FreiKorps in America

In my analysis of "Sam Williams: The Crisis (Pt 9)", I was worried about the rise of right-wing paramilitaries (such as a FreiKorps) to defend Capitalism. Unfortunately, this fear has now now been realised.

Dan Dinello writes about "A Confederacy of Vigilantes: White Supremacists, including some Police, attack BLM Protesters, Prepare to Defend Trump’s Theft of the Presidency":

The most vicious elements within these far-right militant groups correctly believe that their conduct is sanctioned by the government and the police. Given the maniacal fervor of pro-Trump paramilitary forces, it’s reasonable to assume that they’ve “upgraded” — in organization and tactics — as a result of involvement by law enforcement officers and even Iraq war veterans. “They have clear civilian targets and a President who eggs them on,” asserts Alexander Reid Ross, author of Against the Fascist Creep, who tracks vigilante groups. “There seems no doubt that America’s far right is keying up for conflict in the lead-up and aftermath of the presidential election” as Trump has floated the idea of rejecting an unfavorable election result as fraudulent.

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This is different from the Fascist uprisings in the 1930s. Back then, the Fascists overthrew what they saw as weak democracries in Italy, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Romania, and Poland. The Fascists saw themselves as revolutionaries ushering in a bright new future. They were the true representatives of the people in their world-view. They rejected democracy and Communism/Socialism/Anarchism as foreign to what they saw as the true national character.

Today, the proto-Fascist groups are defending the existing social structure. However, they see themselves as overthrowing the existing social order. Thus, there is a conflict between their subjective reality and the objective reality.

Barry Sheppard writes about Trump’s Bonaparte moment:

In the present day US, albeit for different reasons than at the end of 1848 in France: workers’ organisations play little or no role in politics; like Louis, Trump presents himself as a strongman; and as was the case between 1849–51, the bourgeois parties are continuously bickering between themselves and achieving little (except for bipartisan agreements like adopting ever-increasing military budgets).

Louis embraced France’s Napoleonic past for legitimacy and made himself Emperor. Trump looks to US history, especially the Jim Crow period. He seeks to solidify authoritarianism with bourgeois democratic trappings, while greatly restricting democratic rights, something like the regimes in the Jim Crow South, but with himself at the top.

Trump’s militia

Trump is also building up an armed force that is loyal to him.

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Trump is able to position himself as a Bonapartist by bridging the gap between the subjective and objective realities. The problem with Bonapartism is its inherent instability.

That the FreiKorps are now establishing themselves in American society. Whether Trump is able to keep control of them reminds to be seen.

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Nouriel Roubini: The Main Street Manifesto

Nouriel Roubini publishes The Main Street Manifesto.

The precariat is the contemporary version of Karl Marx’s proletariat: a new class of alienated, insecure workers who are ripe for radicalization and mobilization against the plutocracy (or what Marx called the bourgeoisie). This class is growing once again, now that highly leveraged corporations are responding to the COVID-19 crisis as they did after 2008: taking bailouts and hitting their earnings targets by slashing labor costs.

One segment of the precariat comprises younger, less-educated white religious conservatives in small towns and semi-rural areas who voted for Trump in 2016. They hoped that he would actually do something about the economic “carnage” that he described in his inaugural address. But while Trump ran as a populist, he has governed like a plutocrat, cutting taxes for the rich, bashing workers and unions, undermining the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and otherwise favoring policies that hurt many of the people who voted for him.

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Roubini accepts Marx's class analysis, and that Trump is a right-wing populist who has betrayed his base. Indeed, he echoes the famous lines in his conclusion:

The new proletariat – the precariat – is now revolting. To paraphrase Marx and Friedrich Engels in The Communist Manifesto: “Let the Plutocrat classes tremble at a Precariat revolution. The Precarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Precarious workers of all countries, unite!”

