By Richard Mellor in California
I know workers in other countries are interested in what is happening here in the US, in particular the growth of fascist movements, white supremacists, Christian nationalists, and so on.
The woman interviewed in the video below is in Shasta County, California, where extreme right groups, (who hate government, apparently) are taking and have taken control of local politics. Workers in other countries might find it almost comical that the US Democratic Party, one of the most powerful capitalist parties on the planet, is referred to as a ‘communist’ or ‘Marxist’ party by millions of US Americans and a national health system is ‘communist’ as well.
The governor of California, a millionaire businessman called Gavin Newsom, is a ‘tyrant’. One of the indications of tyranny for these people is the state enforcing a mask mandate in a pandemic. Some of them went berserk over a law mandating safety helmets on motorcycles.
The ignorance of politics, and Geography among the US population is considerable. The media here is extremely powerful and influential. I recall that scene in Terminator-2 when the kid asks the Terminator why Skynet would attack Russia. “Aren’t they our friends now?”, he asks.
The insertion of that dialogue is not an accident; it’s propaganda. It was written as part of US and western capitalism’s jubilation at the collapse of the Soviet Union, the totalitarian regime that was the world’s only other superpower. But overnight, a movie seen by millions makes it clear the Russians are our friends now. That was then of course, the Russians have since become our enemies again.
The woman interviewed is a Democrat and a reporter in Shasta County. She started her own website titled anewscafe.com. Watch the clip contained in this interview of one of the extreme right-wing leaders talking about her in a council meeting. Whether or not one agrees with her political views or her party affiliation, she is a very brave person. She can be reached at: .donig.anewscafe@gmail.com I am sure she would welcome even words of support.
I have to raise this, but California is a major union state and around the sixth largest economy in the world. There are some two million workers affiliated to the State Federation of Labor, the state arm of the national AFL-CIO. Los Angeles Labor Federation has some 800,000 workers affiliated and the all important ports, Oakland, Long Beach, San Pedro, are all unionized.
In other words, the docks and Pacific Rim trade is dependent on labour peace, which the present trade union leadership do their very best to maintain. The politics of the right wing is racist, sexist, xenophobic and anti-worker in general. The right wing is heavily populated by small capitalists and backed by extreme right sections of the US ruling class, they hate unions.
The potential power of organized labour in California could counter the right wing forces though education and providing an alternative to the growth of right wing ideas and ideology in general. This could be backed up by mass action and organizing the millions of unorganized workers; transit workers in the Bay area have the potential to cripple the California economy, but this power is held in check by their leadership.
The problem as things stand is that organized labour’s present leadership is tied to the Democratic Party through the Team Concept in politics, an extension of the Team Concept in the workplace. It is terrified of any independent movement below that threatens their relationship with big capital based on labour peace and worship of the market. I am convinced this dam will be breached but sooner is better than later on this one.
From the US socialist website, Facts For Working People. The original can be found here.
