MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
Under Lock & Key is a news service written by and for prisoners with a focus on what is going on behind bars throughout the United States. Under Lock & Key is available to U.S. prisoners for free through MIM(Prisons)'s Free Political Literature to Prisoners Program, by writing:
MIM(Prisons) PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140.
A Texas Prisoner wrote: “Recently on sum conservative
radio show there was a persyn who asserted that amerikkka is a”socialist
country and has been for a long time.” A pupil and i argued about this
because i’m like, amerikkka is the antithesis of socialism, but as i
read your reply this debate re-entered my mind along with the
conservative ploy to confuse the masses with “red baiting,” equating
everything “left” of center as die hard communist/socialist but in
essence what the persyn on the radio program was really saying was that
amerikkka is a social democratic country and has been for a long time. i
still disagree, wat about u? And wat is the difference, if any, between
social democracy and democratic socialism?“
Plastick of MIM(Prisons) responds: For us Maoists,
social-democracy is the tendency where as opposed to Marxism or
communism, they seek to apply a welfare state such as the likes of
Sweden while capitalism is the main basis. Democratic socialism is a
revisionist Marxist trend where they claim that socialism is the goal
where the workers run the world, we must do it through non-violent and
reformist means. The confusion could go deeper for some newer comrades
as the Bolsheviks of the Russian revolution called themselves as
upholders of Social-Democracy. To Lenin and Stalin, social-democracy
meant socialism and modern democracy in a backward semi-feudal
imperialist Russia, not sharing a section of the imperialist pie to the
Russian masses. But the International Communist Movement later abandoned
“social-democracy” to those who thought capitalism could be reformed to
serve humyn need.
Social-Democracy’s core characteristic is appeasing the masses
through reforms and better short-term conditions while preserving
bourgeois dictatorship. In an imperialist country, social-democracy can
mean better wages and living standards for the labor aristocracy who
might be growing tired of inflation. In the Third World there are just
as much social-democratic movements as the comprador-bourgeoisie seeks
to quell the majority proletarian populations of their respective
countries. Ironically, despite its efforts to preserve Liberal bourgeois
democracy, social-democracy oftentimes paves the way for fascism,
particularly in the exploiter countries. In Germany, social-democracy
crushed the revolutionary movement both by appeasing to the workers
through oppressor nation chauvinism and militaristically ridding the
revolutionary leadership. When economic crisis in Germany deepened to
where social-democracy couldn’t govern its masses the way it did before,
fascism arose to put forth law and order.
People often talk about social-democratic countries being the middle
ground combination between capitalism and socialism: Amerika is a
capitalist country, China is a communist country, and Sweden is a
social-democratic country. This is a metaphysical view of what a
country’s political economic system is – qualitatively all of these
countries are run by a bourgeois dictatorship. Out of these countries,
Sweden is the most famous for its social-democratic way of governing.
There is a similar social-democratic movement in the U.$. that wishes to
follow those countries lead, but to say a country is social-democratic
is misunderstanding what social-democracy is: it is a trend that arises
out of the labor aristocracy/petty-bourgeoisie during times of hardship.
If social-democracy fails, the coin will flip to reveal the other side
of fascism.
The last two presidential elections demonstrated an increase in
pressure from the labor aristocracy for social democratic policies. All
advanced imperialist countries have social services paid for off the
backs of the Third World proletariat. If we want to split hairs and say
some of these countries are social democracies, we’d say the U.$. is not
currently one because it has extreme privatization, going so far as to
privatize some prisons.
The seizure of the Capitol on 6 January 2021 was the culmination of
oppressor nation organizing over years that has proven the continued
need for New Democratic revolution here in North America, what many
First Nations people today call occupied Turtle Island. Participants in
the siege donned racist Odinist tattoos, pro-holocaust slogans,
anti-China signs, and waved pro-slavery and nazi flags. Most had
Amerikan flags or pro-Trump flags, hats and shirts. They included QAnon
followers, Tea Party members, elected officials, Proud Boys, and leaders
of a number of fascist organizations and groupings.
Media reported five deaths, including one U.S. Capitol Police officer
and four pro-Trump rioters. Those killed during the siege included a
womyn shot by security for trying to crawl through a smashed window to
get to the Senators, a man who reportedly tasered himself to death while
trying to steal a painting off the wall and a cop who was beaten to
death with sticks, including one carrying an Amerikan flag, while the
audience sang The Star-Spangled Banner. The latter, Brian
Sicknick, served the imperialist army in Afghanistan and was an
outspoken supporter of President Trump.(1)
The group who laid siege to the Capitol did so in response to calls
from President Trump to oppose the election results that has Joe Biden
scheduled to replace him on 20 January. As the mob took swings at police
and smashed through barricades, they chanted, “USA, USA!”, “Stop the
Steal” and called out the Democrats and CNN as primary targets of their
anger. By denying the outcome of the election, this organized force is
allied with efforts to deny New Afrikans, and other oppressed groups,
the vote. These front-line Trump supporters militantly deny the right of
Chican@s to even exist on their own land, not to mention control it. And
they generally support the incursion of multinational corporations into
the small fragments of territory left to the other indigenous peoples of
this continent. They want to keep Muslims and Asians out of the United
$tates, whether its because of terrorism, a virus, or some other
semi-factual excuse for xenophobia. They fear the browning of the U.$.
population.
Regarding the vote, the shift of Georgia from Republican to Democrat
marked for these settlers another step towards the end of white
domination on occupied Turtle Island. Newly-elected Senator Raphael
Warnock is the first Black senator in the state of Georgia, which was
31.94% New Afrikan and 51.82% white (“non-hispanic”) in 2019 (in a
country that is about 12% New Afrikan overall). In recent years,
“non-hispanic” whites have only accounted for about 44% of births in the
state.(2). Warnock comes from the same church as Martin Luther King Jr.,
where Warnock was Pastor for former representative John Lewis. MLK of
course was a symbol of multicultural integration that brought much ire
and hatred during eir short life, leading to eir assassination. The
current period is the culmination of the reaction to the attempts by the
bourgeois state to incorporate those ideas of King’s into the empire.
After the abolition of slavery, the Federal government made the first
attempt at granting New Afrika democratic rights and full citizenship by
imposing Reconstruction policies on the southern states. These were
mostly undone by white settlers by the by the 1876 presidential
election, which led to the Jim Crow policies(3) (maintained by violent
voter suppression of New Afrikans) until the time of MLK and the Black
Panther Party. The movement today is to undo the progress of integration
that followed the civil rights and national liberation movements of the
1960s. Rioters literally marched confederate flags through the Capitol,
after fighting their way in, in 2021.
In 2020, Georgia also saw shows of force from New Afrikan militia,
and
lumpen
organizations coming together to seize the site of a police murder,
and defend from threats by groups like the 3 Percenters and Ku Klux Klan
from coming into Atlanta.(4) While New Afrikans band together in
self-defense, the oppressor nation has made it clear they are now on the
offense with their seizure of the U.$. Capitol. They brought firearms,
pipe bombs and nooses as they called for the blood of Vice President
Mike Pence and others. Men who entered the Capitol carried fire arms and
one had seized zip tie handcuffs, ready to take hostages and possibly
assassinate Federal representatives, including the Vice President. When
officials escaped, the intruders settled for posing for photos in their
office chairs and taking memorabilia off the Senators’ desks and
walls.
Economics of the Crisis
Social media posts by leaders promoting the action on 6 January are
also calling for the assassination of Mitch McConnell and Republicans in
general for blocking the $2000 stimulus check currently backed by Trump
and the Democratic Congressional leadership. The battle over stimulus
funding (to respond to COVID-19 restrictions) in recent weeks has been a
great demonstration of the relationship between classes under
imperialism. The wealth flowing into this country is split between the
imperialists and the rest of the population. The stimulus bills were a
clear demonstration of this, with big corporations getting 100s of
millions to billions in benefits, while the rest of the country averaged
thousands of dollars per persyn. Most people in the world received
little to no money.