Roubini forgets that the proletariat in Marx's day had a precarious existence. It was only through the struggle of unions against brutal oppression by the bosses, that a measure of certainity in the lives of workers was achieved. The neo-liberal assault of the past 40 years has eroded most of those gains.

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ABC News: Getting people to follow coronavirus restrictions is harder the second time around

Getting people to follow coronavirus restrictions is harder the second time around.

The research also examined factors that predicted who was most likely to comply with restrictions.

The two primary predictors were feelings of "duty to obey the government" and "personal morality".

Simply, people were most compliant if they felt a stronger duty to obey government instructions, and if they thought it was morally wrong to flout the rules. These findings suggest social norms, rather than fear of COVID-19, motivated compliance the most.

The findings also revealed age and gender both had a bearing, with older participants and women being more likely to comply.

Those who perceived a greater health risk from COVID-19 were also more willing to follow the rules, as well as those who felt there was a higher risk of being caught and fined for breaking them. However, these factors were nowhere near as important as feelings of duty to obey or personal morality.

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The survey referred to is described in "Morals, duty or risk?: Examining predictors of compliance with COVID-19 social distancing restrictions". The implication for policy is:

Authorities often rely on sanctions such as fines and arrests to enforce laws (this has also occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic to enforce social distancing restrictions). However, our findings suggest that while sanction risk predicts compliance, authorities cannot rely solely on legal sanctions to force compliance. Authorities need to continue to persuade citizens that it is both morally right to abide by the restrictions and that we all have a duty to protect those most vulnerable to the disease. In other words, people should be asked to obey the COVID-19 social distancing restrictions because they have a moral responsibility to act to protect others.

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This is a searing indictment of Capitalism. That moral responsibility has to be urged upon people implicates Capitalaism as being an amoral system. A personal morality is not expected of people in a Capitalist system.

We need to envision and create a political and economic system that encourages and rewards personal morality and responsibility.

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Nadine Silva: Still no Covid19 cases traced to BLM mass rallies held over two weeks ago

Nadine Silva writes that Still no Covid19 cases traced to BLM mass rallies held over two weeks ago.

However, Health officials across the country are yet to trace a single coronavirus case to the Black Lives Matter protests that took place over 14 days ago.

This morning [22 June 2020], CMO Brendan Murphy told ABC News that the experts did not believe the rallies were directly responsible for any new cases.

“Whilst three of the protesters in Victoria did test positive, we don’t think they transmitted or got it at the protest,” he said.

The absence of positive transmissions from the BLM rallies led to Arrernte writer, Celeste Liddle, on Sunday night tweeting at the media and asking if it planned to report on it as actively as the unfounded concerns about new outbreaks potentially resulting from the protests.

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My own theory on this has the following points:

• The rallies were held outside. The current research indicates the transmission of SARS-COV-2 virus outside in the open air is far less than inside buildings.
• The participants were probably following hygiene guidelines. This would have reduced the incidence of the virus among this population.

The people who took part in these rallies are motivated by a social conscience. Having a social conscience would mean that the hygiene guidelines were followed closely. Thus, there were fewer cases among the participants. Since the rallies were held out in the open, any transmission were greatly inhibited.

The focus on virus transmission by the media is meant to suppress these rallies. Delaying these rallies will derail this mass movement.

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Bob Lefsetz: Barr/Berman

Bob Lefsetz writes about the crisis between Barr/Berman.

So, we’re heading for a crisis. And it won’t be a Constitutional crisis, it won’t be based on law, it won’t be about legalities, but hearts and minds. Trump will do everything to stay in power, and he will call out the military. And your face will be recognized and you will be put in jail as the corporations stand aside and…

And what?

We’re heading for a revolution. Or complete authoritarianism. Don’t keep telling me it can’t happen here. Or shrug and say you’ll be fine no matter what happens. Look at the history of the world, the American experiment has been relatively brief. When are we going to take the temperature of the youth and stop the insanity? If not now, when?

