How To Avoid Being A Class Traitor in the US Today

Here in the US, we are in a Presidential election year; a particularly contentious and chaotic one at that. Working Class Americans are divided against one another on what kind of future we want to live in, as well as how to achieve those living conditions.

Seeing the world “traitor” applied to people usually results in a strong reaction, whether by the accused or those considering the accused. Betraying others is something most of us try to consciously avoid.

However, unintentional betrayals happen, typically because the person doing it is unaware of how their actions are harming others. So it’s important that we understand the context of what being a class traitor looks like at this time and place, in the US in 2024, if we want to avoid playing that role.

History informs us about the present

Let’s start by taking a look at the pattern of US Presidential elections over the last few decades, in which the Republicans run a reactionary, regressive candidate, the Democrats counter by eliminating any truly progressive candidates in the primaries, by draining their campaign funds through tit for tat attack ads, or through political pressure by other party members. Then they tell voters who want to prevent the Republican candidate that we must vote for the centrist the DNC and donors have decided upon. We’re even told we must choose the “lesser” evil.

So what’s the cumulative effect of that? If you’re familiar with the Overton Window – what represents the acceptable spectrum of political ideas and policies by the mainstream population at any given time and place – you know it has shifted to the right in the US over time. Most Democrat politicians of today would have been Republicans just 20 years ago. The window of acceptable political discourse has shifted along with it. Like a frog being gradually brought to a boil. Voting for the “lesser” evil as our only option against far right-wing candidates has resulted in increasingly worse candidates over time. The consequences of that are seen in the worsened living conditions we’ve experienced in the US working class, as well as foreign policy that has done horrific harm to working class people around the world, and has increasingly isolated the US and its vassal states from the global majority.

Does the Overton Window represent the will of the American people?

Several SCOTUS rulings over the decades gave power to the US Oligarch Class – also known in Marxian terms as the “Bourgeoisie.” These are the people who are so wealthy, usually through inheritance, they only work if they want to – they don’t need to in order to survive. The Oligarchs have used their corporations, nonprofits, political action committees, lobbying firms, revolving doors between regulatory agencies and the businesses they regulate, and other means to gain control of the US government. They’ve been so effective, the only way to influence public policy is to be rich enough to buy the influence to do it.

In order to effectively compete against another candidate who is being funded by billionaires, their opponent must either also take money from wealthy donors, or try to make up the difference by asking the working class for donations. If you gave to Bernie and felt betrayed, as many of us did, you know how eye-opening it has been to see him fall in line with the many of the stances and policies that his campaign promised to break free from in order to serve the American people.

Money is the primary influence in determining public policy in the US. Most of us don’t have enough of it to make a difference, even if we band together. When 10% of the population owns most everything – including the media most Americans get their information from – it’s simply impossible for us to compete. US politicians rely upon their donors to get elected and stay in office, and their donors rely upon them to enact the policies that benefit that top 10%, to the detriment of the rest of us. If politicians attempt to take a stand on behalf of regular people – at home or abroad – the donors will fund an obedient challenger to take their place.

We’ve seen the results here in the US from these policies and their impacts. Life quality, life expectancy, and the ability to remain alive have all plummeted.

What’s the impact on the rest of Earth?

The Project For A New American Century and its aim of global Full Spectrum Dominance has been at the core of US foreign policy since 1997. After the US successfully dismantled the USSR, it declared itself Earth’s superpower, and instead of following International Law – declared that all nations must comply with its “Rules-Based International Order” which means the US makes the rules and follows none of those itself.

Those policies (and the US policies since colonists first arrived on Turtle Island) have resulted in so much harm and damage to people and planet that many places have been left uninhabitable for a variety of reasons. So the people of those places flee and seek asylum in the US to avoid being one of the victims of its foreign policy, only to be met with white supremacist policies, dehumanizing treatment, and threats.

These are the patterns of the US, which have not and cannot change, because they make the financial numbers go up in the accounts of the Oligarch Class, and that is what they live for – regardless of the impact on other lives. They own this government, including both major parties, which act as a Duopoly on political life in the US.

The global majority has recognized this, and have been taking steps to build systems of cooperation with the goals of peaceful international relations with one another, and mutually beneficial trade and policies, so that their populations may enjoy common prosperity. The US Empire has become increasingly irrelevant, and has lost any so-called moral authority it claims to have had with its actions against other populations. This is especially true about the genocide that the US is collaborating in with Israel against the Palestinian people.