The printing of money by the U.$. central bank since the beginning of
the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in history. With so many more
dollars in circulation, economists wonder whether this money can be
exchanged for goods at the value one would expect. Many Third World
countries have seen depreciation of their currencies compared to the
U.$. dollar as finance capital left those countries in response to the
pandemic. For the dollar to maintain its value, the empire must stay
strong. We’ve already seen a decrease in Japanese and Chinese finance
capital from U.$. treasuries in the last year.(5) Japan and China are
the two largest foreign holders of U.$. treasuries.
The people of Weimar Germany (prior to the popular Nazi takeover)
faced conditions where what they were paid one day could not buy a loaf
of bread the next. This was due to having lost WWI and facing sanctions
from other imperialist countries. The U.$. has not yet faced this
problem, but they are having to do more to stabilize their own currency
and economy. If the white nationalists had their way, and productive
labor from Latin America and Asia was forced out of U.$. borders, we
would see the dollar decrease in value very quickly. While dollar values
have not declined yet, the situation is quite precarious, especially as
productive output of the economy remains slow.
What Will Happen Next?
Senators who were calling the election a fraud backed off immediately
following the siege, proving it was just a popularity game to them. Yet
some who forced their way into the Capitol, came ready to die that day.
This is curious, as economic conditions in this country do not yet
warrant such extremism, especially for the demographic showing up at
these demonstrations. Many on the front lines of the siege are steeped
in conspiracy theories. These theories tap into a deep existential fear
they have of the ending of their white country. Something many of them
feel has already happened.
While the attacks of 9/11 were a blow to the sense that Amerikans
could have their fingers in every other part of the world, while staying
safe at home, the response was a show of strength through Amerikan
nationalism. Since then, the U.$. image continued to decline with more
lost wars and humyn rights abuses abroad and at home. This week’s attack
on the Capitol marks an internal weakening from within.
There is no god coming down to purify the crackers’ souls in the
rapture. Nor can Turner Diary-style fantasies resolve the contradictions
that define this imperialist country. A re-civilization of the oppressor
nations must come from the hands of the oppressed. Having one side of
the oppressor nation try to cajole the other into giving the oppressed
what they think they need, or rather what they think will appease, has
proven ineffective over the last 150 years. The oppressed nations
occupied on this land must seize their own destinies. They must rise up
for a New Democracy, where they as sovereign peoples can decide how to
solve their own problems without the constant oversight and interference
of the euro-Amerikan.
We support the continued development of New Afrikan defense
organizing in places like Atlanta, that is based in real revolutionary
nationalism – which as Mao said is applied internationalism. We
re-iterate the call for Barrio Committees in Aztlan, as outlined in the
book Chican@
Power and the Struggle for Aztlán. We all need to connect with those
in our communities that are ready to respond.
With regards to those that are already familiar and well versed with
Marixt-Leninist-Maoist political philosophy, we must call for discipline
and centralized organization. Most major cities’ “radical scenes” are
dominated by anarcho-liberals who preach on voting for the Democratic
party one day and preach for militant direct action the next day. Even
amongst the more militant and anti-reformist anarchists, there are a lot
of poorly organized forms of violence that fleets in energy. Us
communists should work towards building independent institutions that
the people can go to to solve their daily material problems – not have
loosely affiliated cliques that serve themselves more than the
masses.
Another test of principled actions that many communists failed was
the reliance and aid to the existing bourgeois institutions such as the
FBI and the police. Many radical liberals online have resorted to
identifying the Capitol Hill fascists for the police agencies while also
hoping these police institutions can repress the fascist movement. The
Communist Party of India (Maoist) have had the correct response to this
regarding the issue of rape in the country of India. Whereas
petty-bourgeois movements call for the death penalty and stronger
punishments for rapists in the semi-feudal country, the Maoists
recognize that rape is not alien to the system and stronger state forces
against these anti-people crimes will result in stronger state
repression against the masses.(6) And just like how relying on the
bourgeois state to give justice in India will result in the repression
against the masses, these acts by radical liberals of relying on the FBI
and the police departments will only result in more surveillance and
crackdowns on the oppressed people.
Our readership has always talked about fascism more than the
mainstream because they face some of the most fascistic aspects of
imperialism within U.$. borders. As the dialogue around fascism in
relation to the White House enterslj6 the mainstream, it becomes more
important for us to distinguish our line, and the potential strategies
that follow from that line.(1)
The first draft of an article on the self-determination
of the Lakota people referred repeatedly to the fascism that they
faced. The parallel is certainly justified. As we know Hitler was very
inspired by the Amerikan genocide and colonization of First Nations.
Yet, fascism arose hundreds of years after settlers first came to Turtle
Island. There are many similarities, but also differences, between Nazi
Germany and the early United $tates, and the United $tates today.(2)
Understanding what fascism is is important for fighting it.
Fascism as
Inter-Imperialist Conflict
“Marxist-Leninists eventually argued that fascism is qualitatively
more evil than ordinary imperialism. First, fascism occupied imperialist
countries and exterminated national self-determination in direct ways
that the other imperialists did not. Second, and less important, fascism
is the open dictatorship of the bourgeoisie instead of just the more
masked dictatorship of bourgeois democracy.” MC5, May 1993, “Historical
applications of Line, Strategy and Tactics: The United Front”, MIM
Theory 6: The Stalin Issue, p.76. ($5)
MC5 goes on to say that the principal contradiction during the period
of the rise of fascism was actually that between the socialist and the
imperialist camps. That the Nazis focused so much on the destruction of
the Soviet Union, undermining their own success, demonstrates the role
of fascism as a response to socialism.
Stalin’s strategy in this period was to divide the imperialist camp.
It’s hard to see how the socialist camp today could employ such a
strategy since we are not operating from the base of power that Stalin
was (the USSR actually had the military might to stop the Nazis). But in
his time, Stalin’s strategy proved correct.
A Global Threat or
Bourgeois Politics
Antifa and the unorganized rebellions against the police in cities
across the country have forced anti-fascism into the mainstream. Yet the
mainstream rhetoric has quickly transformed the “battle against fascism”
in the United $tates into a thinly veiled campaign for the Democratic
Party presidential election in November. The likes of Bob Avakian,
Angela Davis and Noam Chomsky have all called on people to vote for Joe
Biden, citing this battle.
Stopping fascism is a lower level goal than ending imperialism or
building socialism. There are times, like World War II, when stopping
fascism is the appropriate focus for communists. At that time fascism
was waging a military assault across Europe and threatening the first
dictatorship of the proletariat.
Presidential candidate Biden has already promised a significant
increase in military spending, and President Trump has increased
military spending during his term, despite his criticisms of the
self-interest of the military industrial complex. Both candidates are
clearly behind continued U.$. militarism to wage war against the
oppressed peoples of the world. Neither candidate has indicated a
rapacious military campaign to conquer and occupy other nations. Between
the two options offered by the U.$. imperialists, we do not yet see the
principal characteristic that led the communists of the COMINTERN to see
fascism as a greater evil than imperialism.
Those who are crying “fascism” in the U.$. today are arguing that
state repression internal to the United $tates is ramping up. So let’s
look at what MC5 called the “less important” distinguishing
characteristic of fascism.