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Informed capitalists, such as Ritholtz and Lefsetz, are worried that a revolution is brewing or a reactionary backlash can happened. They lack the insight of Marxist-Leninist theory to understand the class dynamics behind current events.

The successful neo-liberal onslaught since the 1980s has crushed the proletariat. The organic organs of class struggle (trade unions and labour parties) have been weakened or subverted. These organs are being bypassed by the mass movements to express their demands.

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Sam Williams: The Crisis (Pt 10)

Sam Williams writes about the demands to abolish or defund the police in The Crisis (Pt 10).

But the real significance of the demand to abolish the police is that, even at this early stage, the incipient U.S. revolution cannot but begin to realize that the state consists of a body of armed men, and now some women, plus material extensions such as prisons. The state exists to defend capitalist private property in the means of production. It cannot be reformed. It must be smashed and replaced by an entirely new system of “public safety.” All this is in line with the writings of Marx, Engels and Lenin on the state.

The demand to abolish or “de-fund” the police is being raised not because the demonstrators have read the Marxist classics — very few have — but because their practical experience in what is, in essence, a class struggle points in the direction of getting rid of — not reforming — the police. Since the May 25 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers, which was duly recorded on cell phone video, anti-racist demonstrators have put the demand to abolish the police into the mainstream of political discussion in the U.S. for the first time.

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The interesting thing is that a class demand ("Abolish the police") arose naturally without being consciously informed by Marxist-Leninist theory. However, this demand cannot be developed beyond this stage without being informed by theory.

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Barry Sheppard: United States: High stakes in Trump's attacks on Black Lives Matter protests

Barry Sheppard writes that United States: High stakes in Trump’s attacks on Black Lives Matter protests.

Trump’s threat to use the military to smash the uprising, if carried out, would have been a major step towards a military-Bonapartist dictatorship. The power of the uprising led retired generals and admirals to publicly back away from such a step, causing Trump to retreat. Mark Milley, chair of the armed forces Joint Chiefs of Staff - and an active duty general - in effect joined them.

It’s unlikely that the ruling class, reeling from the protests and the huge support for their demands, would support such a move.

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The political problem for the US Capitalist class is that there is no clear alternative to Trump: Biden is a pitiful excuse for a leader. Bernie Sanders would now be an acceptable alternative if it were not for the fact that the establishment has stopped the process of Sanders getting the Democratic Party nomination.

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Jim McIlroy: Slavery endemic to Australia’s colonial history

Jim McIlroy writes that Slavery endemic to Australia’s colonial history.

Slavery, as a system of forced labour, dates back to antiquity. Slavery, Australia-style, includes the original convict system, First Nations people being forced to labour on pastoral stations, the Blackbirding of South Sea Islanders and the Stolen Wages program in Queensland and other states.

While wage theft is the capitalist system’s standard business model and the colonisers generally accepted slavery, it nevertheless sat uneasily on their conscience. This is why the ideology of “scientific” racism, the belief that one skin colour was superior to another, allowed First Nations people to be enslaved for so long. It also underpins the right’s culture wars, currently taking a hammering with the rise of the Black Lives Matter-Stop Deaths in Custody movements.

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Racism is the ideological justification for slavery. It is not the economic or political justification. The economic justification is the maximum possible extraction of labour value from workers. The political justification was to create a collaborator class of poor whites to uphold the system of slavery.

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Marguerite Ward: Only 25% of Americans think capitalism is good for society

Marguerite Ward writes that Only 25% of Americans think capitalism is good for society.

In May, the Harris Poll and Just Capital, an independent research firm founded by the billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones, surveyed 1,000 people on their thoughts about capitalism amid the pandemic. Only 25% of respondents said they believed our current form of capitalism ensures the greater good of society.

For many this doesn’t come as a surprise. Prominent voices ranging from a top Harvard economist to the billionaire hedge-fund manager Ray Dalio have warned that capitalism would soon face a crisis because of the massive inequality exposed by the pandemic.

