|
(This page is located at:
http://communism.org/node/4004 )
The gathering storm:
Ben Seattle -- Sept 4, 2020 Posted here on Reddit
In the recent period there have been hundreds of attacks on anti-racist protesters by right-wing gangs as the supposedly "neutral" police have kept their distance. There have been deaths on both sides, and most everyone believes that violence will increase. Below are 2 links to videos that provide background, followed by some comments by me: Video links: **** Videos on twitter by journalist Sergio Olmos, showing the complete absense of police as right wing gangs use pepper spray and aim a gun at protesters in Portland: https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1297273640052912128 **** Vice video interview with Michael Reinoehl, a day or two before he was killed by police: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsDWXx5tYfk In this interview, Michael Reinoehl said, of the violence in Portland, that "it was a free-for-all, and the police were letting it happen" and that his actions were in self-defense. Michael also said that "it felt like the beginning of a war" and "I see a civil war right around the corner". (That last comment reminds me of the last words of John Brown--before he was hanged in 1859--please see below.) The spark -- and the background Armed political skirmishes are erupting on the streets amid rising violence and fears of instability. It is helpful to understand the background to this--in order to understand the storm that is gathering--and the things we can do, today, to play an effective role in the creation of a world which is not ruled by capital--a world of peace, abundance and community for all. The spark that set off the current intensification of anti-racist protests was the police murder of Jacob Black, and Trump's efforts to repress the anti-racist movement with cops and their allied racist gangs. The Kenosha police have neither arrested nor fired the cop who murdered Jacob Black. Nor have they even bothered to explain why it was supposedly necessary to shoot Jacob 7 times in the back. Some were suprised at this--but the police exist as an institution to protect the ruling order with violence, and much of their development in the U.S. grew out of their role as slave catchers, and as a force against immigrants and labor-union organizing. It looks to me, after watching the video, that Jacob was shot for a simple reason: he refused to cower in fear and showed contempt for the cops as he walked away. I would have liked to see Michael Reinoehl have an opportunity to defend his actions in a public trial, just as will Kyle Rittenhouse, who murdered 2 anti-racist activists who attempted to disarm him. Ritterhouse will have a million-dollar legal defense team and the support of right-wing politicians and religious leaders who are working make him a cause célèbre. Trump and the right-wing are doing everything they can to create a mass base for a fascist movement. The Democratic Party is pretending to be a "friend" of the anti-racist movement in order to better co-opt and liquidate it. Social media, such as Facebook, are clamping down on and censoring anti-fascist organizing.
The rule of capital and Some believe (and I tend to agree) that our growing instability is related to something called "the falling rate of profit". In a nutshell, this means that it is becoming more difficult for capital to find profitable investments where it can increase itself. And capital must increase itself -- *no matter what* -- because that is what it does -- that is *all* it does. In this way it functions like cancer -- which only knows how to grow. And the falling rate of profit is not just a problem for millionaires and billionaires--because we live in a society that is ruled by capital: all of "our" institutions, and all of "our" politicians are, in one way or another, beholden to capital, even if they often have sharp conflicts with one another. Capital exists as an alien (non-human) force that exists (to a large extent) behind the scenes. Capital has no human feelings, no respect for human dignity, human pain or human life. For example: Trump (who serves the will of capital in a more openly naked way than Biden) is eager to open schools and businesses because the deaths of millions (the majority of whom would probably be retired, or near retirement) count for nothing in comparison to the billions or trillions of dollars that may be lost as the Covid crisis leads to financial crisis. From the viewpoint of capital, older workers (who have worked all their lives--but are no longer producing surplus value) are no longer an asset--they are a liability. Alive, they are no gain. Dead, they are no loss. To give another example: if the expansion of capital requires the plunge into large-scale violence and unrest--or the launching of an imperialist war (in the oil-rich Middle East, or an imperialist rival like China) -- then the rule of capital will make this happen. Nearly everything is our society ultimately revolves around either the needs of capital--or the struggle against it. This is the key to understanding everything that has led humanity to this point--and to understanding the way forward to a world that is not ruled by capital. Consider: Trump attempted to plunge the U.S. into martial law in June (by attempting to invoke the "Insurrection Act", with the backing of the "liberal" New York Times) but the more mature guardians of capital yanked back on Trump's leash--because they understood that the resulting instability (and tendency of the loyalty of troops to erode over time) would be a greater threat to capital. What kind of storm lies ahead? > I, John Brown, am now quite certain