The
Democratic Struggle Against Fascism in the Third World
“The imperialists export fascism to many Third World countries via
puppet governments. And imperialist countries can turn to fascism
themselves. But it is important to note that there is no third choice
for independent fascism in the world: they are either imperialist or
imperialist-puppets. Germany, Spain, Italy and Japan had all reached the
banking stage of capitalism and had a real basis for thinking they could
take over colonies from the British and French. … The vast majority of
the world’s fascist-ruled countries have been U.$. puppets.” – MIM
Congress, “Osama Bin Laden and the Concept of ‘Theocratic Fascism’”,
2004
Strategy varies from place to place. An example of this from the past
is when the Filipinos waged a campaign against the GATT trade agreement.
In the Philippines this was a righteous campaign against imperialist
control over their economy. However, in the United $tates the campaign
against GATT was one focused on protecting Amerikan jobs, which implies
fortifying imperialist borders against labor from other countries. So
you can see how the same campaign can have very different impacts in
different contexts. It is our responsibility to understand our own
context and organize accordingly.
In a previous
article on this same topic, we mentioned the anti-imperialist
rhetoric of the newly elected President Duterte in the Philippines.
After Duterte’s anti-United $tates rhetoric fizzled, the National
Democratic Front in the Philippines have begun campaigning against the
“fascist US-Duterte regime.” This framing is important. The fascism is
coming from the United $tates and being implemented by the puppet
Duterte. This allows for their propaganda to be consumed within the
United $tates without fueling U.$. militarism for an invasion of the
Philippines to rescue them from fascism.
This is in sharp contrast to the rhetoric around “islamo-fascism” in
Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon. This framing was of course propagated by the Pentagon, but
also by many calling themselves “communists.” It fueled anti-Muslim
sentiments in support of U.$. militarism in Central Asia.
The framing of fascism in the form of puppet regimes is useful for
the national democratic movements in the Third World to unite all who
can be united. But these puppet regimes do not signify a shift in the
global balance of power that warrant a strategic re-orientation like the
rise of fascism within an imperialist country would.
Don’t Vote, Build Bases of
Power
Another important point to note is that there is an active People’s
War in the Philippines. The National Democratic Front is led by the
communist party. The united front to get Trump out of office is led by
the Democratic Party, in other words, the imperialists. The imperialists
are not facing the threat of a communist revolution in the United $tates
like they are in the Philippines that would warrant a shift to outright
bourgeois dictatorship.
The imperialists responded to the 9/11 attacks with a series of
changes in law, such as the Patriot Act, which legalized some of the
things Trump has been doing domestically. Initially, MIM was part of the
movement to oppose the Patriot Act. However, they decided to leave that
movement when it was clear it was dominated by libertarians. Other
“communists” tailed this movement with calls to “Drive out the Bush
regime” often referring to Bush as a fascist. These same “communists”
who were effectively campaigning for Obama’s election by offering no
other alternative to Bush, because they have no power, are now openly
endorsing Biden.
When the Soviet Union allied with the United $tates, and the Filipino
communists ally with the bourgeois forces, they do not put down their
guns, or give up their goals of building socialism. To be real players
in the anti-fascist struggle, we must first build power like the Soviet
Union did and the Filipinos are doing. Stalin did bite his tongue about
U.$. imperialism to defeat German fascism. To bite our tongue today
about Joe Biden’s militarism and targeting of oppressed nations with
mass incarceration is to abandon the oppressed nations of the world.
It is good to see those in the imperialist state defending bourgeois
democracy. That is their role. Our role is to build public opinion
against imperialism and build independent institutions of the oppressed.
As Trump attempts to frame Biden/Harris as the radical left, it is
important to demonstrate real revolutionary politics in this country.
And the target of the revolution is imperialism. Imperialism must be
overthrown before we can really begin the task of building a society
without oppression. To put this goal to the side to focus on getting
Trump out of office, especially at a time when more and more people are
looking for systemic change, is to stop representing the international
proletariat. In this era in the United $tates, anti-imperialism is the
radical position, while anti-fascism and anti-racism are the reformist
positions.
Notes: 1. order MIM Theory 5: Diet for a Small Red
Planet ($5) for an in-depth look at the relationship between line,
strategy and tactics 2. order our Fascism and Contemporary Economics
($3) for a deeper look at the history and economic of
fascism
A California prisoner asks: “What are MIM’s thoughts
on”Antifa” and what and who are Antifa? Any information you can provide
will be helpful, thank you.”
MIM(Prisons) responds: Antifa stands for anti-fascist,
and it derives from movements in Europe that have a deeper history that
we won’t attempt to address here. It’s primary symbol is a black flag
and a red flag, symbolizing the unity of anarchists and communists of
all stripes in unity against the fascists. “Antifa” is a generic term in
the United $tates. There is no central organization, only local
collectives. Anti-Racist Action is probably the most active formal group
that is akin to Antifa in the United $tates.
The Antifa strategy is one of confronting various stripes of racists,
white supremacists, fascists, etc. in the streets and in their
communities. When such organizations make a public stand, especially
when they organize marches, Antifa will try to make sure there are more
counter-demonstrators and will attempt to shut down their actions. The
long-time Antifa activists often focus on researching these groups,
tracking down their members, doxing them and exposing them.
MIM has never been involved in this type of organizing. Strategically
we think it focuses on a fringe element rather than the real enemy –
imperialism. Imperialism is murdering people in the streets, locking
them away and torturing them, bombing countries, starving whole
populations and polluting the world. Fighting nazis in the street does
not contribute to ending imperialism at this time. Nor does campaigning
against Trump.
That said, if fascism gains traction in this country, then we need to
assess when to shift our strategy away from imperialism as the primary
enemy and towards the fascists. At that time we will certainly be
allying with and relying on some of the knowledge of those that have
been following these groups closely for years.
Why is Antifa in the News?
So why is this comrade asking us about Antifa now? Probably because
President Trump threatened to declare it a terrorist organization, among
other rants against them over the years. So why is Trump talking about
Antifa? As the self-proclaimed enemies of all things racist and fascist,
the various elements of the alt-right/dissident right/third positionists
and racists in online forums have accepted Antifa as their enemy (more
on these groups below). Donald Trump rose to popularity in part by
following the media outlets associated with these movements and echoing
their talking points, one of which is the danger and threat that Antifa
poses. Many of these groups use videos of street fights and
confrontations between their members and Antifa as recruitment material.
(Antifa as such has little to do with the recent uprisings in the United
$tates against police murders, though certainly many who work in Antifa
groups participated in the protests as well. Trump’s statement falsely
implied that Antifa was behind these uprisings.)
The President of the United $tates stated that Antifa is terrorism.
In other words, he said opposing fascism should be illegal in the United
$tates. Quite a bold statement. One that thankfully received strong
rebuke from the majority of the state apparatus at the time. In response
to that statement by Trump, MIM(Prisons) joined the calls in the streets
that “we are all Antifa.”
Is Fascism on the Rise Due
to Crisis?
Since the 2016 presidential campaign we have published a series of
articles addressing the question of whether fascism is here, or on its
way. An article we published in November 2016, arguing that the crisis
that would trigger fascism just wasn’t there yet, ended with, “That
being said, based on Trump’s statements and actions, if Amerikan
capitalism was truly threatened by the oppressed internal nations,
Trump’s open chauvinism would easily transition to far heavier fascist
tendencies.”(1) Now in 2020 we had the broadest display of street
actions, largely by oppressed nations, seen in most of our lifetimes, if
ever in this country. And we have a downward trend in the economy due to
declining rates of profit and exacerbated by a global pandemic. So we
are in a crisis, and as the threat to Amerikan capitalism becomes more
and more real, so does the threat of fascism.
Theoretically, fascism is always on its way in the advanced stages of
imperialism. This is because of the inherent contradictions within
capitalism that make it harder and harder to extract a profit from the
circulation of capital. Without profit, the economy stops under
capitalism. That is why the COVID-19 shut downs have been so disastrous.