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The report on the survey concluded:

Americans overwhelmingly agree that we as a society need to use this crisis as an opportunity to fix what’s broken and find a better way of living. Americans are looking for companies to take the lead on key policy issues like paid sick leave, paid family leave, wage increases, healthcare, and increased flexibility to work from home. And the American public believes we need a more evolved form of capitalism to tackle the shift.

This more evolved capitalism must be based on our learnings from this time – that our economy has not been working for the majority of Americans, that business must play a key role in protecting the public, and that certain populations, including Black and Brown Americans, are tremendously vulnerable to both the health and economic impacts of crisis. When asked if they had been personally impacted by COVID-19, Black survey respondents identified as having been furloughed, laid off, or given a zero-hour schedule at double the rate of White respondents (Black respondents: 22%, 20%, and 21% vs. White respondents: 10%, 11%, and 5%, respectively).

We have faced unprecedented challenges over the last few months – and it’s not over yet – but we have the opportunity today to build better coming out of this pandemic, and deep social unrest. These views from the public provide a roadmap to how we can reset capitalism to truly serve all Americans, and build a more equitable society for tomorrow.

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This view is hampered by the blinkers that Capitalism is the only gmae in town. Socialism or Communism is not even considered. Fifty (50) years on neo-liberalism has led us here. What the magazine wants some form of Capitalism to survive this crisis. They are implicitly recognizing that the neo-liberal project has led to this series of crises: massive busfires; glaobal pandemic; economic depression; unrest in the streets.

People have to realize that asking Capitalists to be nice will not work. We have seen what utter bastards thry are throughout the 1980s and onwards. We need to take control of our own lives and our work. We need to work and struggle towards a more just and equitable society. Capitalism has shown that it cannot achieve that outcome.

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Sam Williams: The Crisis (Pt 9)

Sam Williams describes The Crisis (Pt 9).

But the dangers of what Roubini calls “populism,” by which he essentially means fascism, are very real. The danger of fascism will grow if the current demonstrations and rebellions don’t lead to a rapid revival of the workers’ movement, not only in the trade union sense but above all in the political sense. If the workers’ movement revives, it will open the door to the resolution of the current ecological-biological, economic, and political crises in the form of the U.S. and global socialist revolution. This is not, however, an outcome that Mr. Roubini particularly relishes. Instead, he hopes for a solution that will somehow revive capitalism without fascism and war.

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The danger in the USA is that Trump loses control of his base of lumpen-proletariat and petite-bourgeoisie classes. This would open the door to a more Fascist leader. Trump is an opportunist. Some say he is a Bonapartist except that he does not unify the nation.

Already, I am seeing videos on Youtube decrying the surrender of the state to the BLM protestors with the modest reforms being proposed. These reactionaries are most affronted by footage of police kneeling with protestors. The reactionaries call this act kow-towing. They are outraged. They do not see the inherent meaninglessness of the act.

And, most dangerously of all, there are fantasists putting out videos of them saying that they have turned back busloads of Antifia activists from pillaging and burning their communities. No actual footage of this is provided. These fantasists are fuelling the propaganda on the Right.

However, no-one is blaming Trump for the failure to reign in the current insurrection. Whereas in the UK, people are blaming the Conservatives for the failure to do so. This may account for the renewed urgency on Brexit negotiations.

Will opines further:

This is why the current rebellion sweeping the United States of America, still by far the most powerful imperialist country in the world, is so important. Will this rebellion be a herald of a movement towards the socialist transformation of the United States and the world, or will it end in a new, if brief, stabilization of American and world capitalism such as Roubini is hoping for in the 2030s? If something like this were to occur, it would very likely be but a prelude to the final collapse of our civilization. And this as far as capitalism is concerned is the very best case.

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Yes, there is economic and ecological instability within Capitalism, but there is no political instability as the overwhelming majority is still in favour of Capitalism. At this stage, some minor political realignment may occur.

