Thoughts about the Trump Phenomenon

[Graphic: Historical cartoon. From WCHS History online.]

=By= Joseph Waters

The first thing that comes to mind is a sense of déjà vu that we’ve all been through something remarkably similar to this before – like in 2008. Now we get to experience hope and change Republican-style. Eight years ago the liberals were euphoric while conservatives were fuming; now we have the reverse situation.

Myth #1: Trump isn’t really Republican – To which I reply: Did he run as a Republican? Yes? Then he’s a Republican. That was easy. Let’s move on.

Myth #2: Trump is anti-establishment – This shows an incredible degree of political ignorance. In the American mind, there is a “political class” and “media class” and a multitude of other communities, groups, special interests, genders, minorities, etc., etc., that are seen and treated as distinct, apart, and often at odds with one another. One group that is singled out for extraordinary persecution is the lowly businessman. You see, big government, those fat cat politicians and union bosses, enrich themselves at the expense of the humble businessman simply trying to make an honest buck to scrape by while providing for his children (and employees). The reality, of course, is that the big businessman (like Trump) and the big government politicos are old pals – they are even the same people. They are part of the same group, the same ruling class. In a similar way, in medieval times, if you took a superficial look at European feudal society you might conclude that there was an aristocratic class and an ecclesiastical class, when in reality they were part of a single ruling class; according to the feudal law of primogeniture, the first-born son would inherit the entire estate while the second sons would often enter the priesthood.

At any rate, Trump has been involved in politics before. He has funded and lobbied politicians and participated in propaganda and political operations; now he has just decided to become a politician for a short while. He has apparently flirted with the idea of running for president since the 80’s. Many capitalists do this and then go back to the so-called private sector; they may go back and forth because it can be boring just doing the same thing all the time. Regardless, the private businessman will engage in political activism through lobbying, running an NGO, and assisting the CIA in their covert operations (including espionage, propaganda, economic sanctions, assassination, coups, etc.) by providing funding, technical expertise and agent cover through their corporations. The point is: There is no wall dividing up the private and public sectors. All those ruling class members are in the same club, they play for the same team and they are cut from the same cloth. Even the playboys and jet-setters are expected to kick in once in a while and assist in ensuring that their class, the ruling class, remains the ruling class.

Myth #3: The system works. The people have spoken! – The power elite of the ruling class outflanked a lot of us with this caper. By appointing Trump president they were able to show the world that democracy and pluralism work. They were able to make a liar out of all of us, including Julian Assange of Wikileaks who proclaimed that “Trump would not be allowed to win.” I believe it is quite possible the power elite (through the CIA) decided it was wiser to let the under(funded)dog win since over 90% of elections are won by the candidate with the most money. Hillary raised over twice as much money as Trump did. The message is that big money cannot always have its way and the little guy is beginning to assert some control over the government. Just keep voting and everything will be fine. The system works. Our democracy is safe and sound. On the contrary, the vote very likely was rigged in favor of Donald Trump according to investigative journalist Greg Palast and professor Mark Crispin Miller, who has studied voter suppression and election fraud tactics. According to Dr. Miller, when the exit polls differ widely from the election outcome, this is not likely to be evidence of bad polling methods, but rather proof that the vote tallies were tampered with. My own feeling is that when it comes to a question between whether the elites and their agents are mistaken or incompetent or whether they are corrupt and duplicitous, I think that without compelling evidence to the contrary, it is safer to assume the latter possibility.

Unfortunately, in their analyses these two gentlemen seem to lean toward the ridiculous notion that the mean ol’ Republicans are stealing elections from the timid and perpetually bullied Democrats. The two parties may represent different factions in the capitalist one-party state, but they certainly seem to collude (especially toward the top) a lot more than they compete. For instance, how often have you heard a politico refer to his or her “friends across the aisle?” When they are no longer in front of the cameras, they go back to being quite chummy.

I speculate that the CIA is deeply embedded within the DNC and GOP and allows the two parties to vie for its affection and may tip the balance for one or the other if it has a clear preference. Actually, we should probably have seen this coming. For one thing, following the pattern of the last few decades, it is the Republican party’s turn to represent the capitalist ruling class in government. Also, as indicated earlier, a Trump “win” turned out to be the best mechanism for keeping the masses fired up and most starkly divided. If Hillary had won, then you would have outraged conservatives with a lukewarm, perhaps relatively content batch of liberals and everyone else. Due to the fixed outcome for Trump, again, you have euphoric conservatives and irate liberals; it’s a win-win!

Myth #4: The (liberal) media favored Hillary. – The teenage daughter that is the American people succumbed to reverse psychology and ran into the arms of the bad boy Donald Trump. Trump received over $5 billion in free advertising from the MSM during his campaign according to Lee Camp of Redacted Tonight (twice as much as Clinton). Trump got 23x as much coverage as Bernie Sanders, by the way. In fact, if you tally up the value of free advertising Trump received (remembering that there is no such thing as bad publicity – especially when it comes to Trump) the maxim remains true that the candidate with the most money wins!

Myth #5: Trump will end all the wars and imperialist aggression! – I see no evidence for this beyond Trump’s rhetoric. The important question to ask is why Trump and his supporters are against foreign wars. The why is very, very important in determining how likely it is that the US will turn away from its quest for global domination. The answer to the question “why” seems to be that the wars are “stupid” or “too expensive.” I for one do not find this to be reassuring; this is not a very moral, progressive or principled stance to take. All that is needed is another Gulf of Tonkin or 9/11 type provocation or false flag attack and, well, President Trump’s hands will be tied; he will have to act to defend America!

Having dealt with several Trump myths, I would like to make a few more observations. The conflation by the media of the far left with the far right and all manifestations of “extremism” has been with us for a long time, but now Trump has become the “pied piper” for all these folks. The ruling class strategists have painted these contrasting ideologies with the same wide brush. Once it was forbidden to speak of the working class because of the Marxist connotations of the term, but now the media propagandists are happy to talk about a white working class in the context of how reactionary they are claimed to be. Sadly, there is some truth to this because the white working class has been reared to be white supremacist; this is enormously helpful for purposes of divide and rule. The bourgeois ruling class would love to encourage and exacerbate this racial division.

Also, I think there is another dangerous and disturbing possibility that we must consider, and it is that the Trump rapprochement with Russia could be a CIA/ruling class ploy to drive a wedge between Russia and China – that powerful alliance is the greatest threat to their plans for global domination.

Finally, in a bizarre twist, many supposed leftists are proclaiming a victory for the people with this Trumpocalypse. This is a strange and dangerous development and has no basis in reality. I really hope I’m wrong and that Trump stops the wars and defies the ruling class in its quest for world domination, but I’m not at all optimistic about that eventuality. We need to keep asking questions, retain a healthy skepticism, apply a Marxist analysis to events and not get suckered by a massive CIA propaganda/psyop/political operation.

Joseph Waters is a highly respected political activist. He operates the blog, Proletarian Center for Research, Education and Culture (Prole Center).

Hillary with Donald and his oldest sons. Old friends?

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