The systems that are being built by BRICS, BRI, and SCO are bypassing the US Empire altogether. Nations are no longer willing to be told they must trade in USD and have built systems to trade in their own currencies.

People around the world are disgusted by the US Empire and by Americans allowing a tiny percentage of our population to act as dictators who see the planet, all its resources and lives as its to steal and spend however they see fit.

How do we change things?

If the US Working Class wants to force change, it will not come through the ballot box – I’ve already shown how that is impossible. So arguing with one another over which Oligarch-owned and serving candidate we think is best is not only a futile activity, it only serves to further divide.

The way we successfully change things comes from unity with one other and mass action. The Oligarch Class knows this, and that’s why they’ve worked so hard to keep the Working Class divided. We are the majority, and they are the minority, but they remain in control because they’ve convinced most Americans that their class interests align with their own. This is what is known as false consciousness.

We outnumber them, but they out-organize us, and the Oligarchs get people to believe that their only real power is to vote. This is provably false, and yet, most Americans still believe it. This means that any grassroots mass actions and organizations are usually dismissed as silly or ineffective. The efficacy comes through the power of numbers, though, and so you can see the conundrum.

Solidarity is what is needed, and being able to clearly identify our common enemies is vital to building and maintaining solidarity with each other. But without class consciousness, people can’t do that. It’s one of the many reasons that Marxism has been portrayed as a bogeyman in the US – to prevent people from using its tools to become class conscious.

It’s not just the American working class people who are harmed by the actions of the US Oligarch Class – working class people around the world are impacted, usually in horrible ways, by US foreign policy. Working Class lives are seen as disposable by the Oligarch class, particularly if the people don’t have “white” skin.

Working Class Solidarity reaches beyond borders and is international in scope. For those of us in the US, the recognition that the policies of the Empire we live under harm working class people globally, and working to do things beyond voting to try and change those policies through systemic change is imperative to building solidarity. We need each other. We’re all connected through the web of life, and most Americans have either never recognized this, or forgotten it along the way.

Does this mean you shouldn’t vote?

No, I’m not telling you not to vote, or even who to vote for. But I am asking you to examine the weight you put into voting, because whoever is elected into office serves their donors, and any benefits that might trickle down to the working class are either to quell revolution or are simply incidental to something that benefits the oligarch class even more. Recognize that even if you avoid the candidate you fear getting into office, you still need to be radically honest about who the person in office actually serves.

The US population has been drowning in propaganda for generations, and so everything I’m saying here likely sounds antithetical to what some readers believe. I’ve written extensively about their propaganda here, on my other blog Comrade Birb, and on my social media. I’m not the only one exposing the lies we’ve been and are being told, and I urge you to take the time to learn about how and why we’ve been deceived.

Voting at this point – for anyone who wants to see progress and justice – should be a matter of who will give us the most breathing room to do the mass work we need to in furtherance of liberating the working class from the oligarch class-owned and controlled system. Liberation will not come via the ballot box.

So What Is To Be Done?

Liberation comes from mass action against the tyrants who hold power, not from begging them for it, or hoping we found a Capitalist politician who “gets it.” History has shown us that the oppressed people must rise up against their oppressors to achieve liberation. But what does that look like in a militarized Neofeudal state that has shown its eagerness to use Fascist actions against anyone standing in their way? We must examine the history and material conditions of the US in order to find answers.

Since the Oligarch Class holds oppressive power over the Working Class majority, it is crucial that the Working Class understands this relationship and all its implications. Becoming class-conscious is how this is accomplished. Learning the history of US policies and their impact on other human beings is a great place to get started, so you understand why class plays such an important role in our politics. Six megacorporations own most US media outlets, so it’s important to look outside of their information monopoly to do this. Here’s a list of books to get you started on learning that history. You should also check out the work of Michael Parenti, Radhika Desai, Michael Hudson and Ben Norton, Margaret Kimberley, James Baldwin, Richard Wolff, Abby Martin, and Kwame Ture, to name a few.

What else?