Under socialism, we could cut back production and shelter in place
without threatening the future of the economy.
Denying this reality, one of the ideological leaders of the alt-right
called on the Trump administration to just shut down the economy for a
period and restart again like a long weekend. But capital must
circulate, when it does not things begin to collapse like a house of
cards. The amount of value being circulated in the realm of finance
capital just got a shot of another few trillion dollars by the COVID-19
stimulus bills. This money was created by the Fed from thin air. Most
countries would face a decrease in currency value and increase in
consumer prices if they did this. The U.$. is depending more and more on
international finance capital to come into the country to prop up the
dollar and Amerikan consumerism. But if there is no profit to be had,
that finance capital stops coming. The reason this hasn’t happened
already is that the bourgeoisie is aware that a slowdown in finance
capital circulation will lead to a collapse of the system like a house
of cards. This is when the all out war option of the fascists becomes
the only option.
Parasitism Begets Fascism
Another alt-right ideologue, has recently put out a video denying
that fascism is capitalism in decay. Eir thesis is that if there was a
crisis in profitability of capital that the system would have to go back
to some kind of feudal system and greatly reduce production to restore
profits. Since fascism in Germany increased worker incomes and overall
production, ey argues this proves fascism was not a response to crisis.
This logic sort of makes sense from the revisionist “Marxist”
perspective that anyone employed is exploited and that profits don’t
cross borders.
The MIM answer to why the capitalism in decay thesis is correct is in
parasitism theory. Really, few would deny that Germany’s economic
flourishing came from the literal and brutal robbery of land, resources
and labor (through enslavement) of other peoples. But similar things
occur in all imperialist countries, even if just a bit more “civilized.”
We point this out to show how revisionism calling itself Marxism plays
itself nicely into the ideas of fascism. And it is through the appeals
to a populist class interest of the labor aristocracy that the fascists,
social democrats and revisionist “Marxists” all bolster support for
imperialism, despite their rhetoric against war or whatever.
Another thing all of these forces have in common is labeling things
based on their form rather than their substance. Whether it’s the
“Marxists” who see Xi Jinping as leading a socialist country or the
fascists saying that Mussolini was opposed to the bourgeoisie, they are
putting ideas, words and symbols above substance. They say, “see the
leader said this, therefore ey couldn’t support that.” The capitalists,
as a class, do not care about the words as long as the economic
substructure is still functioning to produce profits. Mussolini (and the
King) ensured that it did as does Xi Jinping today. This is the same
reason why today every multi-national corporation is tripping over each
other to put out statements on and make donations to Black Lives Matter.
Yes, there are ideologues within the bourgeoisie, but the class as a
whole, in order to continue on as a bourgeoisie, must ensure that
profits keep flowing. And if stamping Black Lives Matter all over their
website and social media feeds can assist with that, then call Jeff
Bezos anti-racist.
Oppose Left and Right
White Nationalism
The alt-right is actively extending olive branches to the left wing
of white nationalism, specifically those they refer to as “Bernie Bros.”
Some in the alt-right claim to have 90% agreement with such social
democratic types, specifically in their critiques of capitalism and
calls for populist economic reforms and a state that can deal with a
global pandemic. Our saving grace right now in the United $tates is in
the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, as well as the struggles against
ICE detention which has also rallied significant support in recent
years. The outpouring of support for BLM has been surprisingly strong.
Even if the multinationals are just motivated by profits, this is like
nothing we’ve seen in our lifetime. Clearly they have recognized where
the winds are blowing, and it is not towards the racism of the
alt-right.
The fascists argue that they are an alternative to the neoliberal
bourgeois order and the Marxist communist order – hence “third
positionists.” But Dimitrov critiqued this misconception for the
COMINTERN during World War II, stating that “Fascism is the power of
finance capital itself.” The fascists argue that finance capital did not
and does not support fascism in its rise to power. MIM added to
Dimitrov’s thesis in 2005: “It is only the finance-capital dominated
petri dish where fascism grows. Today, the labor aristocracy of ONLY the
imperialist countries is the”main force” of fascism…“(2) So again, all
the groups we mention above, whether”left” or “right” are organizing
this class and activating them towards fascism by telling them they are
the oppressed and they deserve more.
More on Class and Economic
Systems
MIM and the COMINTERN agree on the dialectical nature of class
struggle under capitalism as it relates to the phenomenon of fascism –
that is that capitalism is identified in the contradiction and
interdependence of two economic classes: the proletariat and the
bourgeoisie. In this view, there are two paths, or two economic systems:
capitalism (of the bourgeoisie) or socialism (of the proletariat). Other
classes exist and have their own interests. But they will not shape
history in their image. Our world today is shaped in the image of the
bourgeoisie, and Marx explained why the future lies in the hands of the
proletariat, those who have nothing to lose but their chains.
The petty bourgeoisie (including the First World labor aristocracy)
doesn’t have an image for the world. Their ideology is that of the
bourgeoisie, steeped in individualism. And because of their varying lots
in life, their interests are varied, made up of little groups just
trying to make capitalism work for them. They can be united in the
nation-building project that involves their nation being on top. But
even this will not elicit much sacrifice from this class as a whole
unless conditions are quite dire.
When we talk about the labor aristocracy of the imperialist countries
being the “main force” of fascism, we still agree with Dimitrov that
fascism is the power of finance capital. It is finance capital
that gives these tendencies real power. This truth can be seen when you
investigate the organizations in the fascist realm. The most successful
efforts to unite these petty bourgeois forces and use them towards real
political goals are led and funded by millionaires, with access to
advanced military weaponry and international connections to intelligence
agencies. While there are many small, organic groups that are in this
realm, the ones that pose a real threat really aren’t so organic.
Our comrades in prison can understand this dynamic, where it is quite
common for white nationalist organizations to have “special”
relationships with the pigs, to the point of helping to enforce for the
state. Some of our comrades who have served in the military have also
seen direct coordination between the military and local white
nationalist organizations around perceived threats of oppressed nation
rebellions. It’s the same in prison.
From the proletariat comes the true guerilla, who starts from
nothing, and gains their tools and supplies by taking from the enemy
oppressor. The guerilla does not start out with high-end military
equipment, the guerilla earns it. And even before we get to the military
phase, the true mass character of the communist camp is evident. Even in
the bought off imperialist core, you can see genuine organizers popping
up in all areas, fighting for similar goals, from a real organic desire
for change and humyn progress. In the United $tates this is fed by the
oppressed nations and by the youth and by all justice-seeking
people.
The proletariat of the world must distinguish itself from the
parasitic populism of the First World labor aristocracy. Antifa has not
done this. Antifa is open to militant Liberals because they tend to see
this as a battle over ideas in peoples’ heads and don’t have an honest
class analysis of what is going on.
The alternative that MIM offers is that those of us in the
imperialist countries are criminals that must reform our ways. That the
rest of the world wants us to reform our ways and welcomes us in joining
in building a new world based on internationalism, humynism and
solidarity. The oppressed people of the world must guide us towards true
internationalism and not make excuses for the backwardness of the
bought-off populations. Amerikans still haven’t made right the crimes
they committed against the internal semi-colonies of this land. That is
being discussed in the mainstream today. But we still aren’t discussing
making things right with the majority of the world that we have
exploited, polluted and murdered for the comfortable lives we live here.
This is what we see as pro-active anti-fascism. And it’s not about
taking on some guilty complex for your ancestors, it’s about saying that
you will not pass the exploitation on to your descendants. And this must
be part of the current struggles of the oppressed nations here today, or
else we will just end up with more exploiters with more diverse skin
tones.
