On Day One (You Know What Day One That Is)-Join The Resistance!

On Day One

 

6:03 PM

Kshama Sawant

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Sisters and Brothers, ON DAY 1 Trump and the Republican Party intends to roll out a hard right wing agenda of bigotry, cuts to social programs, and an unfettered war on the environment.  ON DAY 1 Socialist Alternative, with Socialist Students and Movement for the 99%, is organizing to meet their regressive agenda with determined resistance.  Please join Jill Stein, Chris Hedges, myself and others in Washington DC on January 21st to discuss how the 99 percent can defeat the coming wave of right wing attacks.  The elections proved we cannot rely on the neo-liberal leaders of the Democratic Party to mount an effective fight against Trump and the Republican Party.  Our movement needs to come together to discuss how we can build powerful mass movements capable of decisively defeating the right and providing a real alternative for ordinary working people, immigrants, LGBTQ people and youth. Moreover, we need to discuss whether the Democratic Party can be reformed, or does the left need to build independently? We need to build a wall of resistance to Trump. Socialist Alternative and Movement for the 99% with Socialist Students are also organizing mass student walkouts and demonstrations in over 13 cities across the country on Trump’s Inauguration day on January 20th.  We are determined to stand up against this billionaire’s agenda of hate and division. But we need your help.  Please help spread the word about “Inaugurate the Resistance” in DC - please share and invite your friends to this on Facebook.  Please join a walkout or demonstration in your area.  And please make a contribution of $25, $50, $100, or whatever you can to help us build the largest fightback against Trump and his corporate, bigoted agenda. Trump and his fellow billionaires have tremendous resources to bring to bear to push their agenda, but we have you. You who powered the historic Sanders campaign.  You who funded the successful fightback at Standing Rock.  And you who will help build a powerful movement against the attacks from Trump and the Republican Party. Always remember, Socialist Alternative and our partners take absolutely no money from big business or the super-rich. We are entirely reliant on ordinary people like YOU. Donate what you can today and, together, we can build a wall of resistance to Trump. Remember, please join us on January 21st at 5:30 pm, after the Women’s March on Washington, at the Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown DC!  In solidarity, Kshama Sawant Contribute $25 Share Tweet Forward Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

From The Archives- Walking for peace through Maine-Join The Resistance Now!

Walking for peace through Maine

October 20, 2016 by Erin Place   Norway Advertiser Democrat

NORWAY — They don their walking shoes and continue walking with a purpose – to Stop the War$ on Mother Earth – and, more specifically, environmental issues affecting Maine and its inhabitants.

POUNDING THE PAVEMENT — Roughly 20 participants from the fifth annual Maine Peace Walk play drums, chant and wave flags in downtown Norway on Monday, Oct. 17, to spread their message of peace.

Roughly 20 participants in the fifth annual Maine Peace Walk make a noisy, yet peaceful entrance as they walk along Main Street in downtown Norway late afternoon Monday, Oct. 17. They bang on Japanese fan drums, chant, fly flags and carry signs as they spread their message of peace throughout the state. Their destination is the First Universalist Church of Norway, where church members welcome them with a potluck supper and a place to rest for the night.

The walk began on Oct. 11 at Indian Island to honor the Penobscot Nation’s “struggles for clean water,” according to Jason Rawn, who hails from the Lincolnville area. Outside the church he’s taken off his pair of Asics to give his feet a breather. They have a fresh hole in the side from the day’s journey, as they traveled from Augusta to Norway with 13.6 walking miles.

“These have over 1,000 miles for peace walks,” he says as he holds up his sneakers and smiles.

Rawn is with his new friend, 10-year-old Bailey Kawasaki, who lives in Washington state.

“We walked with the monks,” Bailey says as he sits among the plants in front of the church with Rawn. He’s referring to Buddhist monks and nuns from the Nipponzan Myohoji order. “We carried some banners. They’re long.”

Parked outside the white church is the red van with a silver dolphin mounted to the roof and a mural painted by walker and artist Russell Wray. The mural is new this year and depicts men and women, young and old, holding hands around a tree, with the canopy expanding to the edge of the canvas.

