Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States on January 20th. Will he herald American neo-fascism? The answer remains unclear at this juncture. There is some indication that his governing coalition is fragile. Even if there is no cohesive anti-fascist movement to oppose him, the governing coalition is characterized by intense intra-capitalist conflict, because the capitalist class realizes that President Trump’s proposals do not make much sense for their overall economic interests. For example, Trump has proposed to deport all eleven million undocumented workers back to their countries of origin. Of course, there are many sectors of the US economy that depend critically on undocumented labour, and business owners are starting to realize that they may have a labour shortage problem on their hands. Large swaths of the agricultural sector rely on undocumented labour. How to reconcile Trump’s “populism” with capitalist business sense?
There remains, moreover, tension between the tech sector and Trump, even though Zuckerberg and Bezos have attempted a reconciliation. For example, the H1B visa program allows companies to “sponsor” skilled labour for a limited period, generally not to exceed six years. The intense fights over the H1B visa program—with Musk insisting that it should continue but others asserting that all immigration must end, including so-called skilled immigration—are a case in point. Apparently, some kinds of immigrants are more desirable than others. Or, perhaps, this marks a return to naked crony capitalism.
Notwithstanding these contradictions, the contours of a fascist policy regime are beginning to emerge. A law has been proposed wherein the Treasury would be granted power to revoke the non-profit status of certain organizations if they have “ties with terror.” No due process is required, and the Treasury can make such a determination without judicial oversight. This would be a potent political weapon for Trump, since it would enable him to attack any non-profit that he considers a political enemy. This brings us to Trump’s appointments for various positions, many of which are outrageous. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), for example, has long been the premier agency in the United States charged with maintaining the social order. It is well known that the FBI has historically been utilized against various left-wing movements. But Trump and the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement were singularly displeased when, in the wake of the attempted seizure of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, the Bureau was deployed against his partisans. Apparently, the Bureau should keep the Left in check, but the Right can flourish without any intervention. Trump has nominated a Mr. Kash Patel to lead the Bureau, and it is very clear to this author that Mr. Patel will invigorate the FBI to pursue all the President’s political enemies. The repressive apparatus will be deployed to the maximum extent possible against what Trump calls “the enemy within.”
Where is the opposition in this scenario? The Democrats remain busy trying to decide whether they should engage with Trump in the spirit of bipartisan consensus, or oppose his draconian measures. The mayor of Denver, Colorado, for example, forcefully came out against Trump’s proposed deportations of the undocumented and went as far as to say that he would direct the local police to resist them. A fierce backlash ensued, with even some Democrats coming out to criticize the good mayor. There have also been whispers that Musk’s idea to slash government spending is workable: Musk has proposed to reduce the federal workforce by up to 75%.
The need of the hour is for a determined anti-fascist resistance, and it is abundantly clear that the Democratic Party is unable to organize it. Nor is the so-called Left in the United States, because, well, there is no such thing. The trade unions generally do the bidding of the Democratic Party and will take no independent political initiative. The Green Party is very weak and does not have mass support. Then there are organizations like the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL). Neither is in any position to organize the resistance, and one cannot imagine these groups agreeing to work together. The only organizations with any semblance of legitimacy are the pro-Palestinian groups like IfNotNow, Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP), and the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), which have gained strength in the wake of the genocide in Gaza. If such groups could coalesce into a mass political formation, there might be hope. The fate of human civilization now depends on the success of the revolution in the United States.
Taki Manolakos is an economist and community organizer based in Kansas City, Missouri, USA