America’s Most Unwanted

This fall, millions of Americans will be asked to go to the polls to choose between two staunch defenders of capitalism committed to attacking the working class at home and abroad. These are literally the same rich, geriatric, warmongers who competed to represent the bosses four years ago. This is not a choice, but a cruel joke on American workers and youth.

“Lesser evilism”

The Democrats’ vote to illegalize the railroad strike in 2022 exposed the lie that they are a “worker-friendly” alternative to the Republicans. This left Democratic strategists with only one tool in their toolbox—the boogieman of a Trump victory. But this “lesser evilism” argument has been thoroughly demolished by Biden’s incompetence and his support for the genocidal, right-wing Zionist regime in Israel.

For decades, revolutionary communists have made the case that “lesser evilism” is entirely hollow, patiently explaining the need for class independence, and the fact that a vote for the supposed “lesser evil” within this system simply gets you the “greater evil” eventually. But evil is evil. Is any young person following the news really swayed by the idea that Genocide Joe represents the “lesser evil” when it comes to Gaza?

Starting with a bear hug, Biden made clear his government’s support for Netanyahu, and by extension, the murder of tens of thousands of innocent women and children. But Biden and the Democrats’ support does not end with hugs. The imperialists in Washington have just passed another aid package, promising $95 billion in funding for the massacre of Palestinians and their proxy war against Russian imperialism in Ukraine.

A system in crisis

This is the world that confronts young people as they are asked to vote this November: a raging dumpster fire, with both wings of the ruling class pouring on more gasoline. This is all a reflection of the terminal crisis of capitalism. The ruling class simply has no competent representatives, as their system barrels towards a cliff. As the ruling class finds itself unable to rule in the old way, its traditional parties are thrown into chaos. One after another, venerable and reliable institutions of bourgeois stability have been discredited.

Is it any surprise that millions of American workers believe the election in 2020 was “stolen”? One does not need to believe in Trump’s conspiracies to understand that millions no longer believe in the supposedly sacred institutions of bourgeois democracy. To the dismay of many members of his own party, Trump behaves like a “bull in a China shop” and fails to recognize that his policies and rhetoric threaten the stability of the very system he represents.

Democrats also recognize the general crisis of bourgeois democracy, but they narrowly see the problem as Donald Trump himself. The former president is obviously a vile racist and demagogue. His rhetoric and attacks on the working class and other oppressed groups must be taken seriously, and we must prepare to hit the streets and fight in the event of a Trump victory.

But what solution do the Democrats and their apologists on the left propose? On the one hand, it is to incorporate elements of the Republican Party, so-called “Never Trumpers” into the “big tent” of the Democrats, including several individuals presented as the “greater evil” just a decade ago.

On the other hand, they use hypocritical, anti-democratic maneuvers to … defend democracy. The Supreme Court recently struck down an attempt by Colorado Democrats to remove Trump from the ballot, which essentially ends efforts in other swing states to do the same. But this episode reveals the state of the Democratic defenders of “democracy.”

“How do we defeat Trump? We prevent him from running.” This is not surprising coming from the same party that twice used undemocratic maneuvers against Bernie Sanders in the primaries, and succeeded this very year in stifling Democratic challengers to Biden.

Seeing through the lie of the “lesser evil” and understanding what either option means for humanity and the planet, many yearn for another choice. This explains the recent rise of the “uncommitted” vote in numerous states. For many, the instinct to cast a protest vote is healthy, however, this does not offer a real way forward either.

Communists cannot recommend voting “uncommitted” in the primary, firstly, because doing so requires registering for a Democratic ballot. Democratic strategists are keenly aware of this and are cynically using discontent around this issue to trick disgruntled layers into the party’s fold.

Most importantly, the entire tactic is based on the reformist idea of “pressuring” bourgeois politicians. But the policies of Biden and his ilk are not determined by mass pressure, but by the interests of the ruling class, their lobbyists, and the global struggle for markets and spheres of influence. To the extent that there has been an ever-so-mild shift in rhetoric on Gaza in recent weeks, words are words, and the aid continues to flow and the bombs continue to fly.

The communist solution

The system is at an impasse and it is no surprise that despair grips the minds of many. But there is an alternative. The Revolutionary Communists of America believe a future free of exploitation, oppression, imperialism, and war is possible—and is worth fighting for.

Communists must use every avenue at our disposal to disseminate our ideas and mobilize the working class. But we are a party of a different type. We are not and will never be an electoral machine. We are a proletarian combat party organizing to confront the ruling class and its state in the factories, classrooms, and streets. We are a party of revolution. If and when the RCA runs in elections, it will be to agitate as tribunes of the people, to serve as a rallying point for mobilizing the workers to fight for a better world.

No matter who wins in November, the workers and youth will lose. None of the many crises we face can be solved within the framework of private property and the capitalist system. The only way forward is to energetically assemble tens of thousands and, ultimately, millions of workers and youth into a mass party of communist class fighters dedicated not to electoral reform, but to destroying this system once and for all. Only then can we free humanity from the shackles of wage slavery and build a future worth living in for future generations.