NO MORE WAR — The van traveling with the Maine Peace Walk is parked outside of the First Universalist Church of Norway with a mural sporting this year’s theme “Stop the War$ on Mother Earth.”

“We have the van for old people if they’re feet are hurting or they get tired,” Bailey says matter of factly.

Each year a different route across the Pine Tree State is chosen “based on different kinds of struggles,” Rawn says. The 2016 walk so far has brought the activists to Dexter to meet with Grandmothers Against the East/West Corridor in Dexter and a vigil outside of the Poland Springs bottling plant in Poland.

“We’re walking in solidarity with everyone who is concerned about our planet, about our Earth and all the destructive forces, including the military and the corporate, and concerns that aren’t protecting the environment,” says Katie Greenman of Orland, who’s sitting with a group of walkers behind the church in the parking lot as they take a load off.

Most of the walkers are from Maine, but there are others from New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey. Jules Orkin lives in New Jersey and says he’s not much of a talker, but he can carry the Veterans for Peace flag and has done so all across the United States, Europe and Japan.

“We’re an eclectic group,” smiles Ian Collins of Liberty.

Jun Yasuda is a Buddhist nun who’s walked across the U.S. at least eight times. She says Maine is a beautiful place. She gives a clever answer when asked why she walks.

“Why we have foot? Why not use it?” Yasuda says, adding the act of walking “is more prayer to me than just hiking.” “Human mission is taking care of this Earth. [It’s a] very important message for us. Our life comes from Earth.”

Bruce Gagnon, an walk organizer from Bath, says from inside the church the first Maine Peace Walk brought participants to Norway, where they were greeted with hospitality, which made a lasting impression on him.

“Norway was so welcoming that’s why we did some shuttling out here from Augusta just to get here,” Greenman confirms. “I think this church does a lot of social justice work.”

Gagnon says there’s another reason for the walk to travel to Norway. One of the goals this year is to bring the peace movement to rural communities – including Old Towne, Pittsfield and Unity – as most peace groups are centered in bigger metropolitan areas. As they travel across the rural parts of the state, they’ve seen plenty of Trump signs.

“The last three miles coming into town was a gridlock,” Gagnon says, adding they hand out plenty of fliers, receive donations and experience honking, waving and people flashing them peace signs. “It was exhilarating. This is supposed to be conservative Maine. … You can’t pigeon hole people. People are more multidimensional than what our political choices allow.”

PRAYERS FOR PEACE — The Rev. Fayre C. Stephenson, center with paper, leads participants of the Maine Peace Walk and members of the First Universalist of Norway in prayer for before the pot luck supper on Monday, Oct. 17. The walkers are taking their message of peace across the state.

Before the pot luck supper commences, members of the Maine Peace Walk and First Universalist Church gather in a circle and hold hands. The Rev. Fayre C. Stephenson addresses the group in front of her before leading them in prayer.

“We Unitarian Universalists join you in your concern about the many different wars being waged on Mother Earth, ranging from over-fishing, deforestation and human-caused extinctions to climate disruption and endless war,” she says.

“Tonight’s gathering is proof that we are not alone when we affirm and promote a world community of peace, justice and sustainable living. And so, I say thank you for journeying to us.”

At 22, Kevin Brooks of Old Towne is fresh out of college and one of the youngest walkers there. He’s trying to figure out what he’s doing with his life and in doing so, has created friendships.

“I’ve made a friend on this walk. I’ve made many more who are here tonight,” he says, as he motions to the group around him.

All the food has been donated to the walkers, as are sleeping spaces in churches, schools and in people’s homes.

“I’ve been eating better on this walk than I do at home,” Brooks laughs.

“We couldn’t do any of this without the support of the communities along the way,” Greenman adds.

And Gagnon wants to extend his thanks to everyone who’s helped them along the way.

“I can’t tell ya how good it feels when you’ve got tired feet, you haven’t been sleeping well, you haven’t had a shower in a couple of days and people are so welcoming. Really it is very, very moving and we say, ‘Thank you,’” Gagnon says.

