The Right is So Wrong

Print
Written by David Starr   
Wednesday, 21 June 2017 04:59

There is a sense of urgency in the world today. The right-wing has been on the rise, imposing its reactionary agenda. It has poisoned the minds of those among the working class. Its conservatism encompasses the worst aspects of tradition: racism, homophobia, religious fanaticism, and ultra-nationalism.

In the United States, the powerful are trying to take advantage of the current international situation (since the dissolving of the USSR) by furthering the interests of the U.S. empire. The Trump regime is especially geared toward this objective, where the few have too much while the many have too little.

Since the presidency of Ronald Reagan, there has been a resurgence of the right. From Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Alexander Haig, William Casey, G. Gordon Liddy, and Elliot Abrams, to Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Dick Cheney and George Bush Jr., to Steve Bannon, Jeff Sessions, David Clarke, Steve Mnuchin, Rex Tillerson, Ajit Pai and Donald Trump, the empire has become more ugly.

Democracy has been seriously threatened by these unsavory characters. There have been ethical violations committed by the right: voter disenfranchisement, imperial wars, starving public education of funds, for-profit healthcare, and corruption through a meshing of corporations and government. (The corporate/neoliberal Democrats are just as guilty, wanting, e.g., drone strikes, regime change, and going along with cutting social programs.)

By voting for Donald Trump, or any other GOPer, members of the working class have sacrificed their own class interests. They have cut their own throats. Why? Choosing between Hillary Clinton and Trump wasn't much of a choice. Some saw Trump as the lesser of two evils (instead of the other way around). Some were enthusiastic about Trump, his ultra-nationalism appealing to their baser instincts. And Trump passed himself off as the "anti-establishment" candidate (fooling some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time).

Running as an "outsider," despite his ties to the corporate establishment, Trump made appeals to fear. He scapegoated the "Other," i.e., deporting undocumented immigrants and banning Muslims, blaming them for the U.S.'s societal problems (when its people like him that are to blame).

Any Trump supporter with common sense can see now that they were betrayed. Trump lined his cabinet with Wall Streeters. And he has flirted with fascism, e.g., appointing Steve Bannon, a white supremacist, as an advisor. But there are Trump supporters who will stand by him no matter what he does. This is either denial on a grand scale or showing what kind of people support him.

The U.S. imperial mindset feeds on inequality. The elites, both corporate and government, don't really care about the conditions of the working class, where ever they may be. The priority is profits, where not even the sky is the limit. The right in particular desires to feed at the monetary trough at the expense of the working class. The Trump regime, being characteristic of the right, wants to go back to the 19th century when there were no unions and no government regulations. And where white domination was more overt. They want a second Gilded Age.

It is crystal-clear that the right has to be stopped. What is needed goes beyond the loyal opposition of corporate Democrats. Bernie Sanders is an important factor for an opposition having a political backbone. Sanders has repeatedly  stated what the issues are and what can be done: ending Citizens United, tuition-free schools, single payer healthcare, improved race relations, ending income inequality and environmental protections.

One way this has to be done is to raise taxes on the rich. They may whine and complain, but they're not going to go homeless, starve or go bankrupt if their taxes are raised to an appropriate level. Another way is to cut the military budget. The U.S. is the biggest military spender in the world. It has gone way beyond defense. But the right, and corporate Democrats, refuse to make significant cuts to the budget. War-profiteering is big business.

The few progressives in the Democratic Party must continue to be on the attack, pointing out everything wrong with the right and its agenda. They must obstruct and persuade other Democrats to do the same. Petitions must be signed. U.S. citizens must continue to show their outrage at town hall meetings. Protest marches have to continue, as well as calling senators and representatives, especially those on the right. The latter have to know that many people oppose them. And they must be voted out of office.

This may all sound like pie-in-the-sky. But the urgency in today's times demands it.

e-max.it: your social media marketing partner
Email This Page