From the ashes – In these times

The truth is that Trump poses a serious threat for many groups, including immigrants, communities of color, and trans people. He also set his sights on left-wing journalists and organizers, particularly those in the Palestinian liberation movement. And his far-right coalition aims to take away access to abortion, use the military to go after anyone the White House deems a political opponent, and offer generous tax breaks for the wealthy, all while soaking up more much on the workers.

These groups will face the brunt of the reactionary policies pushed by the original political order and have been failed by a Democratic Party establishment that has taken up the mantle of defenders of the current system – a status quo that is intolerable to large parts of the population. Our current democracy allows billionaires to buy elections and an unelected Supreme Court to overturn reproductive freedoms. Even when it comes to the Democratic Party primaries, the current rules permissive The American Israel Public Affairs Committee to spend historic sums, donated by corporate tycoons, to unseat progressive Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Jamaal Bowman (DN.Y.).

It’s hard to argue that your party is the standard bearer of democratic principles when a rigged system goes unchallenged and undemocratic practices are the standard.

Democrats once positioned themselves as the party to reform unfair rules, undo the role of money in politics, and create a more direct democracy. These messages have not been prominent in this campaign cycle. While voters consistently said the economy was their top concern, the Harris campaign refused to take on a clear, populist economic message — or offer any respite from the Biden administration, which voters blamed for what they saw as a country heading in the wrong direction.

When the Democrats regained power from a Trump-led GOP 2020they were given a clear mandate: to bring real material relief to working people. At that time, I he wrote for In these times that ​“Trump will leave behind more carnage than many thought just a few years ago. Undoing it — by using government as a vehicle to improve people’s lives by redistributing wealth and power downward — is the only way to make sure we don’t end up with a future monster like Trump who is even worse.”

Trump himself seems to be back and it’s largely because of the Democrats waste a historic opportunity to transform the US economic system by reining in unchecked capitalism for the benefit of the working class. After implementing a Covid-era social safety net that radically reduced poverty and increased economic security, the Biden administration allowed everything to Get out of here while abandoning a massively popular and ambitious national agenda to increase public programs and social spending.

Millions of people have done it now fallen through the tatters of that safety net and many voters placed
responsibility for inflation and corporate price gouging with the party in power. Food insecurity is through the roof, homelessness is rising at an astronomical rate, consumer and household debt is exploding, rent and mortgage rates are skyrocketing, and the Democratic elites and their allies in the mainstream media said
voters, the economy was doing very well.

These legitimate economic grievances were the tinder Trump ignited.

Instead of running on a bold redistributive agenda and naming clear enemies — billionaires, Big Pharma, corporate executives, predatory financial firms — the Harris campaign eschewed populism for moderation, singling out Republicans and super-rich financiers.

On Borders and Immigration, Harris Campaign counterfeit much of the rhetoric and politics of the right. And by continuing to unconditionally support Israel’s genocidal attack on Gaza, the campaign off much of the party’s base.

In response to this monumental defeat, some commentators did incentive Democrats continue to push back against the groups most threatened by the Trump administration, particularly trans people and undocumented immigrants, arguing that Republican attacks around these issues have caused the party’s losses. Such a response is not only cruel; it is wrong. The Democrats continued bleed working class support in this election, a trend that has continued for over a decade and must be reversed if the party hopes to compete nationally. Class disengagement—broadly speaking, when voters stop supporting parties that traditionally represented their class interests—is a very real phenomenon, and one that will continue to sink Democratic campaigns that fail to win over disgruntled voters in the lower rungs of the economy.

The work of politics is largely about winning people over to your ideas, not just responding to public opinion. If pro-Palestinian activists, trans communities and immigrants are demonized by the right, it is the job of an opposition party – which claims to represent the working class – to support them, not kick them out of the tent. Like the British socialist thinker Stuart Hall he wrote
after Margaret Thatcher’s victory in 1987: ​“Politics does not reflect majorities, it builds them.”

For clues about how to build a majority working-class coalition, Democrats can look to the labor movement, which at best models a form of economic democracy in which workers exercise at least some control over the decisions that affect their lives. Most jobs exist as the tyrants
where bosses hold all the power, but unions allow members a seat at the table to negotiate and provide tools to deliberate strategies to improve conditions.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) illustrates what this dynamic can look like in action. After he democratically elected the leadership of the reform in 2023The UAW went on strike against the big three automakers and he won. Now the union is organizing new stores and growing membership, even in the notoriously anti-union South. Under President Shawn Fain, the UAW has not been afraid to name clear enemies in entrenched corporate power and greed; defending members from attacks, regardless of their identity; and pursue transformative, pro-working-class policies such as a 32– working hours per week. There are clear lessons here for a Democratic Party now in the political wilderness.

The second Trump era promises to bring new attacks on civil and human rights, labor law, the entire regulatory apparatus and, yes, democracy itself. But there will also be openings for organizing, rallying new formations against a far-right Republican Party, and building a left-wing political power that captures the imagination of working people. Starting on Election Day, we’re already seeing increased participation in groups like the Working Families Party and the Democratic Socialists of America. These groups, among others, such as tenant unions and coalitions that bring together labor and social justice movements, can help serve as vehicles for collective action.

In 1938the year he saw Kristallnacht in Germany, the Marxist Jewish philosopher Ernst Bloch wrote an article titled ​“Pessimism,” five years after fleeing Nazi rule. In it, he provides a useful framework for navigating our current moment:

The fighter belongs to the side of light; light in general has the quality of not being suppressed in the long term. On the contrary, it grew after each oppression; men cannot bear the denial of freedom… the enemy has a right to pessimism: as his ultimate total truth. For us, it is a partial element, indispensable for deliberation, useful for defense. With it, however, optimism comes into its own, and as the situation matures, it achieves a sufficient victory.

Learning from how America returned Trump to power is essential to finding a way out. Politicians who attack fascism but then smile alongside its harbinger are part of how we got here. It remains true that people cannot stand being denied freedom and that is on the menu. Cohering the opposition and organizing together is the recipe not only for resisting, but for winning.