‘Regardless of who we voted for, we the people have common interests in seeing to it that all our families are well taken care of, that all children are well educated and have a future. We have a shared interest in a society free of climate disaster, racism, bigotry and inequality, where civil liberties and constitutional rights are respected, and in a country that is at peace with itself and the world. . .’
The 2024 presidential election may well go down in history as the most important election since 1860, when Lincoln was elected and the Civil War began. All three branches of government are now in the hands of far-right extremists who have essentially declared their intention to establish a dictatorship of the billionaires and use that power to organize our society as they see fit. Resistance to Trump’s plans started getting organized the day after the election, with hundreds of thousands of activists representing youth, climate, labor, women, social justice and other groups joining mass online meetings or participating in walkouts and protests. There is a growing understanding that we, as a country, are in real danger. The resistance needs to be ramped up even further as quickly as possible.
Many people in the country are hurting economically, facing high prices for things like groceries, gasoline, housing, and health care, and this apparently drove much of the voting for Trump and against Harris. We have no empathy for racists and hate-mongering. Nonetheless, we understand that many decent people have been misled into thinking Trump would help them. But he won’t help them, and electing him was a huge mistake.
There were a variety of things that contributed to Trump’s victory. Racism and sexism were significant factors. In addition, the Harris campaign claimed the economy was in good shape when for millions it isn’t, ignored the economic suffering of millions of workers, and supported genocide and a crackdown on immigration. A majority of Americans want the genocide to stop, and millions are demanding that the human rights of immigrants be respected. The Democrats also made the threat to democracy posed by Trump the main issue, but as important as it is to defend and expand democracy, polls showed that the largest bloc of voters was focused on economic issues. Massive voter suppression, and the role of the billionaires’ huge donations to Trump and Harris were also factors, along with misinformation and disinformation.
The result was many Democratic voters stayed home. Some voted for third party candidates. Some voted for Trump. Some were prevented from voting. Trump gained some votes compared to 2020, but not a dramatic number. Some 40% of the eligible voters did not vote, and the Washington Post has estimated that Trump’s ultimate margin of victory over Harris is likely to be only about 1%. Trump does not have a “mandate.”
Nonetheless, he and the extremists around him plan to implement a program that would harm most of our society. Their plan includes mass roundups and deportations of immigrants; politicizing the military to make it loyal to Trump instead of the Constitution, and using it to suppress dissent; replacing thousands of civil service employees with people personally loyal to Trump; weakening regulations designed to keep our air, water and workplaces safe; abolishing the Department of Education; making cuts in social programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid; attacking freedom of speech, including the independent media; weakening private sector unions and eliminating them in the public sector; giving trillions in tax cuts to billionaires and corporations; imposing tariffs that will raise prices for everyone; and continuing the genocide in Palestine, and perhaps fomenting a war with Iran. Trump’s choices for cabinet positions and other jobs so far include a number of people who are known as white supremacists and war hawks.
Trump plans to put Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, in charge of a “government efficiency commission,” which would identify supposedly wasteful programs that should be eliminated or cut back. Musk has said his commission’s work would “necessarily involve some temporary hardship” for the people. Musk, who benefits from government contracts, has given at least $132 million to help elect Trump and his Republican allies.
Forbes Magazine found that there were 83 billionaires backing Harris, and 52 backing Trump. Each candidate raised and spent over $1 billion. While it would have been much more in the interest of the people for Trump to be defeated, we were ultimately being organized by billionaires to fight each other.
On Nov. 13, UAW President Shawn Fain issued a statement saying that, while the election outcome was “not the outcome our union advocated for, and it’s not the outcome a majority of our members voted for, our mission remains the same. We must raise the standard of living for our members and the entire working class through unity, solidarity, and working-class power. No matter who is in the White House….[F]or us, this was never about party or personality. As we have said consistently, both parties share blame for the one-sided class war that corporate America has waged on our union, and on working-class Americans for decades.”
In a statement issued Nov. 6, the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America said the labor movement “must be prepared not only to militantly defend workers, but also to lead a broad and militant social resistance to Trump and the Republican Congress. The policies that they will seek to enact, both legislatively and through executive branch action, will hurt everyone except the super-rich.” In September, the UE General Executive Board condemned the “corrupt two-party system” and called for “building a true political alternative, a labor party that can unite and speak for the working class.”
Regardless of who we voted for, we the people have common interests. We have a common interest in seeing to it that all our families are well taken care of, that we all have health care, that all children are well educated and have a future. We have a shared interest in a society free of climate disaster, racism, bigotry and inequality, in a society where civil liberties and constitutional rights are respected, and in a country that is at peace with itself and the world. We cannot afford to be fighting each other when we are all in such danger. We cannot allow ourselves to be divided by race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or differing philosophies. Thousands of groups and millions of people across the country are already beginning to reach out to one another and come together to resist the fascist Trump agenda. This is good, but even more is needed. We are in a fight for our survival. Let’s all find a place to plug in, join hands and get busy.