My main fear is with the possible rise of right-wing paramilitaries who see themselves as replacing the police in quelling the insurrection as in the case of the Freikorps.

By unknown photograther - http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3160/3053216221_576264dcf2.jpg, Public Domain, Link

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Oli Mould: Seattle’s BLM Autonomous Protest Zone and the Paris Commune of 1871: Anti-Capitalist Spirit still Lives

Oli Mould worries about co-option of the Seattle’s BLM Autonomous Protest Zone and the Paris Commune of 1871: Anti-Capitalist Spirit still Lives.

With Chaz too, the lure of “protest chic” may be too much to resist – it is after all in Seattle, one of the US’s most heralded creative cities. For Chaz to resist this, it must resolutely be a space of the oppressed and the black voices of the movement. In essence, white people can help set it up and maintain it, but they must remain silent inside it and let the oppressed use the space to strategise and mobilise.

The Paris Commune didn’t end too well, and the murmurings from President Donald Trump are that the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone may not last too long either. But that the commune is still taught and talked about today is testament to its lasting positive effect within urban politics. It may have been brutally quashed, but its anti-capitalist spirit set an example for nearly 150 years of subsequent urban struggles all over the world.

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What a choice: co-option or destruction. There has to be other options such as expansion or evolution.

Fortunately, the reactionaries are ridiculing the CHAZ currently. This is good because it delays destruction. CHAZ should not be trying to win over the reactionaries, but to disarm them.

Ideally, CHAZ should last long enough to explore many models of self-governance, and to create a cadre of confident activists to go underground during the reactionary backlash.

Continuing the BLM protests reduces the pressure on CHAZ. The presence of many people on the streets makes the government wary of taking drastic action. Unfortunately, protest fatigue will doom the CHAZ.

Expansion of the autonomous zone model to other cities may quickly incur the wrath of the government in order to stop the spread of a good example. Such a spread will definitely spook the reactionaries and may invite action by right-wing paramilitaries to form and crush the BLM protests.

If the CHAZ survives long enough, it may evolve into something that can be tolerated by the state. This is entirely up to CHAZ itself.

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Peter Dorman: Why Trump Is in Trouble

Peter Dorman asks Why Trump Is in Trouble.

What has collapsed for Trump, finally in 2020, is not just the economy, the health of the population or the racial order, but his ability to determine what the issues are: he has lost control of the narrative. This is not because the Democrats have beat him at his own game. On the contrary, they are as clueless about these things as they’ve always been. His problem is that we are facing real crises that demand our attention whether we want them to or not. Trump has almost no influence over what politics are about in an election year; the pandemic, the economy and the revulsion against racism and police violence define the political moment on their own. This is why he seems to be flailing: his entire career has been based on his projection of his needs onto the world, and he has hardly any capacity to respond to the demands of others.

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Trump has aligned himeself with the lumpen-proletariat and petite-bourgeoisie classes. This alignment hinders any softening of attitudes to defuse the political crises going on. These classes only know that force solves all problems.

The liberals are trying to defuse the situation by:

• Having police kneel or march with protestors
• Having police chiefs resign
• Firing or suspending police officers
• Permitting the Capital Hill Autonomous Zone to exist
• Conducting a year-long review of police departments
• Not showing large peaceful on-going protests throughout the country
• Ban the use and display of the Confederate Flag at NASCAR events and on NASCAR property
• Removal of statues
• Having the brass of the US military say "Listen"
• Proposing to ban the use or display of the Confederate flag by members of the US military
• Renaming of US military bases

All of these measures by liberals are to buy time so that fatigue can set in while giving the impression that progress has been made. Liberals know how to make the minimal concessions necessary to defuse a situation while leaving the essential elements of Capitalism intact. Reactionaries do not—they want to fight and defend everywhere.

