International Viewpoint

Decaying Institutions, Rightwing Insurrection, and the Need for a Mass Movement

“Humanity's future also rests on the emergence and consolidation of a new and independent Black, Latinx and Native American leadership to champion the struggles of the most oppressed and exploited and establish democratic control of their communities while opening the way to the formation of independent Black and Brown parties in the political arena.”

“Unifying people across racial lines on a national basis has not just resulted in the harmful othering of non-nationals, it has placated us so that we don't think about how our lives are completely in the service of capital.”

The attempted coup to overturn the election in the mass riots and invasion of the Capital Building to prevent Congress counting the Electoral College results, was prepared months in advance.

The fight for political freedom and grassroots social justice are inextricable

The riot at the Capitol on Wednesday was a symptom of right-wing weakness, not power. The real danger isn't a MAGA coup, but a restoration of the neoliberal status quo that produced the nightmare of Trump and his minions.

“We can give no support to the bourgeois establishment, the new Biden administration, or their state repression at home and imperial reassertion abroad. Instead, we must rally our forces to build anti-fascist united fronts everywhere to confront the right in large numbers and drive them off the streets, out of workplaces and social organizations.”

“They have adopted new strategies, … are leading the way, building the most dynamic labor movement we have seen in generations.”

“Building a powerful, self-motivated movement of working people and their allies is the best weapon against the fascists—who prey on people who are politically demoralized and lack a clear direction.”

“For the left and the social movements, all the more important to remain active and mobilized to fight for what we need, not for a few crumbs. Celebrating Trump's self-destruction is certainly in order; a leftwing honeymoon for Biden most certainly is not.”

“Trump found that government control does not give absolute control over the levers of the state.”

“But defeating Trump at the polls, and today's fiasco, has given us some breathing space. We must use it well. The results today in Georgia, Black Lives Matter, teachers and nurses' strikes, MeToo, and the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America all indicate the direction we must take.”

“Freed from Trump's electronic fatwas, moreover, some of the younger Republican senators may prove to be much more formidable competitors for the white college-educated suburban vote than centrist Democrats realize. In any event, the only future that we can reliably foresee – a continuation of extreme socio-economic turbulence – renders political crystal balls useless.”

“We are in the midst of the deepest crises (yes plural) of the capitalist system since the 1930s. These will continue to stoke profound polarization within countries, waves of class and social struggles, and greater conflict between capitalist states in the hierarchy of global imperialism. Out of this a new socialist left will be born and take organizational form. We must do everything in our power to arm it with revolutionary socialist ideas, strategies and tactics.”

“Our hope is for the forces that in recent years have shown that the United States is so much more than the banner of big business and imperialism, from politicians of Bernie Sanders' cut to activists in Black Lives Matter, it abounds in campaigns for health care reforms and other social reforms to the socialist currents that have smelled morning air in the tracks of these movements.”

Even countries that hosted vaccine trials — like Argentina, South Africa, Brazil, and Turkey — will not receive adequate supplies.

The U.S. Congress certified Joe Biden's election as 46th president in the night of 5-6th January despite the invasion of the Capitol by Trump supporters. (New York Times, 6 January 2021 “Congress Certifies Joe Biden as President”). The inauguration is now two weeks away. What lies in store?

“This is a movement where the majority of people are fighting for their immediate and longer term survival. ”

THE DRAMATIC RECENT events in Peru, barely covered by mainstream U.S. media, have seen a popular uprising of massive self-organized protests. In November the student-led demonstrations in Lima and other large cities were met by riot police equipped with water cannons, tanks, and helicopters.

In June 2016, after a close referendum result, a slim majority of British voters supported leaving the European Union (EU), initiating one of the longest and most complex divorces in our recent continental history. More than four years later with British governments having fallen along the way, several elections, three negotiating extensions applied, and a transition period that culminates this 31 December, Brussels and London finally signed the trade agreement that will govern relations (...)