 of a Black president.
In fact, it is precisely because people are conservative that there will be a revolutionary movement right here in the belly of the beast. People want stability: they want a steady job with decent benefits, they want quality health care and education, a safe place to live and time to spend with their families and loved ones. But capitalism can no longer provide even these basics to humanity.
We live in an epoch of sharp and sudden changes, a period of massive shifts in consciousness on the basis of earth shaking events. This is not normally the case. Normally, years and even decades can go by and it seems as though nothing changes. But these are not normal times. But the fact is, absolutely nothing is static - everything changes. Absolutely everything is in a constant state of movement and change. From volcanoes and earthquakes to relations between nations and human consciousness.
Many are euphoric about Obama's victory, and there will be a certain honeymoon. Some measure of hope has been restored to a beleaguered public - at least for now. Even the markets were happy with exit poll data giving the election to Obama. The Dow Jones jumped over 300 points on election day, typically a slow day on Wall Street. But sooner rather than later, the elation will wear off and the cold reality will set in: nothing fundamental has changed. We are still living under capitalism, with everything that entails: unemployment, home foreclosures, rising prices, racism, millions of second-class citizens and workers, low wages, deteriorating conditions, rotting infrastructure, and so on.
There are already symptoms of the simmering discontent exploding to the surface, for example, the mass mobilizations of immigrant workers, the growing mood of discontent among many rank and file trade unionists, or the spontaneous demonstrations against the bail out on Wall Street. This is just the beginning of the beginning of things to come.
We predicted long in advance that the real loser in these elections would be the working class. Nonetheless, at the moment, millions of workers and young people feel like the winners. We understand the tremendous hopes so many people have invested in Obama. The last few years have been hard. But we stand by our position. We've said it before, and we say it again: As long as the two capitalist parties continue to dominate U.S. politics, the working class will never see its interests represented in Washington. This is why the unions must break with the Democrats and build a mass party of labor. The potential for such a party is enormous. Such a party would not remain a third party for long. We want it to become the first party; let the Democrats and Republicans fight for third place, or complete their fusion into a single party.
We must have a patient, friendly approach to those with honest illusions in Obama. But Obama's acceptance speech makes it clear that there are no miracles or quick fixes waiting around the corner. He made it clear that things will not get better overnight, and may not get better for a long time to come. In fact, they will most likely get even worse.
CNN sounded a note of caution on election night, when an interviewer said that economic change doesn't happen overnight, and that the winner would have a very short honeymoon. The AP's top post-election story was titled "President-elect Obama faces daunting challenges." This is the sober reality of the situation.
The 2008 Presidential elections are indeed historic. They mark a new stage in the changing consciousness of the U.S. working class. Many people have already broken with the two party system and can see through Obama's sweet-sounding words. But most workers and young people will have to learn the hard way, through their own experience. Life teaches. Welcome to the "school of the Democrats."
- Prospects for a Labor Party – Part One and Part Two
- Millions of US families threatened with eviction by Jorge Martin (October 10, 2008)
- "Wall Street Socialism" and the US elections by US Socialist Appeal (October 8, 2008)
- Report