Then it’s time to dig into the homemade grub since the walkers need their sustenance as their journey takes them to Lewiston on Tuesday, Oct. 18.

eplace@sunmediagroup.net

5th Maine Peace Walk itinerary

Day 1: Tuesday, Oct. 11, Penobscot Nation on Indian Island

Day 2: Wednesday, Oct. 12, Indian Island to Dexter

Day 3: Thursday, Oct. 13, Dexter to Pittsfield

Day 4: Friday, Oct. 14, Pittsfield to Unity

Day 5: Saturday, Oct. 15, Unity to Waterville

Day 6: Sunday, Oct. 16, Waterville to Augusta

Day 7: Monday, Oct. 17, Augusta to Norway

Day 8: Tuesday, Oct. 18, Norway to Lewiston

Day 9: Wednesday, Oct. 19, Lewiston to Brunswick

Day 10: Thursday, Oct. 20, day off in Brunswick

Day 11: Friday, Oct. 21, Brunswick to Freeport

Day 12: Saturday, Oct. 22, Freeport to Portland

Day 13: Sunday, Oct. 23, Portland to Saco

Day 14: Monday, Oct 24, Saco to Kennebunk

Day 15: Tuesday, Oct. 25, Kennebunk to York Beach

Day 16: Wednesday, Oct. 26, York to Kittery Naval Shipyard

3 p.m. village gate protest vigil

For more information, visit http://vfpmaine.org/.

Finding Progressive Events In The Boston Area-ACT-MA.

Finding Progressive Events In The Boston Area-ACT-MA.

ORG

From Socialist Alternative- Trump Prepares Vicious Attacks - We Must Prepare Massive Resistance

 

11/26/2016 5:57 PM

 

