Internationalist Standpoint welcomes discussion and debate on the key issues facing the revolutionary left. Below we publish a response to the article The new Trump presidency: a “golden age” for US imperialism? (by Nikos Anastasiadis, January 23rd, 2025). The election of Trump has stimulated much debate on the left as to the exact nature of his regime, including the influence of the far right and fascists on his political positions and tactics.
Written by John Simpson, a long-standing independent socialist activist from Ireland, this article argues that it would be a mistake to downplay the risk of a resurgence of fascist groups in the US, and of elements of the ruling class adopting the methods of fascism, moving to limit democratic rights, and to attack the organisations of the working class, especially the trade unions.
John was a member of the Committee for a Workers International (CWI) in Ireland from 1981 until he resigned in 2019 alongside other comrades who supported neither of the two main factions in the dispute which lead to the “refounding” of the CWI and the emergence of International Socialist Alternative (ISA).
We would welcome further contributions to this discussion.
Fascism and the New Trump Presidency
Marxists and those on the Left should not overestimate the strength of any fascist trends in the US at this point, but it is a fluid situation and does bear further examination.
We should have no doubt that the ruling classes in the US and elsewhere will consider using fascist methodology as an option where and when they see fit. There is already a ‘softening up’ process afoot with the mainstream media at pains to normalise fascist salutes, Trump pardoning hundreds of his neofascist supporters and his entourage openly encouraging other like-minded groups.A brief scan of neofascist websites in the US indicates that they have been emboldened by Trump’s return to power. Fascist salutes from the stage at the Trump inauguration certainly harken back to the posturing of Nazisin the Europe of the 1920’s and 30’s, but the emerging fascism of the 21st century will not necessarily be an exact replica of what happened back then; however there are similarities and lessons to be learnt.
So, what exactly is fascism? Rather than see it simply as the fully formed fascist dictatorship that was eventually established in 1930’s Germany, it is more instructive to study how it got to that point. In doing so we see that fascism initially manifested itself as a series of direct assaults on German trade unionists and their socialist and communist supporters – activists who had long provided a powerful defence against attacks by the capitalist class on the living standardsof the working class.Fascism in its early stages was no more than a series of improvised tactics, copying the fascist antics of Mussolini and his followers in Italy. In addition to attacking workers, their persecution of Jewish people and other minorities was a useful tool to divide and disorientate the working class. Divide and rule was never the exclusive property of the British Empire. But what was the overall objective, what was it that so appealed to the German capitalist class in their ‘war on workers’?
In the 1920’s Hitler and his Nazi Party (less a political party, more a collection of gangsters, thugs and opportunists) were seen as a rather distasteful but useful band of idiots by the German establishment. However, their murderous attacks on the rallies and picket lines of striking workers did not go unnoticed. It wasn’t until1933 that the German ruling class made its decisive move to throw its full weight behind the Nazis.
Capitalism internationally had been thrown into crisis after the ‘Wall Street Crash’ of 1929 which fell harshly on top of a German economy struggling under the weight of the penalties imposed on Germany after its defeat in the First World War. Even more problematic for the capitalist class in Germany was the increasing power of the trade union movement and the subsequent rise in electoral support for the political parties of the working class (those being the Socialist and Communist parties whose differences would soon be exploited by the Nazis to devastating effect). However, by 1932 the Nazi Party had run into serious difficulties in financing its ambitions, despite having made significant electoral gains in the previous few years.
The Nazis invited 25 of Germany’s leading industrialists to a secret meeting in Berlin on the 20th of February 1933. Hitler addressed the group, making the telling remark that “private enterprise cannot be maintained in a democracy”. He also told them he would eliminate the organisations that threatened their power – the trade unions and their political parties, socialist and communist. These capitalist leaders were so enthused that they immediately set about making massive financial donations to the Nazi Party, a sound business investment in their eyes. Worthy of note is that many of the capitalist enterprises represented that night, continued to thrive long after the Nazi regime was destroyed – Siemens, Krupp and Allianz to name but a few. In their eyes, their investment in the proposed fascist dictatorship was simply a short to medium term business venture, and they expected returns. After the Nazi conquest of the Ukraine in 1941 Allianz was one of the first German companies to open offices in Kiev, part of the Allianz game plan to forcibly swallow up all of the insurance business in eastern Europe. Meanwhile, as punishment for their resistance, an estimated 100,000 people were murdered (mostly Jewish, but also Roma people, communists and Red Army prisoners of war). Their bodies were dumped in a mass grave, a ravine outside Kiev known as Babyn Yar.
The fascist dictatorship having fastened its grip on Germany, the even bigger payoff for these capitalists was to be the creation of a German Empire in the east, with the prize of vast mineral and agricultural resources and the enslavement of the Slavic peoples to generate unlimited profits.Their aim was to simply replicate in eastern Europe and Russia what the BritishEmpire,a largely maritime business, had accomplished worldwide.
This comparison is rarely spoken of, the only significant difference being the rapidity of the rise and fall of the German Empire compared to the British Empire that preceded it and the US one that succeeded it. Instead, much is made of the brutality of the Nazis and their persecution and murder of millions of Jewish people and other minorities, though somewhat less is spoken of the deaths of millions of soldiers and civilians in eastern Europe and Russia. We are meant to be persuaded that the British and US Empires are somehow morally superior to the German Empire.The rapid collapse of the German Empirehad little to do with the opposition of the British Empire and the efforts of the US. All empires over-extend themselves at some point. Under the reckless leadership of Hitler and his cronies, the German armed forces were mistakenly pushed too far and spread too thinly in their invasion of eastern Europe and Russia, often contrary to the advice of the military professionals. Underestimating the resilience of the Russian working class and the Red Army was their second big mistake.
