The stream of tweets and executive orders coming out of the White House has been overwhelming. It’s like witnessing a catastrophic accident. Some turn away in horror while others try to figure out what is going on.
And what is going on? Trump is the authoritarian boss who says he will fix things that he says are “bad”. He plays on the widespread insecurities created by this society, playing on people’s racist fears, the fear of immigrants taking our jobs or waging terrorist attacks. He points at the rest of the world, claiming that our jobs have been stolen or shipped overseas. This creates false enemies to hide that the real goal of his regime is to reward the corporations and banks whose interests he really represents. Look at his cabinet of Wall Street and corporate executives. Eight of his cabinet members have as much wealth as 43 million Americans.
Blame immigrants Trump’s attempt to ban people coming from seven so-called Muslim nations is aimed at reviving people’s fear of terrorist attacks. He claims we also should fear criminals coming from Mexico and has ordered that funds be found to build a huge wall along the border and to build more detention centers and add 5,000 Border Patrol agents. He threatens to withhold federal funds from “sanctuary cities” that refuse to discriminate against people without documentation and turn them over to federal authorities.
Jobs Few new jobs have been created. Those that were are based on tax breaks and handouts to corporations. This “job creation” actually supports the bosses’ campaign to cut wages and benefits and threatens the few rights workers have left.
End government wasteful spending Of course there is waste in government spending. It is the government of the rich, using our tax dollars. What is Trump really talking about cutting? No cuts to the military are planned. The so-called defense industry is a gold mine for the weapons producers. And the wars defend the corporations’ exploitation of the resources and people of the world.
The government-funded programs targeted for cuts include public education, the post office, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and others. The goal is to privatize them – turning them into for-profit operations run by the big corporations.
Congress is on the attack as well While Trump tweets, Congress is busy paving the way for bigger corporate profits through tax cuts and subsidies for the big corporations, eliminating environmental regulations and cutting regulation of the banks. Work on the Dakota Access Pipeline is starting up. Controls on coal mines emptying waste into streams and rivers and methane emissions into the air have been eliminated. A bill that will cut mandatory overtime pay for lower wageworkers is waiting to be passed, along with a bill to cut the Federal Dept. of Education. And of course, the big target is Obamacare. While it is certainly not the healthcare we need, depriving people of any healthcare is certainly not going to fix the problem.
We shouldn’t fall for Trump’s lies or his regime’s “alternative facts”. We certainly know from long experience that the bosses’ favorite tactic is divide and conquer – trying to set us against each other so we don’t unify to fight back against them.
We can’t rely on the Democrats who also represent the interests of the 1%. At best, they are a mild opposition to Trump’s worst polices. But it is their record of the last eight years that has contributed to many of the problems that created this Trump presidency.
We have other forces we can rely on – Ourselves! People haven’t been quiet in the face of these attacks. Students demonstrated – walking out of their schools, millions of people turned out for the Women’s march and tens of thousands of people flooded airports around the country in defense of those who were being illegally detained. This is a good beginning and the resistance has to continue to organize and mobilize our forces. We are the 99%. We have the ability to depend on ourselves to fight to defend our interests.
