[Pictured: Donald Trump and Elon Musk in Boca Chica, Texas, November 19, 2024. [Credit: AP Photo/Brandon Bell]
The United States was formed via a bourgeois revolution where a new ruling class (merchant slaveowners turned capitalists) replaced an old ruling class (monarchy). The next step toward freedom and liberation for all would invariably be a proletarian revolution where the working-class masses unseat the capitalist ruling class to take full control of the means of production and thus all of society. Without this next step, the capitalist ruling class was always destined to turn to a more overt form of fascist rule by implementing corporate governance to address capitalist decay. In fact, such a development has been underway in the US for the past 50 years.
The Role of Trumpism
Trumpism, which now includes the participation and politics of Elon Musk, may be throwing a wrench in this decades-long process by creating disunity between the ruling parties, thus weakening the corporate state and opening vulnerabilities by dismantling certain aspects of it, but it is certainly not doing so for the purpose of a proletarian revolution. Rather, considering where its architects’ interests lie as billionaire capitalists, it is more than likely seeking to restructure the corporate state to make it more efficient, centralized, and controllable for the capitalist class moving forward.
In doing so, it may also be facilitating a petty-bourgeois revolution that is intended to address the grievances of the upper echelons of the working class or former working class (wealthy boomers, their children, those who transitioned to landlords, police or entrepreneurs/business owners, tech bros, etc.) who have either experienced material decline during capitalism’s move to full corporate governance (neoliberalism) or are feeling increasingly vulnerable in the new landscape created by this transition, which renders even high-paying forms of labor as precarious due to the coming AI revolution.
As with all contradictions that inevitably form under capitalism, this petty-bourgeois revolution is not necessarily at odds with the corporate state, although the corporate state (and, more specifically, the capitalist system as a whole) is undoubtedly the source of their newly formed vulnerabilities (i.e. big capital devouring small capital, private equity devouring small landlords, etc.). But they don’t know this. And, quite frankly, they may not even care if they did. Because what these elements essentially need is assurance from the corporate state that they will be included in the benefits of this transition to overt fascism. And THIS is where the fusion between the corporate state (the structural foundation of fascism) and the foot soldiers of fascism (the increasingly vulnerable children of middle privilege) occurs.
Trumpism, whether consciously or not, is facilitating this partnership by speaking directly to these grievances, using racial dynamics to cloud class dynamics, and ensuring that those with such grievances will be “rescued” from largely irrelevant entities such as “illegals,” “wokeness,” and the “deep state,” which certainly exists as merely the corporate/capitalist state, but has been rebranded into something more vague and fluid to be used as a source of manipulation within these circles.
The Liberal RESPONSE
Many Democrats/liberals, the other half of the capitalist ruling class, are publicly responding to this latest version of Trumpism in an hysterical manner, much like they did during the first go-around, despite allowing it to proceed relatively unabated within the halls of power. Democrats famously (and rightfully so) attack Trumpism for its allegiance to white supremacy, while at the same time using similar social identifiers to obscure class struggle in much of the same ways as Trump and Musk. This is because they are beholden to, and benefit from, the same systems: capitalism, imperialism, colonialism, and, more covertly, white supremacy.
Naturally, shared interests lead to partnerships, even if such relationships appear rocky on the surface. So, much like the petty-bourgeois foot soldiers who are now clamoring to be fused into the fascist project via the rebranded state, many of these Democrats will seek the same assurances of being included in the benefits of this transition. Their continued focus on “leftists” being the primary enemy, along with grotesque calls for Trump to “finish off the Palestinians” to punish the left for abandoning the Harris campaign, illustrates just a few of the dynamics behind the motivations that will lead them to compromise with fascism.
Ultimately, as seen throughout history, the common bond of anti-communism that is shared between the ruling parties leads most liberal elements to side with fascism over working-class liberation. This has been the case even with social democratic formations of the past, which were positioned much further to the left of modern Democrats, who are already a highly organized and coopted capitalist/imperialist force. Considering the politics embraced by the party since the advent of neoliberalism, this compromise had mostly been complete even before Trumpism emerged as a viable political movement.
Our Immediate Future
Everyday life in the United States, which has already been devastating for much of the working class over the past few decades, may deteriorate quickly in the coming years. Or the fascist project may slow down to regroup after Trump’s initial barrage, as it continues to seek stability for its transition.
It is difficult to see many positives in these times. Musk eliminated USAID, a program that has been used by the US government to destabilize socialist movements worldwide via vast propaganda networks and forced dependency on global capital. Trump has called for international diplomacy with nations like China, Russia, and North Korea, while also suggesting the United States, China, and Russia should consider “halving their military budgets.”
When taken on face value, these moves could certainly be viewed as positive, especially when contrasted with Democrats assuming the role as the new war party while cozying up with Bush-era neocons and laughing off diplomacy as “enabling dictators.” Unfortunately, when considering the class interests and racial dynamics of Trumpism, which have only been intensified by Musk, and knowing that the primary role of this agenda is to stabilize the fascist transition by fusing the corporate state with a petty-bourgeois base of support, it is impossible to expect much from them.
Musk’s motivation for ending USAID was rooted in a foolish belief that it was “infested with Marxist elements.” And Trump’s calls to reduce military budgets are laughable when considering the United States spends $939 billion a year, has more than 800 military bases worldwide, is responsible for a majority of the world’s post-WW 2 conflicts, and is the only country to drop an atomic bomb on a civilian population. Meanwhile, the military budgets of China and Russia combined are $598 billion.
Trump and Musk are being viewed as saviors by their supporters, which includes a large base of the previously mentioned petty-bourgeois elements who simply want a piece of the fascist pie, as well as many working-class whites who have unfortunately been duped into blaming “illegals” and “wokeness” for the problems created by the same capitalist system that Trump and Musk have personally benefited from at their expense. In this sense, Trumpism is nothing more than a Trojan horse that is not only dedicated to the class oppression inherent in the capital-labor relationship, but that is also seeking to strengthen the rule of the capitalist class under the guise of dismantling the liberal state.
The current shakeup being carried out by Trump and Musk might create enough cracks in the capitalist/fascist system that would allow for a more formidable working-class movement to develop in opposition. More and more people are coming to the realization that capitalism is long past its expiration date. It has been nothing but a pyramid scheme since the 1970s and is driving most of the world, including most of the US population, to destitution while attempting to birth trillionaires.
The illusions of liberal democracy being a system that can offset the compounding social inequities created by capitalism are finally withering away. And, despite narratives being pushed by both sides of the capitalist media, Americans have largely disinvested from electoral politics, with only 29.3% of the adult population voting for Trump and, similarly, only 28.6% voting for Harris. This alone represents a political awakening in the face of material desperation. What is now needed to supplement this are political education, ideological development, and collective action within a class-based political party.
As Antonio Gramsci once wrote, “the old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.” From a gut-wrenching, livestreamed genocide to cheerful calls for brutalizing the most vulnerable among us, there can be little doubt that we are in a time of monsters. Basic human attributes like empathy and reason are tragically becoming obsolete as the masses frantically scramble for money to merely survive just so a privileged few can enjoy lavish lifestyles.
The present is bleak and the immediate future will be worse. Rather than ignore this truth, we should embrace it, build the intestinal fortitude to confront it, and develop a revolutionary optimism that leads us to collectively defeat the monsters and construct a new world that is geared toward peace, harmony, and material comfort for all. As long as capitalism exists, proletarian revolution remains on the table.
