The Democratic Party Should Lose its "Lesser Evil" Privileges
by Danny Haiphong
“The Democratic Party, especially under the leadership of Barack Obama, is building a long resume of work in the field of servitude for the imperial ruling class.”
With mid-term elections fast approaching, both corporate parties are doing all they can to turn real grievances into superficial loyalty to Washington. Republicans and Democrats are jockeying for the position of "lesser-evil" as they do every election cycle. The Obama Administration's Democratic Party has held this title for the last six years and will probably hold onto it regardless of which party wins at the polls in November. Democrats, all of whom are loyal to Obama, are waging a war for American hearts and minds by leading the nation into a military intervention against ISIS, giving lip-service to Black America's struggle against racist police murder and brutality, and pitifully pushing for the passage of a $10.10 federal minimum wage. What should be clear at this point in US imperialist history is that there is no "lesser-evil" in Washington, just a "progressive" brand marketed by the ruling class to channel popular discontent into the Democratic Party machine.
In the day-to-day struggle of building political organization, it is common to find that many workers and oppressed people are willing to accept anything Washington does as long as it does "something." Some will passionately make the argument that “something” is better than “nothing." Washington and its corporate masters are responsible for the confusion, manipulating the oppressed with its game of gridlock between the Republican and Democratic Party. The game presents two versions of poison. Workers and oppressed people must choose between the imperatives both Parties agree upon or accept prevailing social conditions. The corporate elite are thus able to effectively pressure the oppressed into choosing one side of the Empire (Democrat) or the other (Republican). And because the Democratic Party is branded the “progressive” party in Washington, many justice-seeking folk choose to ingest blue-stained poison.
“There is no ‘lesser-evil’ in Washington, just a ‘progressive’ brand marketed by the ruling class to channel popular discontent into the Democratic Party machine.”
The Democratic Party, especially under the leadership of Barack Obama, is building a long resume of work in the field of servitude for the imperial ruling class. This work has come at great expense for the working class and oppressed. Recently released reports from the Federal Reserve conclude that income and wealth inequality has deepened under Democratic Party rule. The white ruling class owns nearly the entire nation, with the top 10 percent of earners owning over 70 percent of US wealth. Wealth is so concentrated in the hands of the White minority that even with White American poverty on the rise, median net worth for White families stands at $134,000 in comparison to just $11,000 for Black families.
Furthermore the total median income for US workers now stands below $50,000, nearly seven thousand dollars less than in 1999. Both the number of workers in temporary jobs and the number of workers who have dropped out of the labor force are at record highs. Half the US population is "near-poor" and eighty percent of Americans experience joblessness, homelessness, and material deprivation at some point in their lives. And because the US is a society ruled by white supremacy, Black America experiences double the suffering of White America in every social and economic indicator.
These conditions couldn't exist without the impeccable unity between the Democratic and Republican Party when it comes to serving the interests of the capitalist class. Each party is facilitating the theft of working class wealth straight to the coffers of the corporate elite. The Democratic Party, however, does this with a slightly milder tone than its partners, the Republicans. Republicans go for the throats of the oppressed rhetorically, while the Democratic Party makes it clear that privatizing public wealth into the ownership of the Gates, Walton, and the billionaire ruling class is desired “reform” and necessary “sacrifice.” Poor Black Americans and the working class are being conditioned to accept Democratic Party cuts education, housing, healthcare, food stamps and entire cities. What the Democratic Party won’t tell its constituents is that austerity and privatization are “sacrifices” that subsidize Wall Street and the corporate elite.
“The white ruling class owns nearly the entire nation, with the top 10 percent of earners owning over 70 percent of US wealth.”