The declining rate of profit is an unavoidable problem under capitalism,
and a move toward fascism among the imperialists is primarily a result
of this declining rate of profit. Some could interpret this to mean that
fascism is an inevitable outcome of late-stage imperialism. But fascism
isn’t actually in the interests of most imperialists, if they can avoid
it. And today, most are in denial that the declining rate of profit is
even a problem. In the 1930s such illusions were smashed by the
realities of the Great Depression. Since then, the imperialist countries
have managed to put off any comparable economic collapses at home.
Barring such extreme conditions, most imperialists don’t want fascism.
The protectionism and extreme militarism that come with fascism are bad
for most capitalists’ profits. Militarism is good for increasing demand
by destroying capital and infrastructure, and creating a market for very
expensive military hardware. And some imperialists are just
ideologically geared towards fascism for subjective reasons. But the
problem is, imperialism is also bad for profits in that the rate of
profit declines as capitalism advances. This is an inherent
contradiction in capitalism. Profits come only from the exploitation of
humyn labor. And so, as more efficient equipment is built, and worker
productivity is increased, and automation is expanded, profit margins
fall. Similarly, when the proletariat rises up, capitalist profits are
also impacted. Both of these contradictions can push the imperialists
towards fascism.
With the global markets entirely divided up under imperialism, there
isn’t any easy way for the capitalists to increase their individual
profits. Only with the destructiveness of world war and re-division of
territories can this be changed.
While most imperialists do not favor fascism in their own countries
under normal conditions, they do readily export it to the Third World to
maintain imperialist interests there. The United $tates is the main
force behind fascism in the Third World. These countries are not
imperialist so they can not be fascist independently. However, their
imperialist masters can and do impose fascism from the outside when they
deem it necessary to retain control. We have seen this over and over. In
Latin America, where the United $tates fears any sign of bourgeois
nationalism, there is a particularly brutal history. Just two examples
are seen in the coups to overthrow Allende in Chile and Arbenez in
Guatemala. After the coups, the U.$.-backed replacement governments
massacred supporters of the democratically-elected governments as well
as other activists and communists.
The communists in Germany admonished their fellow Germans after World
War II for not heeding their warning that a vote for Hitler was a vote
for war. To date, the Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) has never
promoted one U.$. Presidential candidate over another. In some ways the
last two presidents have been notable, as Barack Obama was the first
not-white President, and Donald Trump has made some openly chauvinist
statements and received support for them. Both elections elicited
participation from those who may have been closer to the MIM position of
“it’s all the same imperialist brutality” in previous elections.
During the 2012 presidential election in France, MIM talked about
Jean-Marie Le Pen as part of the fascist camp. Ey was a far-right leader
of the “National Rally” party. While Trump doesn’t lead any particular
white supremacist organization, ey certainly makes clear eir support for
such groups, and they reciprocate in kind. Trump is very open in
promoting various forms of oppression, to the point of promoting
terrorism against oppressed peoples.
There are examples of politicians openly supporting the ideologies of
white supremacism and neo-nazism from both the Democrats and the
Republicans and from the earliest beginnings of Amerikan politics. David
Duke, a former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, is a modern example of
this. A former Republican Louisiana State Representative, Duke was a
candidate in the Democratic presidential primaries in 1988 and the
Republican presidential primaries in 1992, showing how this ideology
crosses party lines and infuses mainstream politics. In 2016, Duke
celebrated the presidential victory of Donald Trump, and the vision of
his chief advisor Steve Bannon. Bannon’s openly xenophobic and
chauvinist Breitbart News Network contributed to Trump’s campaign
success, building an alliance of “Alt-Right” forces behind the
president. These were many of the same forces that would later lead the
infamous march with tiki torches in Charlottesville, Virginia, chanting
Nazi slogans and starting street fights with counter-protestors. These
are some of the highlights of the Trump presidency phenomenon that have
rightly elicited discussions around whether fascism and white supremacy
are seated in the highest office of the United $tates.
Yet we must remember that the history of Amerika is a history of white
supremacy. The country was built on the genocide of indigenous people
and the stealing of land and resources. Then came the enslavement,
exploitation and mass slaughter of Africans. Later, the U.$.
Constitution codified New Afrikans as inferior to whites. Former
Senator, Vice President, and Secretary of War John C. Calhoun blocked
the annexation of Mexico on the grounds that only white people could be
free, writing “we have never dreamt of incorporating into our Union any
but the Caucasian race.”(1) This explains why Puerto Rico never became a
state, why the First Nation state of Sequoyah was not accepted until it
was subsumed into a white-dominated Oklahoma, and why the admission of
Hawaii faced great resistance that was mitigated by accepting a
predominantly white Alaska at the same time.(2)
In this article we offer our analysis of the difference between
bourgeois democratic imperialism and fascist imperialism. And we will
discuss some of the implications of a shift towards fascism for our
organizing work. In “Fighting White Supremacy in Amerika” (this issue)
we go deeper into the cultural shift towards increasing white supremacy
and our thoughts on ways revolutionaries should respond. We hope this
analysis helps others think scientifically about oppression and
resistance and the best strategies for organizing in 2019.
What’s in a label? Should we call Trump fascist?
MIM(Prisons) leans towards caution in the use of the term
fascist. First, we don’t want to oversell the distinction between
the Trump government and the Obama government. Normalizing imperialism,
as if it is progressive, or as if the Hillary Clinton brand would have
been less viciously militaristic and brutal for the people of the Third
World, is a dangerous outcome of this sort of distinction. And we don’t
want to confuse people about the potential for progressive results from
imperialist elections. We need to be clear that imperialism is brutal
and murderous; it is not a kinder gentler condition entirely distinct
from fascism. With integration, it is only in the last 50 years that
Amerika has even begun to be conceived of as anything but a white
settler nation, and the brutal history of that white settler nation is
imperialism, but not fascism. We are entering a period where the
majority of politically active people in this country have not lived in
an openly racist political system for the first time in this country’s
history.
Based on our analysis of the current stage of imperialism, and our
caution using the term fascist, we don’t campaign against the
Trump regime because it holds and acts on fascist ideology. We campaign
against the U.$. imperialist government because it is imperialist and it
is the enemy of the majority of the people in the world. We think that
this is an important point to emphasize in our organizing today. We
don’t want to campaign to change the president, and we don’t want to
mislead people into thinking what we really need to do is get these
fascists out of office. At this point, our other options of Mike Pence,
Bernie Sanders, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton all have approximately
the same enmity toward the Third World and oppressed peoples.
Sometimes we need to be alarmist about terms like fascism. Right
now, we see the danger of misleading people on this strategic question
to be the greater danger. In our work organizing the petty bourgeoisie
towards socialism there might be a time when calling parts of the
Amerikan government fascist will help to clarify the contradictions.
Imperialism is National Oppression
In recent years there has been a rise in white nationalism and white
supremacy among Amerikans. (See: “Fighting White Supremacy in Amerika”
this issue) We should not be surprised that racist ideas are growing
again; society’s ideas reflect its structure. And the structure remains
one of national oppression until imperialism is overthrown. It’s very
hard to justify imperialism without a sense of superiority of some sort.
There has to be some reason why virtually everyone in the United $tates
is in the top 10% by income globally, and saying it’s because we steal
wealth from the rest of the world doesn’t go over as easily as just
claiming we’re more productive (read: superior).
Imperialism is the advanced stage of capitalism where a few powerful
nations divide up and colonize the world for profit. It is manifested
today most violently against Third World peoples who suffer under brutal
dictatorships, which serve their Amerikan imperialist masters. These
dictatorships ensure the United $tates access to cheap labor and raw
materials.
“Whether it is Iraq, Afghanistan or the West Bank, it is clear that
without openly adopting fascism, the essence of U.$. imperialism and its
allies today is genocide and any tally of the victims of U.$.
imperialism will show that it has implemented much more of Hitler’s
genocidal plans than Hitler did.”(3)
Why Identify Fascism?
