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Originally Posted by kokiri
Can trumpism/tea party/whatever be a fascist movement to forestall proletarian revolution, if at the same time Obama was just a republican in a different coloured suit? It doesn't make sense to me. Where exactly is the great fear of proletarian revolution coming from? America hasn't really seemed at risk of Marxism over the last twenty years to me.
I am not sure I would say the "fear of proletarian revolution" is quite that concrete. I think it is more like...the superprofits from Imperialism are being squeezed more and more. Normally a portion of those super profits are being used to bribe the labor aristocracy (LA) and petty boog (PB) into supporting Imperialism and the capitalist mode of production. With the falling rate of profit and the fact that Imperialism is running out of markets to exploit while also being pushed back at the edges (see the failed coup in VZ or the successful coup that was immediately reversed in Bolivia, for example), less and less profits are able to go around which means the LA and PB are getting smaller and smaller bribes. Those groups then become increasingly agitated and push the capitalist state to enforce stronger and more fascistic oppression of the proletariat (most of the US is not proletariat, but there is some. most is in the global south) as a means of extracting more wealth and as a means of solidifying their class position.
I think that is what we are seeing with "Trumpism".
I think when you see the Black community (and Native Americans) as a colonized people's that happens to be within the border of the US this makes more sense as it relates to imperialism. I have heard some people say that "fascism" is just "imperialism turned inward" and this is perhaps an understandable way to see it, the other way is just seeing that the Black community have always been the target of imperialism and that simply being located within the borders of the US doesn't change that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kokiri
I'm on board with trumpism being a reactionary response to Obama and racial fear, but trying to port that into Marxist class terms doesn't work for me.
I think there is some of that going on with Trumpism, but I would say that is not the fundamental crux of it. I think it is just continued pressure on the state to demand more of a piece of the Imperialist pie. Obama promised social democracy (which is giving a piece of the pie in the form of universal healthcare and other types of welfare) and completely failed to deliver. I think THAT is what people are responding to.