At time of writing (5th November), it appears that Joe Biden has beaten Donald Trump to the presidency by a slim margin.
This entire statement should be prefaced with the observation that Trump was and is an enemy of the working class. He is part of the capitalist class that has wreaked economic and social ruin on working people, and he is in no uncertain terms an enemy of everyone who considers themselves part of the workers movement. Orange man is indeed bad.
People on the left could be forgiven then, for celebrating his removal from office. After all, his defeat in this election has proven that a majority of Americans – a worryingly slim majority, but still a majority – reject the brazen hatred and naked bigotry that he indisputably stands for.
Despite this the impact for the majority of our class in the US and internationally is likely to be small to non-existent. For all his vulgar posturing and his followers’ excitement, Trump has been a fairly bog-standard US president. In fact, his presidency has quietly resided over a notable decrease in American meddling in world affairs, as well as a moderate increase in domestic wages and the standard of living (discounting the impact of Covid19).
Peace on the Korean peninsula is a more realistic prospect now than ever before. NATO – the long arm of western militarism – is being financially and ideologically undermined by Trump’s protectionist agenda. Even the slow shuffle towards war with Russia has faltered, leaving a frothy-mouthed Western-European elite to rattle their own sabre’s for a change, with considerably less notice. The list goes on, and although it doesn’t feel great to admit it, these are all the achievements (or at least the impacts) of the Trump administration.
Biden, for all his supposed qualities (apparently he has some other than “I’m not Trump”) represents a return to the status quo. Small-to-medium business loved Trump. International monopolies and the economic imperialists of the US Empire will love Biden. Assuming he doesn’t die of old age before he has the chance (fingers crossed!) Biden will re-establish and re-solidify American imperialism. The CIA, the military economy and the hawkish interventionists are breathing a sigh of relief as they see the back of Donald Trump.
So should we be mourning the death of the Trump administration? Absolutely not. Our job now more than ever is re-committing ourselves to anti-imperialist struggle. We must support our comrades in socialist countries like Venezuela against what will be a renewed onslaught. We must stand with the people of Palestine against the confidence Israel will gain from a stabilised US Empire. We must encourage and support the working class of America to not be complacent; Black Lives Matter is going to be dropped like a live grenade by the liberal elite now that they have gotten their use from it, and the pigs in the US will be looking for payback.
0161 offers it’s unconditional solidarity to all of those resisting US imperialism, domestically and internationally. We stand with you.