Imperialism is a global system of exploitation requiring war, forced
starvation and murder through denial of medical care and other basic
needs. Imperialism kills millions! Fascism is imperialism without the
cover. Fascism is more overt. When the imperialists are forced to turn
to fascism, we can win more of the middle forces to our side as they
revile in disgust.
So we need to know when we are approaching fascism (and of course when
we are in it) because our strategy and tactics will change to address
this new situation. In both bourgeois democracy and fascism our overall
orientation focused on overthrowing imperialism is the same. Yet we see
two likely changes: 1. Our definition of who are our friends and
who are our enemies will likely change as we make alliances with
anti-fascists among the classes that are not anti-imperialist under
bourgeois democracy. 2. Our organizing strategy and tactics will
change to focus on the fight for democratic rights and defend the
targets of fascist brutality.
“The difference between bourgeois democracy and fascism is a matter of
quantitative changes leading to a qualitative change. The qualitative
differences are relevant to us in terms of their effect on our policies
towards non-proletarian classes.”(3)
The key is defining when that qualitative change takes place, so we can
prevent it or, failing that, appropriately respond to it. And in
anticipating the qualitative change we need to ask if we are currently
seeing an increase in quantitative changes. In terms of sustained
quantitative changes within U.$. borders, a few things might be
happening that would be important to note. None of these are required
for a shift to fascism, but they are still potential identifiers.
Declining economics of the majority, the petty bourgeoisie. As the
petty-bourgeoisie loses the economic privileges that put them firmly in
the supporting-imperialism camp, they will have more potential to
embrace communism as being in their material interests. But they will
also be more easily rallied to fascism as an ideology that demands those
privileges as a birthright.
We might see increasing incidents of white supremacy as quantitative
changes leading towards the qualitative change to fascism.
Heightened class struggle is a likely precursor to fascism. This
presents such a risk to the imperialists that they use fascism to put
down the struggle.
“Democratic” Imperialism or Fascist Imperialism
Communists define fascism as a form of imperialism. This is based in our
study of the history of fascist systems. There are two forms of
imperialism: “democratic” imperialism and fascist imperialism. Fascist
imperialism is a dictatorship of the most extremely reactionary elements
of finance capital. When talking about governments and countries, we do
not use the term “fascist” unless they are imperialist (see our article
“The
Strategic Significance of Defining Fascism” for more on why this is
important.(4)) The exception is that fascism can be imposed by an
imperialist government from the outside through a puppet government. But
the key point here is that fascism is imperialism. A fascist state power
is a capitalist state power.
Including “imperialist” in our definition of fascist states excludes
some countries and governments from the label, but it doesn’t help us
identify what we should call “fascism.” Our most commonly-used reference
on this comes from Dimitrov: Fascism is “the open terroristic
dictatorship of the most reactionary, most chauvinistic, and most
imperialist elements of finance capital.”(5) The dictatorship of the
bourgeoisie is not open when the people are allowed redress, through the
courts, etc. In the open terroristic dictatorship you stop raising money
for legal fees, and start stockpiling supplies.
So what will fascism look like? Will we just know it when we see it?
(See the article “(Mis)use of the fascist label in the United $tates”
for more historical context on this question). Certainly the suspension
of bourgeois democratic rights should be a sign that we are no longer in
a bourgeois democracy. But sometimes this is insidious. Bourgeois
democratic rights don’t exist for migrants. They are severely limited in
oppressed nation communities with large lumpen populations. And many new
laws, such as the Patriot Act, have been passed to limit civil liberties
in recent decades. The Trump administration is continuing this trend,
stepping up voter suppression while also attempting to add a census
question about citizenship. But unlike these moves, which target the
rights of oppressed-nation people, the fascist suspension of bourgeois
democracy will be felt by all segments of society. In that sense we can
ask ourselves, “is a white petty-bourgeois persyn likely to be killed or
imprisoned just for advocating communism?” If the answer is “no,”
bourgeois democratic rights are still in place.
I received your response to my
article
on the wonderful achievements of the Black Panther Party.(1) In this
article, I articulated how fascism has taken possession of this country,
and what should be seen as its most advanced form. This is the form that
comrade George L. Jackson spoke of in Blood in My Eye, “the third
face” in power and secure. I also share this opinion, and it is rooted
in my philosophy about the obvious place to start and end the colonial
war, which will result in the independence of not only our brothers and
sisters in the third world, but also the sleeping giant right here in
Amerika.
The fact that Amerika has never entered a revolutionary situation is
amazing to say the least. However, it does not mitigate the arrival of
fascism. This country is indeed a police state wherein the political
ascendancy is tied into and protects the interest of the upper class. It
is very much characterized by militarism, imperialism, and racism. By
those very definitions it would be silly for intellectuals to continue
to ponder on the presence of fascism and its shock troops.
Our new “pigs are beautiful” President Donald Trump is trying to reverse
the constitution in order to make Amerikkka an all-white nation as the
“Founding Fathers” intended for it to be. But in determining this
birthright claim, does this not automatically push out the European
colonial master? This would seem to be a true statement, but if we look
at fascist predatory culture, it shows that anything of any great value
that ever traded hands between the Europeans was taken by a force of
arms. History in itself is indeed economically-motivated class struggle.
We also have the situation of Mexico being seen as a villain of white
Amerikkka to glean from. This is the same stance that the earlier
Europeans used to justify the extermination of the Indians and the
racist attacks against black brothers and sisters who had already
suffered the worst form of slavery in history.
There is much truth in your analysis. However, some truths have been
mitigated or omitted to fit your contention. The earlier vanguard
party’s insistence to only beg for tokens, or to beg for an expansion of
the system to include all of us, even after numerous failed attempts,
clearly shows their ignorance of the capitalist masters. In a
capitalistic society, there must always be an upper, middle, and
especially lower class. Asking the government to make certain areas
better is the equivalent of making other segments of society a ghetto
(poor whites, Asians Amerikans, etc.). This environment is all about
winners and losers, which furthers the individualism that destroys
trust.
The fact that the vanguard parties rallied around such issues as women’s
rights, prisoners’ rights, etc. should not be ignored. However, those
rights are still virtually ignored. Women still do not enjoy the same
rights as men (i.e. #MeToo), and the prison industrial complex is still
part of the imperialist plan to use our bodies as sources of cheap raw
materials to build and expand capital. The 13th Amendment even legalizes
slavery in the event that one commits a crime. So yes, Amerika is a
fascist country. They use the argument of being “humane imperialists,
enlightened fascists.” The vanguard parties, instead of pushing for
judicial redress which once again failed, should have ushered the
populace to go to war against the capitalist masters. Anything less than
that is reform.
MIM(Prisons) responds: It’s unclear if this author is arguing
that the United $tates has been fascist from the start. Or if there is a
change we are seeing recently that marks a new fascist government. The
former is an interesting argument. This comrade agrees that imperialism
and militarism are part of fascism. And from that basis, one could argue
that the genocidal foundations of Amerika look at lot like “the open
terroristic dictatorship of the most reactionary, most chauvinistic, and
most imperialist elements of finance capital” as Dutt defined fascism.
[See intro article]
But we make a distinction between the repression of imperialism against
oppressed nations, a feature of the brutality of imperialism, and the
terroristic dictatorship of fascist imperialism. This is important
because of the strategic implications. If the United $tates has been
fascist from foundation, during World War II we would have to argue that
the United $tates was not a potential ally in the fight against Hitler’s
Germany. History does not support this interpretation.
If the author is arguing that there has been some change in the United
$tates since World War II, and it is only more recently fascist, then we
want to respond to the definitions ey offers more directly. Defining
fascism as “militarism, imperialism, and racism” raises the question of
how to distinguish that from good ’ole bourgeois democratic imperialism?