-- John Brown's final note, handed to a jailor on his way to the gallows It appears likely to me that the rule of capital is unlikely to survive this century. Just as the economic and political system of feudalism was itself replaced by the political and economic system of capitalism over several bloody centuries, so also, the rule of capital will itself be pushed off the stage of history by a higher system (based on the free flow of information) capable of creating infinitely more abundance--and ending the enforcement and amplification of ignorance -- and the tactic of "divide and rule" -- that everywhere flows from the division of humanity into exploiters and exploited. Some visualize the gathering storm as being analogous to the Civil War (1861-1865) in the United States. All analogies are deficient, but I believe that it is more worthwhile to study the French Revolution (1789-1794), the 1848 revolutions in Europe, or the Soviet Revolution (1917) in Russia. All of these revolutions were defeated within a few years, but history is not over. As Faulkner said: "The past is not over. It is not even past." Censorship on social media The actions by Facebook to censor and clampdown on the ability of anti-fascists to organize the militant defense of the anti-racist movement reflects Facebook's need to serve the needs of capital--so that Facebook can avoid the kind of government regulation that will threaten its profits. Facebook, of course, has also restricted the efforts of right-wing fascists to organize their violent attacks. But like the cops, Facebook is not "evenhanded" -- and you can bet that Facebook is more effective in clamping down on the anti-fascists than the fascists. For the moment, it may to appear (to many) that Facebook (and, behind it, the rule of capital) will succeed in this kind of censorship, just like the ruling class in China has (so far) been successful in censoring the internet there. Don't bet on it. Not here (and not in China either). Not in the long term. Transparency is coming Transparency is coming. Nothing is going to stop it. Everything important about how the rule of capital is holding humanity in chains -- will be made visible. The anti-racist movement has proven itself capable of mobilizing the energy of millions and overcoming all kinds of obstacles. And the movement's need to organize its self-defense against right-wing and fascist attacks looks likely to assert itself, as it has in other times, and in other counties. In the 1990's it was popular to say that the internet "interprets censorship as damage and routes around it". If Facebook censors content that is important to millions of people--this will ultimately act to accelerate the erosion of Facebook's near-monopoly on social media. Social media and the working class The anti-racist movement has become powerful because it corresponds to the sentiment of untold millions and has refused to be chased off the streets by the cops and their allied racist gangs. And the anti-racist movement has been greatly helped by the internet. It is becoming increasingly difficult for the cops to murder someone without a viral video being seen by millions. And the internet has played a vital role in organizing mass actions. So, while the streets are the main "battlespace" (to use bourgeois military terminology) social media represents a front of struggle that is becoming increasingly important. In particular, social media will be important in reaching millions of workers with many kinds of struggles -- and also with the news that a better world is possible -- and drawing the working class into action on this basis--rather than leaving workers to decide if they would rather be fucked by Trump or fucked by Biden. > Rise, like lions after slumber
-- Shelley, 1819 (following a mass killing of protesters in Manchester, England) At this time, the working class in their millions (in the U.S. and in most of the world) is relatively quiet. When the working class awakens, getting rid of not only racist cops, but the entire rule of capital, will look far more practical. The clear and certain path forward The clear and certain path forward for humanity is the creation of a universal, public and democratic social media platform that will bring light and consciousness to the proletariat, and knowledge of its historic mission and destiny. This mission is to overthrow the rule of capital -- and to bring peace, abundance and community to all. Such a democratic social media platform will be based on democratic algorithms, and will be beyond the control of any corporation or government. Such a democratic social media platform will also lead to the emergence of the independent and democratic organization which the working class and oppressed need--and will lead to the resolution of all of the difficult theoretical questions (ie: "what kind of economic and political system will be able to better provide for the needs of humanity than capitalism?", etc). Ben Seattle
More at: What principles must guide the democratic social media platform in our future ? http://communism.org/node/4002 |