Liberals trade space for time. This is especially effective when the space conceded is not vital to the survival of Capitalism. Reactionaries are afraid of the fragility of Capitalism and so fight desperately for every centimeter of ground. They rival the fanaticism of the Japanese in the defense of Iwo Jima.

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Searching for examples of systemic racism

A prominent commentator has been asking for current examples of systemic racism.

That someone, who professes to possess the intellect and knowledge to propound on current events, should be asking for examples of systemic racism is a fine example of such. Implicit in the question is the assessment that the person is unable to discern any examples by themselves, and that any reports by others of such are discredited.

To posit such a question means that the questioner has neither first hand experience nor credible sources reporting such. This stance entails privilege. What is happening to others is not happening to them. Since the commentator is white, and those reporting systemic racism are non-white, this privilege entails racism.

This racism is also evident in the treatment of reports by non-whites about their experiences. Non-whites are disbelieved because they are non-white. That the question is posed means the questioner is either ignorant of the plethora of experiences, or classes all of these reports as lies because of the origin.

Ignorance is also a manisification of privilege. Such ignorance has no meaningful impact on the commentator's life. They are not more likely to die because of their ignorance. They are able to enjoy the fruits of their labour in wilful ignorance.

Maybe the commentator is relying on semantics to deflect from admitting systemic racism exists now. They could posit that there are examples of individuals being racists. But this ignores the evidence that non-whites fare poorly when they encounter the system—whether the system is the police, courts, prison, health care, employment, or the environment. That the commentator does not have to consider any of these means that the commentator benefits from systemic racism. By not crediting reports of systemic racism, the commentator has become part of the systemic racism.

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Chris Slee: Capitalism and workers struggle in China

Chris Slee writes about Capitalism and workers struggle in China.

China's economy is now essentially capitalist, as indicated by the privatisation of the bulk of the means of production, and the conversion of labor power into a commodity. Workers can only survive by selling their labor power to an employer.

But the most extreme ideologues of neoliberalism (both in China and elsewhere) are not satisfied with the degree of privatisation that has occurred so far. State-owned enterprises remain dominant in certain strategic industrial sectors such as iron and steel, electricity and telecommunications, and in the banking sector. The neoliberals want more complete privatisation, and unfettered access to all areas of the economy for local and foreign capital.

The Chinese Communist Party has up to now resisted these pressures. A strong state sector helps China maintain a degree of independence from the Western imperialist powers.

…

If this is the case, it is not unprecedented in the history of capitalism. State ownership of key industries can sometimes be beneficial for the functioning of the capitalist system as a whole. The British government nationalised the coal mines after the second world war. This did not mean that Britain had become socialist. Similarly, China's economy remains fundamentally capitalist, despite some cases of re-nationalisation in the wake of the global financial crisis.

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Slee concludes:

Despite the partial reversal of some neoliberal policies, China remains a highly unequal society, where workers are ruthlessly exploited and lack job security. The state remains capitalist. It represses the resistance of the workers to capitalist exploitation.

The air and water are extremely polluted. Despite significant investment in renewable energy, the use of fossil fuels continues to expand, and China is now the world's biggest producer of greenhouse gases.

Minorities such as the Tibetans and Uighurs continue to be oppressed. Freedom of speech continues to be restricted.

A struggle for genuine socialism still remains necessary. This struggle will need to bring together workers, students and other oppressed groups. An example of such unity is the solidarity of university students with workers at Jasic Technologies. This kind of solidarity, if repeated on a much larger scale, can help take China on the road to socialism.

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Seth Godin: Without ambiguity: Black Lives Matter

Seth Godin writes that Without ambiguity: Black Lives Matter.

The systemic, cruel and depersonalizing history of Black subjugation in my county has and continues to be a crime against humanity. It’s based on a desire to maintain power and false assumptions about how the world works and how it can work. It’s been amplified by systems that were often put in place with mal-intent, or sometimes simply because they felt expedient. It’s painful to look at and far more painful to be part of or to admit that exists in the things that we build.