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Trump Prepares Vicious Attacks - We Must Prepare Massive Resistance by Tom Crean and Philip Locker Trump’s victory in the presidential election two weeks ago was a profound shock to tens of millions of progressive workers, young people, immigrants, women, people of color, Muslims and LGBTQ people across the US. As Trump’s reactionary cabinet appointments have been announced and the list of targets of his administration has become clearer there is enormous fear and anger in many communities. Many are waiting to see how events unfold or hoping against hope that Trump will see reason and moderate his positions. But the reported plans to deport three million people, establish a “registry” for Muslims, criminalize dissent, and nominate a Supreme Court justice who will vote to overturn Roe v Wade and shred union rights in the public sector are not idle threats. Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets across the country and the mood to resist is growing. Socialist Alternative called many of the first protests which were dominated by young people. But now we are seeing wider forces preparing for what will be truly massive protests around Trump’s inauguration, particularly the Women’s March on Washington DC on January 21. We and Socialist Students are also focusing on building student walkouts across the country on the actual day of the inauguration, January 20, which could become the biggest coordinated student actions since the Vietnam War. Socialist Alternative, with Socialist Students and Movement for the 99%, aims to raise $25,000 by the end of December to fund the youth-led, national mass student walkouts. Please help us reach that by donating $25 today.  No Mandate The truth is that Trump’s racist, misogynist agenda does not have a popular mandate. Votes are still being counted but despite winning in the undemocratic throwback Electoral College, Trump only got 46.4% of the popular vote and Clinton now has a lead of over two million. Some leading Democrats have continued with their pathetic attempt to blame the outcome of the election on FBI director Comey – who reopened the investigation into Clinton’s emails in the final days of the campaign – Bernie Sanders supporters, or even Jill Stein and the Greens. But even those sections of the corporate media which backed Clinton to the hilt have had to partially acknowledge that the outcome was more a defeat for the Democrats than a victory for Trump. Exit polls showed that fully 20% of Trump voters (approximately 12 million voters) had an unfavorable view of him. As the Washington Post said, “There is no precedent for a candidate winning the Presidency with fewer voters viewing him favorably, or looking forward to his administration, than the loser.” The underlying reality in the US remains, as we have said, huge political and social polarization. Big sections of society moved to the left in recent years. This was expressed in Occupy, the fight for $15, BLM, mass support for marriage equality and more recently for Native people at Standing Rock. But without doubt the most dramatic expression of this trend were the millions, especially young people, who supported Bernie Sanders’ call for a political revolution against the billionaire class. At the end of the day, Clinton’s status quo campaign had no appeal to those hostile to the ruling elite and simply failed to energize and mobilize progressive Americans in sufficient numbers despite the fear of Trump. As the roughly 54% election turnout showed, tens of millions of Americans simply saw no point in choosing between the two most unpopular presidential candidates in the country’s history. This has led to the situation where the right now controls the White House as well as both Houses of Congress. In 23 states the Republicans have control of all three branches of government. This gives the right enormous institutional power. There is also the real danger of an energized hard right sinking roots. But there is huge potential power in the opposition to Trump especially if the social power of the working class can be brought to bear. Trump’s agenda is beatable but it will require the most profound social struggle since the civil rights and antiwar movements of the 60s and 70s. Trump’s Appointments In the past week, Trump’s transition team has announced a series of appointments to cabinet and adviser positions in the White House. This includes Senator Jeff Sessions as Attorney General; Reince Priebus as Chief of Staff; Steve Bannon as Trump’s main adviser and General Michael Flynn as national security adviser. Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, represents the Republican establishment which is reactionary enough. Bannon, however, who was the CEO of Trump’s campaign in the fall, was previously the chairman of Breitbart News which is one of the central platforms for the hard right, white supremacist “alt-right.” Sessions was rejected by a Republican-controlled Senate in the 80s for a position in the federal judiciary because he was simply too racist even for them, while Flynn rants about Islam being “like a cancer.” It is a bit difficult to know which of these disgusting reactionaries we should be most alarmed about. Further appointments before Thanksgiving include Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education and Ben Carson for Housing and Urban Development. DeVos is a billionaire advocate of charter schools and vouchers and a vicious opponent of public education. But in appointing Nikki Haley, the Governor of South Carolina, as US representative to the UN, Trump may be seeking to put a bit of balance into this toxic mix. While Haley was elected as a Tea Party Republican she is also remembered for having pushed through the removal of the Confederate Flag as the state’s official symbol after the killing of nine black churchgoers by white supremacist Dylan Roof. This is a bit of a poke in the eye to Trump’s far right fans. Trump may try to go further in this “balancing act”. For example, he now says that he will not pursue further investigations of Hillary Clinton’s emails or the Clinton Foundation. Trump’s Agenda Becomes Clearer But while Trump may try to inject some “balance” in his appointments and talks of “healing the wounds” of the campaign, this should in no way blind people to the deeply reactionary plans for the beginning of this billionaire-led