Trump, authoritarianism and the far-right

Donald Trump is rampaging over the rights of people in the US. He is moving quickly with a whirlwind of executive orders that target immigrants, trans people, the left and anyone who disagrees with his administration.

 

He has called for an end to funding for schools and universities that allow pro-Palestine speakers or events. He has funded ICE to the tune of $120 billion - equivalent to the fourth largest army in the world. They have kidnapped tens of thousands and Trump has also sent in the national guard to protect ICE from protests.

 

He is enacting anti-democratic measures daily and is waging war on science and objective truth.

 

But the US is not yet enduring fascism. If we look at the classical definition as outlined by Leon Trotsky, we see that Trump - for all the violence and attacks he is committing - has not yet shut down independent working class organization. Trump has not, for example, gone after the big battalions of the labour movement - although he has gutted the federal workforce with a strike of a pen. This is not a mass movement against unions or even left organizaitions but it is an authoritarian power grab and can lead to a much worse situation if there is no resistance. 

 

While people may not be living under fascism in the US, that doesn’t mean that fascism is not a threat.

 

Indeed, there are some in the Trump administration who would glory in the rise of a real fascist movement and are working to make that happen. In the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination, Stephen Miller - Trump’s deputy chief of staff - have used the killing to push for a violent response to “left extremists”. Miller’s speech at Kirk’s funeral was a deliberate nod to Joseph Goebbels’ speech at Horst Wessel’s funeral in 1930, which gave a boost to the popularity of the Nazis on their march to power.

 

But fascism relies on a mass movement from below - weaving together the petty bourgeoisie with discontented layers of working people - into an organization that can be wielded against different perceived opponents. That has not yet occurred. The majority of the large mobilizations have been against the undemocratic attacks by Trump - the anti ICE mobilizations, the ongoing and persistent pro-Palestine actions etc…

 

It is more precise to say that Trump’s actions are part of a hardening of authoritarian rule, more akin to the attempted coup by Yoon Suk Yeol in South Korea or the anti-democratic government of Viktor Orban in Hungary.

 

It matters how we define these terms if we want to build the most effective movements against the right. Under fascism, left forces would be unable to organize in the open and would be forced to work underground.

 

At this particular moment, that would be a disaster. The left needs to be bigger, bolder and more vocal in this moment - not less.

 

A majority of Americans - 79 percentin a recent poll - still think that immigrants make the country better. This despite a nearly universal attack on immigrants by both political parties and the increasingly consolidated mainstream media. There is still some space and clear sentiment against far-right ideas but that may not last for long. The key is to build strong anti-far-right movements across the country.

 

Crucially, the anti far-right movements must make deep connections to the labour movement, which remains the biggest organized force against the divide and conquer strategy used by the bosses under capitalism.

 

The Canadian connection

 

Pierre Poilievre and the far-right in Canada are watching what is happening in the US and around the globe. They are inspired by Trump’s plans to label antifa as a terrorist group and they are urging the Canadian government to do the same.

 

The newly formed far-right Dominion Society is pushing for Poilievre to head up this campaign, building anti-immigrant sentiment and insisting that Poillievre adopt the term 'remigration' to call for widespread deportations and racist violence.

 

Unfortunately, Mark Carney is also helping them by enacting bill C2 which scapegoats migrants for the ills of society despite the fact that there is no evidence to prove this. In fact, all the evidence shows that immigration helps build our economy - not the other way around.

 

Recent actions, including the anti-immigrant rally at Christie Pits in Toronto and an anti-trans rally at Queen’s Park two weeks later, show that the far-right here is feeling emboldened to hit the streets. They must be opposed by the broadest possible moment that can be mustered at this time.

 

The economic connection

 

Central to the growth of the far-right is the assault on working people’s livelihoods across the world. The cost of living crisis which has grown since the great recession of 2008 and through the pandemic shutdowns, has created widespread anger and despair.

 

Most people believe that their lives will continue to get worse under the current state of affairs. That leaves them open to far-right influences that seek to blame the poor and marginalized for their immiseration rather than the billionaires that are stealing from them every day.

 

And the policies of the so-called centre, the Labour Party in the UK, the democrats in the US and the Carney Liberals in Canada all ensure that this will get worse as they funnel billions to the rich at the expense of working people.

 

As Carney moves to attack workers rights and the alleged left alternative in the NDP fails to become relevant, many workers are looking to the right for a solution to their poverty.

 

The Conservatives will, of course, not solve their problems but in the absence of an alternative, they will be able to draw people to reactionary conclusions.

 

How do we stop fascism?

 

We need to build the broadest possible movement to confront the far-right. At this point in Canada different right groups are divided and often hostile to each other, but that can change quickly as capitalism lurches from one crisis to the next.

 

The history of the Anti-Nazi league in the UK, which successfully destroyed the fascist National Front, offers some important lessons. They both built a mass movement on the streets to literally block the fascists from marching and sunk roots into working class organizations to fight against the austerity that was creating the conditions for the far-right growth.  

 

This is key. When the right are allowed to march and spread their hate, they become more confident and they are able to recruit more people into their groups.

 

But as Tony Cliff writes in his essay The struggle against fascism, “Our policy of fighting fascism was two-track: attacking the rats and attacking the sewers in which the rats multiply. Fighting the fascists is not enough. One has also to fight the unemployment, low wages and social deprivation that create conditions for the growth of fascism.”

 

This means we fight to stop them in the streets and we work to support the struggles of working people, like the striking postal workers, college staff and public sector workers in BC to stop them from being pushed to the right by the neo-liberal assaults.

 

** Join the No To Hate; Everyone Belongsrally on October 25 in Toronto.