We can’t permit the murder of people because of the color of their skin. Institutional racism is real, it’s often invisible, and it’s pernicious.

And White Supremacy is a loaded term precisely because the systems and their terrible effects are very real, widespread and run deep.

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Godin is offering white people a way out by saying that people today did not create the institutional racism. And, as such, white people should have no guilt in tearing this system of instutional racism.

This reflects current Liberal thinking. In a similar vein, slavery could not be abolished until the founders of the slave trade were safely dead.

However, they forget that all systems have to be recreated on a daily basis. Systems are not autonomous from the people that maintain and benefit from them.

It is this continual maintainance and regeneration makes systems vulnerable to change and destruction. Once enough people refuse to maintain the system, the system begins to die.

When a system dies, it is dangerous as those who depend on the system for their identity and sustenance lash out in fury.

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Prospects of a Third American Revolution

Omar Ahmed asks if the current situation is Riots or Uprising? If this Turmoil were in Iran, Trump would be Cheering on Arsonists and Dreaming of Regime Change.

At the time of writing, it is unclear where the Black Lives matter protests are going in the US, but doubts are already being expressed about whether George Floyd’s family and friends can expect justice for him any time soon. Not only did it take days for the police officer involved to be arrested and charged, but his colleagues who stood by and did nothing to stop him are also still at liberty.

Floyd’s murder could be an era-defining moment, with the Trump administration’s disastrous response to Covid-19, mass unemployment and a devastated economy all thrown into the mix. Far from “making America great again”, Trump is presiding over a country whose standing in the world has never been lower. China’s GDP is on course to overtake that of the US by the end of the decade and the declining power of the petro-dollar means that Americans face tough times ahead. They need to get a grip on the racism that blights their society before it is too late; it could be the factor that tips the balance.

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This is definitely not the beginning of an American revolution. The protestors want to reform the system in order to get equal rights, not to overthrow the system.

The first American revolution was about independence from Great Britain. This was a political revolution in which the English ruling class was replaced by a local one, and by a change in political mechanisms (constitutional monarchy to a republic).

The second American revolution (1861-1865) was about the abolition of slavery during the American Civil War. This was a social revolution in which two (2) classes of people were abolished: slaves; and slave-owners.

Anthony DiMaggio argues for Revolution, Not Riots: Prospects for Radical Transformation in the Covid-19 Era.

…Within the context of these intensified protests, many self-identified radicals I have talked to believe we are witnessing the beginnings of a political and economic revolution, in light of the violent protests that have now taken over dozens of cities in the U.S. But we should be wary of romantic celebrations of revolution. Americans are nowhere near developing the radical working-class consciousness that’s needed for a socialist revolution. And efforts to frame riots as revolution are fraught with peril in a country where the large majority of Americans lack critical working-class consciousness, let alone revolutionary consciousness.

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Because of the emphasis on race in this time, it will be difficult to move the conversation to class even among Blacks.

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How to racist while supporting Black Lives Matter

It takes a white person to be racist while supporting Black Lives Matter.

Note: This post contains names of Indigenous people who have died.

Today, I saw a white person put up a poster proclaiming that "Black Lives Matter". However, all of the names were that of Americans. None of them were Australian.

This was racist because there are Australian victims of police violence against Aborigines. That person was concerned enough about what was happening in the USA, but was unaware of the same thing happening in Australia. You cannot say that Black lives matter if you cannot name at least one of the following:

• Joyce Clark
• David Dungay Jr
• Tanya Day
• Eric Whittaker
• TJ Hickey
• William Farmer
• Cameron Doomadgee
• Patrick Fisher

This is not an exhaustive list.

Even today, there was NSW Police investigate officer filmed kicking, pinning down Indigenous teen during arrest:

Nathan Moran from the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, based in Redfern, said the teenager's arrest was an example of over-policing and the excessive use of force.

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