NEW YORK, February 17—On President’s Day, thousands of protestors took to the streets of lower Manhattan as part of nationwide calls to resist fascism and reject President Donald Trump and Musk. About a dozen comrades joined the protest, took leadership, and pushed the militancy and politics of the march beyond its otherwise pro-America and pro-democracy tone.
The march, which was mostly attended by white, older workers, centered around stopping Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s actions and the importance of preserving U.S. “democracy.” Unfortunately on brand, the crowd was somewhat littered with American flags, nationalist rags soaked with the blood of millions of our class siblings from around the world. Many protest signs focused on getting rid of Musk and Trump, while other sharper posters demanded a free Palestine and an end to deportations. We pushed the political line of the march by chanting “It’s not just Trump, it’s capitalism” and “Republicans mean / we got to fight back! And Democrats mean / we got to fight back! ‘Cause capitalism means / we got to fight back!” as well as “Smash racist deportations / working people have no nations!” Many workers in the crowd responded to our electric militant energy by chanting along and taking a copy of CHALLENGE. One young worker turned the paper down, but for a good reason; he has already been receiving copies from a retired PL’er, whom he met at a City University of New York school, for years now!
As the march closed out at a park, we stayed in the street, chanting, “Together we will / fight back, Across all borders / fight back.” We were surrounded by enthusiastic chanters, who accepted CHALLENGE by the hundreds, and we closed out with a short speech. We distributed 800 newspapers in all and got the contact of a college student who marched with us the entire route. We met up with the student after the march, and they plan to go to an upcoming study group.
Capitalism Is ruling class dictatorship
A few participants attacked our chants by shouting in our comrades’ faces, “You need to be more pointed!” “Be more unifying!” and “Stop the coup!” In capitalism, there are two classes–the ruling class and the working class. The ruling class uses violent suppression to stay in control of the working class. Getting rid of Trump and Musk and “stopping the coup” will not end the inherent nature of the ruling class dictatorship. As long as we live in a capitalist system, we will always live in a dictatorship of the ruling class. Only when we, the working class, take state power will we be free from their rule. We call on the entire international working class to unite and smash this racist, sexist profit system. What’s more unifying and pointed than that?
It’s not just Trump, it’s capitalism
Fascism is a stage of capitalism, not a system imposed by one individual. As China’s imperialist power ascends, the U.S. ruling class’ once-unchecked imperialist power over most of the world is becoming less and less of a given. As U.S. imperialism descends further into crisis, the ruling class has no choice but to take on more and more extreme fascist tactics to discipline themselves and suppress the working class. In fascism, the veil of liberal democracy is removed to reveal more and more of the ruling class dictatorship that has always been underneath.
Trump is currently the figurehead of developing fascism in the U.S., but it is capitalism in crisis that is driving the ruling class’ need for intensified racism and nationalism to maintain control.
No good presidents
Another participant held up a photo of Kamala Harris and exclaimed “This is what a president looks like!” She is right, but probably not in the way she meant it. All presidents and vice presidents serve the ruling class, and Harris did her best to do exactly that. As vice president, she oversaw a genocide in Gaza and the deportation of millions of workers. As a presidential candidate, she repeatedly promised to be tougher on the border than Trump.
As overtly racist and terrifying as Trump is, the liberal ruling class, at least for now, remains the main danger to the working class. While hundreds of thousands bravely fought back in the streets and on college campuses against the genocide in Gaza during Biden’s administration, some protestors are marching in the streets again for the first time since Trump’s last presidency. Liberal politicians spread the lie that they are “lesser evil,” all while pacifying workers and undermining fightback. Democrats paved the road for the fascism that Trump is currently the face of.
Presidents? We don’t need ‘em!
The U.S. empire and its liberal democracy are crumbling before our eyes. We do not mourn its demise: This is the same empire that was born from genocide and chattel slavery, manufactured eugenics ideas that inspired the Nazis in Germany, and forced Japanese workers into concentration camps. It’s the same empire that continues to incarcerate more people than any other nation in the world and fund the bombing of children around the world.
The international working class deserves far more than this murderous profit system has ever provided. We know that the ruling class will not go down without a fight, slaughtering workers in tantrums of fascist terror as the empire clings onto dear life. We, the working class, must fight even harder than they do. In the wake of this decay, there is an immense opportunity for us to build a new world, a communist world free of exploitation. We don’t need presidents. We need a society run by and for the working class. Join us in the fight for communism!