The US is a settler-colonial state, meaning that it was founded as a colony by European settlers, who felt so superior to the people Indigenous to Turtle Island, they proceeded to slaughter them and end their traditional ways of life in order to take over the rule of this land. European settlers built and maintain an apartheid system in the US not unlike the other places they’ve colonized (South Africa, Israel, and India are all examples). Any politician elected into office under the current system in the US must ultimately either support or acquiesce to this system if they want to hold onto their office and the power that accompanies it.

So, decolonization is another thing we must do – in ourselves, in our communities, our policies, practices, and planning. We must listen to Indigenous and Black American voices, because it is their lives that have been sacrificed and used to build this colony. We have to unlearn white supremacy, particularly if we are Euro-American. This means we need to learn at least some of the history of this colony that we have deliberately not been taught or exposed to, because once you know how the US sausage is made, you never want that sausage again. The Oligarch class knows this, and has insured we aren’t taught it in schools or exposed to it in public life.

Building dual power systems that help us meet community needs is another strategy that is being implemented across the US. Mutual Aid Organizations and Networks to help those suffering and struggling with getting their needs met exist and new ones are being built as people recognize the benefits and the power of community building. Freely providing donated food, clothing, household goods, transportation, basic healthcare supplies, and other items to those who cannot otherwise afford those and providing assistance during crises like natural disasters, mutual aid is an essential component of liberation.

Direct Actions, like well-organized protests that have specific demands, good security culture, and that are supported by multiple mass grassroots organizations can be effective in forcing changes to policies, particularly at local, state and regional levels.

There are many more things we can be doing, but this article is already long, so I’ll need to write more about those later.

Puzzle pieces of politics

I didn’t know all of these things a decade ago. I didn’t have all of the puzzle pieces. But as I’ve identified more of those via my studies and observation, I’ve recognized that I need to change as a person, and that I need to help others recognize the necessity of doing so, if we ever want things to improve for ourselves, everyone else, and for future generations (may they exist.) My exploration beyond the Overton Window has been revealing, to say the least. I hope that what I learn and share is helpful to others.

My tone is often disturbing to anyone still invested in the provably false idea that this system can be reformed into justice, but it has to be, to get people to wake up, not unlike I woke up from the JW Doomsday Cult in which I was raised and escaped 28 years ago. Being polite doesn’t work. We are facing the very real possibility of nuclear annihilation or an unsurvivable climate, all due to the actions of the US Oligarch Class who rules this colony and thinks it still rules the world. (Because it did for so long.)

The US Empire is in its death throes, and is thrashing like a mortally wounded animal. The Fascism that it has used to enforce Capitalist policies globally is turning increasingly inward, because as explained earlier, the global majority has rejected the US “international rules based order” and the Empire can’t get its claws into other sovereign nations like it used to do. Cop Cities are being built around the US, starting in Atlanta, which has a long-standing agreement (along with most other US police departments) to train its officers with the Israeli Offensive Forces (also known as the IDF) in the latest population oppression and control techniques. Both parties in the Duopoly support it. The Zionist colony of Israel is a Fascist proving ground that the US Empire uses to test polices, practices, and the latest offerings from the military industrial complex on a civilian population. Take some time to think about why they need that kind of space. It goes far beyond The Levant.

So, if you’re done pretending that the US is anything other than a reactionary Fascist Empire, and you want to help struggle toward international liberation from it, you need to change your emotional investment in it and your actions. That includes placing historically and materially correct priority on voting for POTUS, and investing your labor in actions that actually help your community, and therefore, yourself.

Who are you voting for, then?

I cannot in good conscience vote for any Zionist Fascist candidates, and I will not. Increased oppression is coming regardless of which team in the Duopoly League sits in the Oval Office come January. I know too much about the horrifying genocide of Palestinians and I am in solidarity with THEM. This is part of international working class solidarity.

I will likely vote for Jill Stein, as her policies align most closely with my own values. Do I think she will make it in, and if she does, do I think that a Congress without members of her own party will work with her? Based on history, it’s unlikely. But the alternative is I don’t vote. At least my vote for her will show that I want changes that Capitalist/Oligarch serving candidates are incapable of delivering due to the limitations of the system. I’m not telling you to vote for her.

You need to vote YOUR conscience. But I urge you to do so while placing the proper priority on the process. I hope what I’ve written here helps you to expand your understanding of why that is so important.