administration. It is amply clear that Trump intends to deliver on the threat to deport three million immigrants. He intends to do in months what it took the Obama administration eight years to accomplish as it deported 2.7 million. There will also be a special focus on Muslim immigrants under the cover of “fighting ISIS,” with the threat of a national registry of all Muslims being raised. This will be linked to a recasting of US policy in the Middle East as an existential struggle with “radical Islamic terrorists.” Both Bush and Obama sought to avoid lumping all the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims together as part of the “enemy” but Trump may be prepared to go in this direction. This is highly alarming to US allies who fear that it would lead to a massive expansion of conflict in the coming period even if ISIS suffers further defeat on the battleground. Clearly Trump will nominate an outright reactionary to the Supreme Court who could go after Roe v Wade and it is very possible that he will be make a further appointment during the next four years. This comes after years of relentless attacks on women’s reproductive rights by Republican-dominated Southern state legislatures. There is also clear intent to go after union rights. The public sector unions dodged a bullet last year after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia and the Supreme Court’s 4-4 tie in the Friedrichs case. The effect of this case succeeding would have meant extending anti-union “right to work” rules which exist in Republican run states to the entire national public sector. There will definitely be an attempt to revive Friedrichs. Trump’s team sees Scott Walker’s successful campaign to eviscerate public sector unions in Wisconsin as a model. But the administration’s more immediate target will be the unions representing federal employees and those workers’ rights and benefits. They undoubtedly see the federal workforce as a soft target which will not elicit much sympathy. If they succeed this will then allow them to ramp up the anti-union campaign more broadly. Trump intends to gut environmental protection in the name of “bringing back jobs” as in the energy sector. But the main reason the coal industry has collapsed is due to market factors, especially the extremely low price of oil and natural gas. Finally there is a clear desire to criminalize political dissent linked to Trump’s ominous talk about a “law and order” offensive. Key Trump ally and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has talked about bringing back the McCarthy era House Un-American Activities Committee which launched an anti-communist witchhunt in the 1950s. Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani, another key Trump surrogate and possible appointee, has described the Black Lives Matter movement as “inherently racist” and “un-American”. Chris Christie claimed BLM called for killing police officers. Taken as a whole this is the most reactionary agenda of any administration since at least Ronald Reagan. However, to be clear Trump will also push populist measures like infrastructure spending and paid parental leave. He will halt negotiation of further trade deals as part of a protectionist shift. At this point the Trans Pacific Partnership which represented a serious threat to workers rights and the environment is dead in the water. A section of the working class and middle class has real expectations based on Trump’s promises to bring back manufacturing and good jobs. They will be severely disappointed but perhaps not immediately. The Lessons of the Past The stakes now are extremely high. Trump will seek to inflict severe and demoralizing defeats by picking off one target at a time. All sections of society targeted by Trump must therefore unite their forces from the start. The old slogan of the labor movement – “an injury to one is an injury to all” – was never more relevant. And the labor movement has a key role to play in this situation. Despite its long retreat the unions still represent 16 million workers and retain strength in some industrial sectors but especially the public sector and in key cities that will be central to the resistance against Trump. The social power of working people uniting all parts of a mass movement must be counterposed to the institutional power of the right. The mass protests around the inauguration are a crucial first step. How events unfold after January 20 is very difficult to say but there are critical lessons which must be drawn out from previous battles against the right wing in this country. After Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980, the air traffic controllers’ union PATCO went on strike. Reagan decided to turn this into a showdown with labor as a whole by firing all the members of this union which had actually endorsed him in the election! There was an enormous willingness in the still-strong labor movement to fight back. Tens of thousands would have responded to a call from the AFL-CIO for mass pickets to shut down key airports. Labor Day in 1981 saw 250,000 workers march in Washington DC with the PATCO workers at their head. But the union leadership criminally refused to extend the strike, PATCO was smashed and the labor movement was put decisively on the defensive. The defeat is what is remembered but what is equally important is that Reagan could have been beaten which would have changed the entire dynamic and encouraged the further development of a mass movement to defeat the rest of Reagan’s neo-liberal agenda. In 2006, the Republican-dominated House passed the Sensenbrenner Bill which threatened mass deportations of all undocumented workers in the US and their families and made it a crime to help them. This sparked the biggest mass demonstrations in US history including the “day without an immigrant” on May 1 which had elements of a general strike of Latino immigrant workers. The movement beat back the bill and also pushed back anti-immigrant attitudes for a period. But although many were sympathetic with the stand of millions of immigrants demanding citizenship rights and “equal rights for all workers,” the native born working class largely stood on the sidelines. This allowed the Bush administration to eventually move to savagely repress the movement especially the section of immigrant workers that was actively moving to unionize. In 2010, Scott Walker was elected Governor of Wisconsin. He