New political era:  compromise between the world working class and US bourgeoisie

Donald Trump’s answers to the status quo

By Daniel Paquet                                            dpaquet1871@gmail.com

 

Since the setback of socialism in Soviet Union, world was in a stalemate; we could say, rather in an apprehension of a World War III … to overpass the situation.  There was no possible way out.  With the election of a pragmatic billionaire in USA, Mr. Donald Trump, there could be a détente in the universal class struggle.  First let us have a look to the economic situation in North America, chiefly in financial terms.

“Despite the recent rise in long-term interest rates, monetary policy in advanced economies remains highly accommodative, including the use of unconventional policies, and has helped support elevated asset valuations globally across most asset classes.  Since the June Financial System Review (FSR), corporate spreads have edged down and stock markets have rallied in the United States and Canada. The volume of corporate bond issuance in the United States is at a historical high.  Concern about the capitalization of some European banks has also increased over the past six months, however.  This concern is compounded by uncertainty around potential public sector support for these banks, and the situation has weighed on their stock and bond prices.”[1]

Economy was in a mess, especially in USA.  “Who deserves to go to prison more, the bank executives who almost destroyed the global financial system in 2008, rigged market and broke sanctions or the auto executives whose diesel cars were stuffed with illegal software designed to falsify tailpipe emissions? (…) If the White House under President Barack Obama had gone after reprobate    bankers with the same alacrity with which it’s going after  reprobate auto executives, maybe the anti-establishment tide that swept Donald Trump to election victory might not have been so successful. (…) Why the United States is letting bankers who behave badly go, but not the auto guys, is an open question – is it because Volkswagen is a foreign company?  Whatever the case, the Obama White House and the Democrats in general did themselves zero favours by going easy on the bank bosses.  Bankers are unpopular, and immoral bankers who walk free are especially unpopular – hated even.  Their free passes no doubt help to stoke the anti-establishment sentiment that propelled Mr. Trump to power.”[2]

“The hectoring of three global giants in the world’s largest manufacturing industry by the most powerful politician sent shudders through head offices from Japan to Detroit to Ontario.  The threat of tearing up NAFTA or imposing big tariffs on vehicle exports into the United States is a serious one as Mr. Trump seeks to force companies selling in the U.S. market to keep jobs in the country.”[3]

“But the NAFTA deal was not without controversy – especially when maverick presidential candidate Ross Perot got some traction with his campaign against it.  ‘If you’re paying $12, $13, $14 an  hour for factory workers and you can move your factory south of the border, pay a dollar an hour for labour … and you don’t care about anything but making money, there will be a giant sucking sound going south,’  he said in one presidential debate.”[4]

“(The industry is much interconnected and it’s much related :) Mr. Trump’s hostility toward NAFTA and its threats to impose tariffs of a much as 35 percent on vehicles made in Mexico (explains why).”[5]

“’I think we have one of the great cabinets ever put together, ‘Mr. Trump said.  We will have it to history to judge.  The one thing they are most definitely not, however, is representative of the working-class Americans who voted for Mr. Trump. (…) Negatives aside, they are successful and experienced, and they are not stupid.  Mr. Trump – who has zero government experience – is supposed to rely on their advice and their abilities in order to manage the vast American federal bureaucracy. (…)  The worry with Donald Trump is that there is nothing left to learn (but) the expectation that everything will work out just because ’Trump’ says it will.”[6]

There are two arguments here:  since we cannot make Trump change  his mind, let us put some pressure on his cabinet; and rather unusual (and since it is convenient) let us call on the working class to contest, as the cannon fodder, Trump decisions in his war against the establishment.  Of course, it is political opportunism, since the bourgeoisie does not expect the workers to make more gain under Trump’s administration; at least anything more than they did with Barack Obama.  We will take some space to deal with the current figures related to the working class in USA.

“U.S. employment increased less than expected in December, but a rebound in wages  pointed to sustained  labour market momentum that sets  up the economy for stronger  growth and further interest rate increases from the Federal Reserve this year. ‘Job creation and overall labour market conditions remain solid.  With the potential for stronger fiscal stimulus in the form of infrastructure spending and tax cuts, job creation appears likely to remain on a solid footing in 2017,’ said  Jim Baird, chief investment officer for Plante Moran Financial Advisors in Kalamazoo, Mich.”[7]

Organization becomes a necessity for the worker, now faced by big capital.  But is it possible to organize a motley mass of people who are strangers to one another, even if they work in one factory?  (…)  The joint work of hundreds and thousands of workers in itself accustoms the workers to discuss their needs jointly, to take joint action, and clearly shows them the identity of the position and interests of the entire mass of workers. (…) The struggle of the workers against the employers turns into a class struggle.  All the employers are united by the one interest of keeping the workers in a state of subordination and of paying them the minimum wages possible.  And the employers see that the only way they can safeguard their interests is by joint action on the part of the entire employing class, by acquiring influence over the machinery of state. The workers are likewise bound together by a common interest, that of preventing themselves being crushed by capital, of upholding their right to life and to a humane existence.  And the workers likewise become convinced that they, too, need unity, joint action by the entire class, the working class, and that to achieve this they must secure influence over the machinery of state.”[8]

The US national bourgeoisie is uniting around Donald Trump:   world war would have been too near with tandem Clinton-Obama and the Democrats altogether.  US working-class has now a big challenge.  The new Party of Communists USA has a trump however.

 

 

Blog:  Communist News                                                              www.dpaquet1871.blogspot.com

 

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[1] Bank of Canada, Assessment of Vulnerabilities and Risks, Financial System Review, Ottawa, December  2016, page 2

[2] Reguly, Eric, Who got a free ride? Bankers, not car execs, The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Weekend, Saturday, January 14,  2017, page B4

[3] Keenan, Greg, Auto sector nervously awaits the Trump card, The Globe and Mail, Report on Business, Toronto, Weekend, Saturday, January 7, 2017, page B6

[4] Ibidem, Auto sector nervously awaits the Trump card, page B6

[5] Ibidem, Auto sector nervously awaits the Trump card, page B6

[6] Editorial, L’état, c’est Trump?, The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Saturday, January 14, 2017, page F6

[7] Mutikani, Lucia, U.S. job growth slows, but wages rebound strongly, The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Weekend, Toronto, Saturday, January 7, 2017, page B2

[8] Lenin, V.,I., On the International Working-Class and Communist Movement, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow, pages 16-18