Imperialism is characterized by militarism and national oppression (and
by association, racism). And imperialism is all about protecting the
interests of the ruling class. As we discussed in “Fascism, Imperialism,
and Amerika in 2019”, white nation supremacy is an inherent part of
Amerikan imperialism. So that too is not, in and of itself, a good way
for us to distinguish fascist imperialism from bourgeois democratic
imperialism. In fact, the author is correct that the “founding fathers”
of this country intended for it to be a white nation. Unless we want to
argue that the United $tates was fascist from the start, throwbacks to
previous policies are not inherently signs of a new fascist government.
Before we speak on fascism in Amerika and its awesome powers in
centralizing authority over all lower disenfranchised segments of the
population, we must first see how it developed and evolved as an
international movement intended for the ruling classes. Fascism is a
form of totalitarian dictatorship that flourished between World War I
and World War II. Similar governments, some modeled after the Italian
system, were established later in countries of Europe, Asia and South
Amerika.
Fascism as a world political movement is said to have ended with the
close of World War II, which ended in the defeat of fascist Italy and
National Socialist Germany. However it is my opinion that after the
close of WWII, fascism did indeed emerge and consolidate itself in its
most advanced form in Amerika. There are also other fascist countries
still in existence, that are in open opposition to the instituted
government, and in others as an underground movement fighting the
government by employing guerilla tactics.
In general, fascism was the effort to create, by authoritarian means, a
viable national society in which competing interests were to be adjusted
by being entirely subordinated to the service of the nation. The
following features have been characteristic of fascism in its various
manifestations:
An origin at a time of serious economic disruption and of rapid and
bewildering social change
A philosophy that rejected democratic and humanitarian ideals, however
glorifying the absolute sovereignty of the state, the unity and destiny
of the people, and the unquestioning loyalty and obedience to the
dictator
An aggressive nationalism, which called for the mobilization and
regimentation of every aspect of national life and made open use of
violence and intimidation
The simulation of mass popular support, accomplished by outlawing all
but a single political party and by using suppression, censorship, and
propaganda
A program of vigorous action including economic reconstruction,
industrialization, pursuit of economic self-sufficiency, territorial
expansion, and of course war, which was dramatized as bold, adventurous,
and promising a glorious future
Although fascist movements often grew out of socialist origins (for
example, in Italy), fascism always declared itself the uncompromising
enemy of communism, with which, however, fascists’ actions have less in
common. The propertied interests, fearful of revolution, often gave
their support to fascism on the basis of promises by the fascist leaders
to maintain the status quo and safeguard property. Once established,
fascist regimes ruthlessly crushed communist and socialist parties as
well as democratic opposition, regimented the propertied interests, and
won the potentially-revolutionary masses to the fascist programs.
Thus, fascism may be regarded as an extreme defensive expedience adopted
by a nation faced with the, sometimes illusory, threat of communist
subversion or revolution. In 1922 Benito Mussolini set up the first
successful fascist regime which initially had about 320,000 members. The
party was supported at this stage of its development principally by a
number of large landowners and industrialists, high-ranking army
officers, subordinate government officials, and the bulk of the police.
Oppressed to the fascist party were liberals, and democrats who were
impotent to cope with it.
Toward the end of 1922 the fascists occupied police headquarters,
railway stations, telegraph offices, and other public buildings in the
northern cities of Italy. Although the constitutionally-installed
government requested Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy, to proclaim
martial law in order to crush the fascists, the King decided to
collaborate with Mussolini and invited him to come to Rome to form a
government. Mussolini arrived in Rome 29 October 1922. This was known as
the fascists’ March on Rome.
After Mussolini’s elevation to power, fascism became totalitarian.
Expansion was the keynote of Mussolin’s foreign policy. Among the
specific aims of Italian fascist foreign policy were control of the
Adriatic Sea, increase of the European area of Italy, enlargement of
Italy’s Afrikan empire, and domination of the Mediterranean Sea, which
Mussolini called “mare nostrum.”
Although highly suspicious and jealous of the German dictator Adolf
Hitler, Mussolini found himself pushed into an alliance with Germany in
the so-called Rome-Berlin Axis. The alliance led to Italy’s entry into
World War II on the side of Germany, which proved to be a fateful
mistake. Throughout the war the fascist regime was dependent for
survival on the superior military and economic resources of Germany. As
a result, the German influence became predominant, and in effect, Italy
became a vassal of Germany. When the Allies invaded Italy in 1944, the
Italian population turned against the fascist regime and its German
overlord. The people rose in revolt in 1944-45, abolished the monarchy,
and established a republic.
Amerika has established itself as the mortal enemy of all socialist
activity on earth. Remember that fascism allows no genuine opposition to
its rule. It is a geopolitical arrangement where only one political
party is allowed to exist aboveground, and no oppositional political
activity is allowed. Despite the presence of political parties, there is
only one legal politics in the U.S. – the politics of corporatism. The
hierarchy commands all state power.
Donald Trump’s documented congratulatory messages to Putin are not
simply diplomatic gestures. Trump is a fascist. Trump, like FDR, was
born and bred in a ruling class of families. His role is to form a new
fascist regime, much like the “new deal,” to merge the economic,
political and labor elites. Extreme nationalism has prompted a national
emergency to fund a wall to keep Mexicans out. This is much like the
violence that was geared at the Indians and against us as blacks.
In my view, worrying who to elect will do us no good. With people like
Trump in office the lower class should become more aware of their class
enemies. In my view our only recourse is a highly orgnanized class war
and then we go on to the restructuring of society. That is the answer.
MIM(Prisons) responds: This author takes a scientific approach to
defining fascism. Ey offers five points which define fascism which
include economic expansionism and domestic repression along nationalist
lines. The first point is of great interest to us: does fascism require
a time of serious economic disruption? If so, what does this look like?
We didn’t see serious economic disruption with the election of Trump,
but this author implies that Amerika has been fascist for longer than
the Trump administration. So we ask the question: when did this
disruption happen and when did Amerika become fascist?
While we find this author’s history of fascism on point, we wouldn’t say
that “fascist movements often grew out of socialist origins” but instead
acknowledge that some fascist leaders started off in socialist movements
before changing political direction and becoming fascist. This is not
surprising as the mass base for fascism is a group communists will also
be recruiting from, and we need to be careful that our messages to these
people don’t push them in the wrong direction of reactionary national
self-interest.
Finally, we’re unsure about what this “new fascist regime” is that the
author suggests Trump is building. It doesn’t fit into the five defining
points the author offers above, if this is a change from democratic
capitalism. In fact, as the author points out, the building of a wall to
keep Mexicans out of the United $tates isn’t particularly different from
the historic violence against indigenous people or the enslavement of
Africans and more recently the oppression of New Afrikans. So we are not
seeing the change in Amerikan society that would merit now calling it
fascist under Trump.
The colloquial use of the term fascist in the United $tates has
become something like, “My boss will write me up if I’m 5 minutes late;
he’s a real fascist.” Fascism here is equated with controlling and
domineering. And this is exactly how the Liberal bourgeoisie
distinguishes their system from others; through freedoms and persynal
liberties. The narrative of the Liberal bourgeois governments following
WWII attempted to merge the defeated enemy of fascism with the rising
enemy of communism, by depicting them both as being bad because they
supposedly wanted to control every aspect of your life. The Amerikan
system was upheld as far superior and joyous because of the vast array
of choices of consumer products (and thereby, lifestyles and
appearances). They also claimed to address the necessities of food,
clothes and shelter, but these are almost afterthoughts given the
opulence of the imperialist countries, particularly the United $tates,
following WWII.