It should never be forgotten that both the British and US Empires can also count their victims in the millions, albeit spread out over hundreds of years in the case of the British and decades in the case of the US version. Indeed, the British Empire and its US Allies said and did nothing when the Nazi Holocaust was actually happening. Genocide being regarded aspart of the routine business of empire building (think of the genocide of the indigenous peoples of North America carried out by the US, or the British Empire’s use of concentration camps as they plundered their way across South Africa, Kenya and so on).
We should also note that it is the victors who get to write the history of such matters. We are witnessing this today in how the mainstream media is providing cover for the ongoing genocide in Gaza.The activities of the IDF (the Israeli murder machine) on behalf of its sponsor, US imperialism, are but the latest example of these murderous methods at work. The US imperialist meddling in this oil rich and strategically important region can be characterised as a pickpocket double act. Repeated acts of aggression by the Israeli state,bought and paid for by the US,generatethe mayhem while the US Empiresneaks in and steals everyone’s resources. Even after all that has happened, there is still time for the working class in Israel to wake up and see how they are being used as pawns in this imperialist game – a colonial strategy carried on by the US and, not surprisingly, initiated by the British. A strategy previously perfected by the nascent British Empire in Ireland, in Sri Lanka and elsewhere.
Thus, in comparing the current state of the capitalist world to this brief overview of fascism in Europe in the 1920’s and 1930’s, we can see that there are parallels. The rallying behind Trump by the tech billionaires, and the clowning of his paymaster Elon Musk, do have echoes of that fateful meeting of minds in the Berlin of February1933. The pomp and ceremony of the Trump entourage and the posturing and belligerence aside, we should of course look to the processes at work in the US economy in order to estimate what political consequences we may now be facing.
In the days leading up to the aforementioned ‘Wall Street Crash’ of 1929 the value of the US stockmarket (largely fictitious capital) had inflated to almost equal the size of US GDP (Gross Domestic Product – actual production of wealth). This was yet another of many ‘bubbles’ in the history of capitalism. By comparison today, the current US stock market value has recently hyper-inflated to three times the size of the US GDP. This bubble will inevitably burst, many billions will be written off, but what then? The US government will risk damaging inflation if it tries to solve problems by printing dollars to shore up the banks and other financial institutions as it did after the 2007 crash. When this bubble bursts at some point over the next few years it will inevitably lead to an international financial crisis, but this is at a time when the world is already losing confidence in the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Coupled with that is Trump’s threat to escalate trade wars, not just with its rivals but even its allies. However deep this crisis will prove to be, it is very unlikely that there will be any effective international cooperation to minimise the damage. US capitalism may well find itself to be isolated and at a greater risk than the other major economies. Especially so after the damage done to its international standing with its obsession for imposing sanctions to punish whoever displeases them. This approach has backfired spectacularly in the case of Russia whose trade ties with China have benefitted greatly as a result.
The US Empire is undoubtedly at the stage where it has over-extended itself financially, economically and militarily. Trump’s ‘Golden Age’ will prove to be no more than fool’s gold. The US Empire’s proxy war in Ukraine has been an embarrassing failure and despite its military might the US is in no fit state to take on, or even seriously threaten, its main rival in China. In addition, the disastrous activitiesof its attack dog, the Israeli Defence Force, has irreparably damaged US standing in the world at large. Everyone except the western media recognise Israel as a pariah state which is part and parcel of the US Empire.
With such difficulties as these, and no doubt more to come, the US Empire is increasingly likely to turn to even more desperate measures than Trump is currently proposing. Particularly so, when it becomes more and more obvious to US workers that Trump and his MAGA promises of improving living standards are entirely fraudulent. Undoubtedly the trade unions in the US will be forced to take action to defend the living standards of their members. Early signs of their willingness to do so were a series of successful strikes under Biden’s watch against the major car companies, Boeing and the owners of the US ports.
Why then wouldn’t the US ruling class,in desperate straits,throw its weight fully behind Trump and utilise some of the fascist methods of 1930’s Nazi Germany to attack workers? In particular, they would have to target the unionised ones since they pose the greatest threat to the profit system. This will go hand in hand with the demonisation of migrant workers and other minorities, but the main objective of the US Empire will inevitably be to attack and destroy the organisations of the US working class. Fascist type tactics are but some of the many at their disposal.
It will be extremely important for workers in the US and around the world to carefully examine these lessons from history. Opportunities to stop the Nazis in their tracks were missed. The in-fighting between Socialists and Communists was a crucial mistake that should never be repeated. All the more important to take note of this today when the forces on the Left are so disjointed.
Finally, though, a warning to the US Empire. The ‘Barbarians’ did not storm the gates of Rome, the proletariat opened the gates and invited them in, so sickened were they of the degeneracy of the Roman elite (who had neatly exempted themselves from paying taxes) and their crumbling Empire. For ‘Barbarians’ now read Socialists. It has never been more important for US workers and their trade unions to build a unified socialist party to fight for their interests. No one else has the where withal to bring the criminal enterprise that is the US Empire to an end. It must be replacedby a real democracy that serves the American people and ends the US Empire’sforever war on humanity.
John Simpson,
Independent Socialist
