102. US: the storming of the Capitol

How should socialists respond to the dramatic crisis in the US?

On Wednesday 6 January 2021, Trump supporters - some armed - invaded Congress. It was the culmination of the loose-cannon president’s desperate attempts to overturn the election result. But the US capitalist class is used to inflicting humiliations like this on the rest of the world – not losing control at home.

Was this action just a protest-turned-riot, or did it represent some kind of attempted coup? Are Trump and his movement ‘fascists’, or is the real picture more varied and chaotic?

The opposite attitudes of Capitol Hill police officers and US military chiefs show the splits in the US state machine. The big divide between Trump’s supporters and other Republicans shows splits are developing there too.

So can incoming Democrat Joe Biden fundamentally change the fortunes of US capitalism, or the conditions of the mass of the population? Is it right to support social media bans, new anti-terror laws, and the Democratic Party? Or could that actually help Trump and hinder working-class struggles?

Clearly the events of 6 January were a watershed. What do workers and young people in the US need in order to put their own stamp on events?

This episode of Socialism looks at the United States in crisis: the storming of the capital.

Further reading and listening

CWI analysis of the US post-election crisis: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/31867/20-01-2021/usa-in-crisis-the-need-for-a-socialist-alternative

US socialists respond to 6 January attacks: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/31834/13-01-2021/how-should-socialists-respond-to-the-6-january-attacks-on-capitol-hill

CWI statement immediately following 6 January events: https://www.socialistworld.net/2021/01/07/us-in-crisis-need-for-a-mass-workers-party-and-socialist-programme/

Trump Twitter ban: only independent workers' voice can defeat right: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/31884/20-01-2021/trump-twitter-ban-only-independent-workers-voice-can-defeat-right

US imperialism in decline: https://soundcloud.com/socialismpodcast/99-2020-highlights-us-imperialism-in-decline