected is the response of the establishment, congressmen and women of both parties, corporate executives, members of the mainstream media, military officers, state governors, mayors, etc. Everyone is now tripping over one another appearing to be in favor of removing statues and memorials, symbols that honor those who represent the racism and white supremacy that is rampant in US history.
Why this change and why now?
The narrative has changed, especially among our young people. They have demonstrated that they will not passively accept honoring those who fought and died to maintain slavery and Jim Crowism in this country . . . these people are not our heroes.
The establishment or ruling class is nervous. They sense that, with thousands of people, nationally, taking to the streets, they are losing control. Where they used to rely on the moral equivalency argument, both sides are violent, both sides are responsible, etc., they have now expressed rhetoric calling out the Nazi racists.
Their response is to focus our attention on the removal of the monuments and statues in question. Once this is accomplished, they hope everyone will be happy. Then we will all go back to business as usual while nothing of significance will be different.
The monuments are symbols and their removal is important. But if we don’t demand substantive changes in our society, we will have missed a crucial opportunity.
Will these people, the members of the ruling class, support universal healthcare, a livable wage for all workers, affordable housing for all? Will they back up their anti-racist rhetoric with action to withdraw US troops from countries around the world? That is what we should be demanding, not only the removal of symbols, but changes of substance.
Let’s remember who these people are. Fascism has never been a major concern for them. The US has a long history of supporting fascist governments.
For example, as recently as 2014, the US supported and was very much involved in the overthrow of the Ukrainian government and its elected president, Viktor Yanukovch, and the subsequent installation of a fascist government led by neo-Nazis.
The president of the US at that time was the Nobel Peace Prize winning, Democratic president, Barack Obama.
In November 2016, the US was one of three countries to vote against a UN resolution that denounces the glorification of Nazism and other racially-charged trends around the world. The other two countries were the Ukraine and Palau. It is significant that Ukraine is dominated and controlled by a Nazi regime.
This position was taken while the Obama administration, not Donald Trump, was still in power.
Even at this moment, as we speak, while expressing disdain for those fascists who marched in Charlottesville’s demonstration, they are also supporting the fascists who are looking to overthrow Venezuela’s democratically elected socialist government led by President Maduro. In fact, Secretary of State Tillerson has threatened to send US troops into Venezuela.
In 1973, the US, under the leadership of then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, with Richard Nixon as president, provided financial and military support in the overthrow of Chile’s Allende government and the installation of Augusto Pinochet, fascist dictator, as president. Pinochet then proceeded to murder tens of thousands of Chileans who withheld their support of him.
What was the problem the US had with Salvador Allende? He wanted to nationalize some of the industries in Chile so that the people of Chile could benefit from the resources that existed in their own country.
We could even go back to the late 1940s, after WW2, when the US provided sanctuary for many of the Nazis . . . scientists, mathematicians, etc., because they had skills and knowledge that could benefit the US.
These examples are only the tip of the iceberg. Fascism has never been a problem for the US, it has been communism and socialism that have been a threat to the capitalist system, a system that thrives on the exploitation of the working class.
Sinclair Lewis is the author of the book, “It Can’t Happen Here,” published in 1935. In the book, there are two statements that are relevant to what we have been experiencing in the US for decades:
“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” How prophetic was Lewis?
The other comment was, “But he saw too that in America the struggle was befogged by the fact that the worst Fascists were they who disowned the word ‘Fascism’ and preached enslavement to Capitalism under the style of Constitutional and Traditional Native American Liberty.”
The struggle goes beyond Donald Trump and the removal of statues. When Donald Trump is gone and the statues can no longer be seen, what then? What will be different for the working men and women, black, brown, and white, Christian, Jew, and Muslim?
When the corporate capitalist joins forces with the government, the result is inevitably fascism. The capitalist controls the means of production and distribution while the government provides legal cover for the crimes the capitalist will commit in the name of profits. This marriage has been consummated for decades.
The capitalists will never surrender their power, wealth and privilege, it will have to be taken from them.
Donald Trump is nothing more than the next in line in a process of achieving US world domination. The spread of fascism internationally is the most effective vehicle in achieving this goal.
We must keep in mind that what we are fighting against is not only the removal of symbols within our borders but the imposition of fascist regimes beyond our borders.
SOCIALISM OR BARBARISM!
Dave Alpert has masters degrees in social work, educational administration, and psychology. He spent his career working with troubled inner city adolescents.