and the Republican-controlled legislature moved to impose savage cutbacks in education but also cripple public sector unions by stripping their right to collectively bargain over anything besides wages. Even then they were no longer allowed to negotiate wage increases above inflation. Part of the legislation also stipulated that all public sector unions had to hold recertification votes on a yearly basis. This was the most serious frontal attack on the labor movement since the PATCO strike. Tens of thousands marched on a weekly basis in the state capital Madison in early 2011 in the largest protests in Wisconsin history, and the capitol building itself was occupied for weeks on end. Beating Walker required escalating the movement. Socialist Alternative argued for a one day public sector general strike as a first step in this direction. There was an enormously positive response from workers to this idea but the national leadership of the AFL-CIO, as in 1981, put on the brakes. Rather than escalate they de-escalated and advocated a campaign to recall Scott Walker, i.e. to get a Democrat elected. This strategy failed comprehensively and Walker is still in office today. The Right Is Beatable As in 1981, 2006, and 2011, the right can be beaten but only with an effective strategy and an utterly determined leadership. There are several factors that can help the movement. First of all, unlike in the 1980s when neo-liberalism had a real base of social support including within sections of the working and middle classes, right wing ideology has a weaker social grip today. The far right is emboldened by Trump’s victory but they are far from establishing a mass base in their own right. Also the ruling class remains on the whole deeply unhappy about Trump’s accession to power. They see him as potentially highly damaging to their global and domestic interests. It is true that at the moment markets are factoring in the possibility of economic growth under Trump because of infrastructure spending and ending DC gridlock. Wall Street also supports his proposals to cut taxes further for the superrich and get rid of financial regulation. But there is real possibility of global and domestic recession in next period which would throw a Trump administration into deep crisis. With or without a recession sections of the ruling class could begin to exert real pressure against Trump, especially if he overreaches and provokes effective mass resistance. They would do this in the wider interest of the system and precisely to cut across the movement. In this context, it is significant that a number of Democratic big city mayors are promising to resist attempts to ban “sanctuary cities” for immigrants despite threats to cut federal funding. Governor Cuomo of New York, a reliable ally of Wall Street, even declared that he, as the grandson of immigrants, should be deported first. But where was Cuomo as the Obama administration ramped up deportations to record levels? We must place no reliance on corporate Democrats whose anti-working class policies have driven so many into the arms of the right. Instead, a mass movement against Trump must be centered on the social power of working people mobilized to fight for their own independent class interests. Working Class Unity Against the Right There has been a vast amount of ink spilled in the media about the “white working class” either vilifying it as one reactionary mass because it is supposedly in lock step behind Trump or trying to “understand” its concerns. We have consistently rejected the narrative that the support for Trump is simply motivated by racism and sexism although that is a real factor for a section of his supporters. We have repeatedly pointed out that Trump, through a right-wing populist and nationalist appeal, tapped into the anger at the effects of neo-liberalism and globalization especially the massive loss of good manufacturing jobs which was partly the result of trade deals like NAFTA. According to the Economic Policy Institute, 5 million manufacturing jobs were lost between 2000 and 2014. But while some particularly obtuse liberal commentators seem to think that the question of jobs is about defending “white male privilege” the truth is that de-industrialization and the deep retreat of the unions in the private sector had an even more devastating effect on the black working class. But neither are we blind to the fact that Trump’s open racism, xenophobia and misogyny resonated with a section of his supporters. This is not the first time in history that the accumulated failures of the left and the labor leadership has opened the door to dangerous right wing ideas. This situation can be reversed with a determined mass movement that speaks directly to the common interests of all sections of the working class and firmly opposes racism and sexism. The truth is far more complicated and contradictory than most liberal commentators seem able to grasp. What is certain is that the Democratic Party establishment has lost the ability to even pretend to speak to working people’s interests, whether white, black or Latino. What was notable in this election was not just a limited (and frequently exaggerated) turn by white workers to the Republicans, but the lack of enthusiasm among young black workers for the Democrats and the incredible nearly 30% vote among Latinos for Trump. As Mike Davis recently pointed out on versobooks.com, “the lower Black turnout in Milwaukee, Detroit and Philadelphia alone would explain most of Clinton’s defeat in the Midwest.” He adds though that the lower turnout was also due to voter suppression, ie traditional Republican election rigging. The question of Trump’s working class support is not simply a matter of “understanding others.” It is a very real practical question facing the movement. Simply put, to really defeat the right and begin to resume an offensive struggle for the needs of working people, the movement will need to win over sections of Trump’s base. Sanders’ poll numbers against Trump and the huge response he received among working people generally shows that this can be done. Another section of Trump’s base will not be reached. But it is possible to isolate and defeat the organized far right forces which at this point remain small, though emboldened, and generally extremely unskilful. The Democrats, the Unions, and the Role of Socialists A huge debate is opening up among progressive workers and youth about how to defeat Trump. Packed meetings of hundreds, including many organized by Socialist Alternative, are being held around the country. One argument which at this point has a lot of support is that we must combine building a movement against Trump with a determined effort to “take over” the Democratic Party and make it an instrument that represents the interests of ordinary people rather than Wall Street. This is the argument of Sanders and Our Revolution, as well as the dominant elements in the Democratic Socialists of America. Given the crisis that has opened up in the Democratic Party due to their incredible failure to defeat the odious Trump, it is understandable why many would be attracted to this perspective. More than at any time in the past 40 years the “centrist” neo-liberal leadership of the party is on the defensive. Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren have been strengthened. They are supporting Keith Ellison, the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who is standing for chair of the DNC. While Ellison has also received the support of some figures in the establishment like Chuck Schumer, the Democrats’ leader in the Senate, who are playing for time and want to avoid deeper division, Ellison’s campaign is now running into pushback from the Obama White House. Undoubtedly, the Sanders position which stresses the need for movements “from below” is far superior to the craven response of Richard Trumka, head of the AFL-CIO and key Democrats who said they wanted to “work with Trump” or have a “seat at the table.” We believe in the unity of the widest possible forces in common action against Trump’s attacks. But we strongly disagree with the idea that the corporate Democrats can be turned into an instrument for working people. There is a mistaken idea promoted by some on the left that the Democrats once represented the interests of working people. This was never the case. It is true that the party shifted sharply to the right in the 80s and 90s but this reflected the needs of capitalism in a new period. The question of the character of the Democrats was sharply posed by Sanders historic campaign earlier this year. This led to ferocious resistance by the party establishment. The lengths to which they were prepared to go to prevent Sanders pro-working class campaign winning has now been fully revealed by Wikileaks. But even if Sanders had somehow managed to win the rigged primary he would have faced the choice of either capitulating to the demands of the neo-liberal party establishment or having to go to war against their sabotage. This would have meant essentially laying the basis for a new party. As Sanders correctly said to Clinton in the debates you can’t serve the interests of both Wall Street and working people. A party which stands for working people must first of all advance a bold anti-corporate, working class agenda. But it must also require their elected representatives to refuse all corporate donations and accept only the average income of their constituents like Kshama Sawant, socialist councilmember in Seattle. Most Democratic elected officials would choose to leave the Democrats rather than accept this situation. This is why we will continue to argue for a new party of the 99%. The movement to defeat Trump’s reactionary agenda will face many challenges. But there is no reason for despair. The enormous determination to fight back already being shown by hundreds of thousands of young people, women, people of color and LGBTQ people points to the potential for building the biggest mass movement in American history which can inflict a decisive blow to the right. But we have to clearly understand the tasks posed and who our friends and who our enemies are. As we have argued here we need a clear strategy based on the social power of working people. Some might despair given the conservative leadership of the existing unions. But there have also been real signs of life like the Verizon strike earlier this year, the biggest strike in nearly 20 years which beat back the company’s attacks. There is also a developing alliance of progressive unions including National Nurses United, the Communication Workers of America and the Amalgamated Transit Union, all of whom supported Sanders and are now supporting the heroic fight of Native people at Standing Rock. The questions of shaking up, transforming and building unions into democratically run campaigning organizations that can organize and lead struggles will be more and more sharply posed. At the end of the day, Trump’s ascendancy is a reflection of the deep and growing crisis of the capitalist system whose institutions have been deeply discredited during the last historical period and even more during this election cycle. The ruling class is divided, not sure how to respond. The economic collapse of 2008 and 2009 and the millions of jobs lost and homes foreclosed while the rich have got richer has led to a serious questioning of the system along with the looming climate catastrophe and the exposure of searing racial injustice. Trump’s presidency will deepen the radicalization of sections of society. Poll after poll indicates growing support for socialism especially among young people. Socialist Alternative is working towards building a new socialist party, based on Marxist politics. The movement we are building will need a clear anti-capitalist, socialist force within it that argues for a working class centered struggle against Trump and the entire system which has totally outlived its usefulness. If you agree, join us! Subscribe to Socialist Alternative the newspaper today! Our paper goes beyond just telling the story of frontline struggles. We provide the socialist analysis, strategy, and tactics needed to win. Our pages build on the proven strategies that won two historic victories for Kshama Sawant, the first socialist elected to Seattle City Council in 100 years. Our editorial team brings the experience of leading the fight for $15 to its first major victory in the nation. And the ideas of Socialist Alternative are guiding our fast-growing movement all across the country. 1 Year (10 Issues, Paper) - $25 1 Year (10 Issues, Digital) - $25 Solidarity Rate, 1 Year (10 Issues, Paper) - $50 Solidarity Rate, 1 Year (10 Issues, Digital) - $50 Click here to subscribe Share Tweet Forward Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list