The Democratic Party compliments its policy of domestic robbery with corporate theft and imperial war around the world. Obama and the Democratic Party have given imperialism a "humanitarian" face. The Party of Obama wants to destabilize Syria with just as much fervor as the Republicans, giving billions of US dollars and military equipment to various factions of jihadi mercenaries. Much of this assistance conveniently ended up in the hands of ISIS, the new bogey-man of Washington's creation. Whether one analyzes US imperialism’s presence in the Ukraine, Venezuela, Syria, or Iraq, the Democratic Party in Washington is at the forefront of waging a global war against sovereignty for the banks, military contractors, and oil corporations looking to cash in on the dismembering of the 21st century axis of resistance led by Russia and China.
Additionally, the Democratic Presidency of Barack Obama has dropped more drones on Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and numerous other Mid-East and African countries than the Republicans did under Bush. Israel, the settler state brother country of the US, received a pay raise from the Obama Administration to murder Palestinians during "Operation Protective Edge." After thousands of Palestinian deaths and demolished homes, Democratic Party celebrity Elizabeth Warren had the audacity to reinforce Israel's right to "self defense." Senator Bernie Sanders, another darling of the Democratic Party establishment, possesses Israeli citizenship and fully endorsed Israel as it massacred the indigenous Palestinian population.
US imperialism is furthering the exploitation of workers and oppressed people in the US and strangling the world’s people abroad. The role of the Democratic Party in this system is to keep oppressed people trapped in the political orbit of imperialism. Washington’s blue dogs are the self-proclaimed "left" anchor of a sinking ship. However, with the Democratic Party moving ever so close to the Republican Party politically, the ruling class has had to employ White liberals and the Black misleadership class to intoxicate the masses with urgent calls to vote for the the Democratic Party.
“Barack Obama has dropped more drones on Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and numerous other Mid-East and African countries than the Republicans did under Bush.”
This class of scoundrels has proven to be a worthy investment for the corporate elite. The Congressional Black Caucus voted both for increased aid to Israel and against the demilitarization of local police forces last summer. The number one Black stooge of the Democrats, Al Sharpton, demanded the masses in Ferguson vote away police occupation. The Noam Chomskys and Michael Moores of the white liberal class have recently criticized the Democratic Party's complicity in mass surveillance and war. However, given their track record, it is only a matter of time until they change tune and push their followers to vote Democrat come election season. White liberal academics and activists such as these are another arm of the police and, in the case of Sharpton, represent an enemy class of rats whose very purpose is to protect the criminal corporate elite.p>
White liberals and Black misleaders are hired agents of imperialism and depend on the Democratic Party’s existence as the "lesser-evil" representative of the ruling class. However, the Democratic Party should of been permanently stripped of its "lesser evil" privileges during the Johnson Administration's repression of anti-imperialist revolutionaries in the US and globally. Since then, the Democratic Party has filled the vacuum of radical resistance with a heavy dose of collaboration and partnership with empire. It was Bill Clinton who made Black mass incarceration, austerity, and war in Africa and the Middle East "cool" for the liberal class. Obama’s Democratic Party has spread the infatuation with empire to large sections of the American left. It is well past time to build a movement that strips the Democrats of their lesser-evil privileges and sinks the imperialist system for good.
Danny Haiphong is an activist and case manager in the Greater Boston Area. Danny can be reached at wakeupriseup1990@gmail.com.
Roger McKenzie is the international editor of the UK-based Morning Star, the only English-language socialist daily newspaper in the world. He joins us from Oxford to discuss his new book, “The…
The late Bruce Dixon was a co-founder and managing editor of Black Agenda Report. In 2018, he provided this commentary entitled, "US Fake History of World War II Underlies Permanent Bipartisan…
Nadiah Alyafai is a member of the US Palestinian Community Network chapter in Chicago and she joins us to discuss why the public must be aware of the Nakba and the continuity of Palestinian…
Black people who are among the rich and famous garner praise and love, and so do those who are in distress. But concerns for the masses of people and their struggles are often missing.
Ama Ata Aidoo lands a knock-out blow to white neocolonial anti-African revisionism.