A more correct application of the term fascist comes from the
likes of prisoners. In the context of prisons, this term is used to
describe the concentration camps in the United $tates today, the regular
torture and brutality that takes place in these institutions, and the
effects of the criminal injustice system on reducing reproduction within
the oppressed nations. This is a strategic use of the term in an attempt
to win over the more progressive of the bourgeois Liberals who don’t
want these more fascistic aspects of imperialism in their country.
George Jackson, and many other Black Panthers, used the word
fascist to describe the United $tates government in the late
1960s. At that time the country was facing a major crisis, a
revolutionary upsurge, that connected communist governments such as
China, resistance movements that were demolishing the U.$. military in
countries like Vietnam, and internal semi-colonies fighting for
liberation from within the United $tates such as the Black Panthers. At
this time Panthers and other revolutionary leaders within the United
$tates were murdered in cold blood. Even some white students were killed
by the state, indicating the seriousness of the crisis. When your
leaders are being killed by the state, and you are not engaging in armed
struggle, that is a strong sign that fascism is on its way. The Panthers
decided to form the United Front to Combat Fascism, to ally with
democratic forces, especially within white Amerikkka, which marked the
end of the rise of revolutionary struggle in this country. We won’t try
to explain that here, but mention it to say that the Panthers’s shift in
strategies to address what they saw as a fascist threat proved wrong in
practice.
Political assassinations became a definite tactic of the U.$. government
in the 1960s, but the scope was still quite limited. After this period
of struggle peaked, the main reason why things turned so quickly in the
United $tates is that the white nation was not facing an insurmountable
crisis. Their crisis was one of war, a losing war, with a large draft
that was impacting the oppressor nation greatly. The imperialists were
able to cede this war to the Vietnamese, in a way that saved some face,
while appeasing the demands at home. The imperialists learned from this
war, and went on to carry out countless counter-insurgency operations
throughout the Third World (with far less blood shed by Amerikan
soldiers) that continue to this day. The crisis that will bring fascism
to the United $tates will likely need to be an irreconcilable economic
contradiction within the imperialist system itself; one that normal
shifts in policy and resources cannot address.
Also remember that the parents of the Black Panthers lived in a
completely segregated Jim Crow society, where New Afrikans were often
killed for far less than trying to lead a revolutionary overthrow of the
U.$. government. This was during a time when millions lost their lives
fighting fascism around the world, but no one was calling the United
$tates fascist.
“The imperialists export fascism to many Third World countries via
puppet governments. And imperialist countries can turn to fascism
themselves. But it is important to note that there is no third choice
for independent fascism in the world: they are either imperialist or
imperialist-puppets. Germany, Spain, Italy and Japan had all reached the
banking stage of capitalism and had a real basis for thinking they could
take over colonies from the British and French. … The vast majority of
the world’s fascist-ruled countries have been U.$. puppets.” – MIM
Congress, “Osama Bin Laden and the Concept of ‘Theocratic Fascism’”,
2004
What MIM wrote about
Osama
Bin Laden in 2004 is just as true for the Islamic State today. Those
who call the Islamic State fascist use an unsophisticated definition of
fascism that may mean anything from “bad” to “undemocratic” to
anti-United $tates. But the idea that it is in the Third World where we
find fascism today is correct.
Much funding for the Islamic State has come from rich Saudis. For this,
and other reasons, many people have tried to put the fascist label on
the obscurantist monarchy of Saudi Arabia. Despite having almost the
same per capita GDP (PPP) as the United $tates, it is by geological luck
and not the development of imperialist finance capital that Saudis enjoy
such fortune.
A word often associated with fascism is genocide. More recently
Saudi Arabia is getting some “fascist” rhetoric thrown at it from the
Russian camp for its war on Yemen. What is currently happening in Yemen
is nothing less than genocide. A recent analysis by the Yemen Data
Project showed that more than a third of the “Saudi” bombings in that
country have targeted schools, hospitals, mosques and other civilian
infrastructure.(1) We put “Saudi” in quotes here because the war to
maintain the puppet government in Yemen is completely supplied by the
imperialists of the U.$., UK and Klanada, along with U.$. intelligence
and logistical support. The United $tates has been involved in
bombing
Yemen for over a decade, so it is a propaganda campaign by the U.$.
media to call it the “Saudi-led coalition.” In October 2016, the United
$tates bombed Yemen from U.$. warships that had long been stationed just
offshore, leaving little doubt of their role in this war. A war that has
left 370,000 children at risk of severe malnutrition, and 7 million
people “desperately in need of food,” according to UNICEF.(2)
This is another example where we see confusion around the definition of
fascism feeds anti-Islamic, rather than anti-Amerikan, lines of
thinking, despite the majority of victims in this war being proletarian
Muslims in a country where 40% of the people live on less than $2 a day.
In countries where the imperialists haven’t been able to install a
puppet government they use other regional allies to act as the bad guy,
the arm of imperialism. It is an extension of neo-colonialism that leads
to inter-proletarian conflict between countries. We see this with Uganda
and Rwanda in central Africa, where another genocide has been ongoing
for 2 decades. While Uganda and Rwanda have their own regional
interests, like Saudi Arabia, they are given the freedom to pursue them
by U.$. sponsorship. And we are not anti-Ugandan, because Uganda is a
proletarian country with an interest in throwing out imperialist
puppets. Even Saudi Arabia, which we might not be able to find much of
an indigenous proletariat in, could play a progressive role under
bourgeois nationalist leadership that allied with the rest of the Arab
world, and even with Iran.
Sometimes fascism is used as a synonym for police state. Many
in the United $tates have looked to the war on drugs, the occupation of
the ghettos, barrios and reservations, gang injunctions and the massive
criminal injustice system and talked about rising fascism. We agree that
these are some of the most fascistic elements of our society. But many
of those same people will never talk about U.$. imperialism, especially
internal imperialism. This leads to a focus on civil liberties and no
discussion of national liberation; a reformist, petty bourgeois politic.
If we look at the new president in the Philippines, we see a more
extreme form of repression against drug dealers of that country. If the
U.$. injustice system is fascist, certainly the open call for
assassinating drug dealers in the street would be. But these are just
tactics, they do not define the system. And if we look at the system in
the Philippines, the second biggest headlines (after eir notorious
anti-drug-dealer rhetoric) that President Duterte is getting is for
pushing out U.$. military bases. This would be a huge win for the
Filipino people who have been risking their lives (under real fascist
dictatorships backed by the United $tates like Marcos) to protest U.$.
military on their land. This is objectively anti-imperialist. Even if
Duterte turns towards China, as long as U.$. imperialism remains the
number one threat to peace and well-being in the world, as it has been
for over half a century, this is good for the masses of the oppressed
nations.
The importance of the united front against fascism during World War II,
which was an alliance between proletariat and imperialist forces, was to
point out the number one enemy. While we don’t echo the Black Panther
Party’s rhetoric around “fascism,” they were strategically correct to
focus their attack on the United $tates in their own United Front
Against Fascism in 1969. And it was reasonable to expect that the United
$tates might turn fascist in face of what was a very popular
anti-imperialist movement at home and abroad. What dialectics teaches us
is the importance of finding the principal contradiction, which we
should focus our energy on in order to change things. Without a major
inter-imperialist rivalry, talking about fascism in a Marxist sense is
merely to expose the atrocities of the dominant imperialist power
committed against the oppressed nations.
Rather than looking for strategic shifts in the finance capitalist
class, most people just call the bad sides of imperialism “fascism.” In
doing so they deny that imperialism has killed more people than any
other economic system, even if we exclude fascist imperialism. These
people gloss over imperialism’s very existence. But MIM(Prisons) keeps
our eye on the prize of overthrowing imperialism, principally U.$.
imperialism, to serve the interests of the oppressed people of the
world.
