~~ Written by and posted for collectivist action ~~
(The following originated as a comment I submitted to Organizing Upgrade in response to an OPed by Ethan Young. A link to the article is below)
"What is internationalism today? Since my high school years at the end of the 1960s, I’ve seen proletarian internationalism as an actual force in the world, the historic response to imperialism and racism. Fred Hampton, martyred leader of the Black Panthers in Chicago, made it a major theme. Today, the structure and consequences of imperialism have shifted, and so have the ownership and production relations that shape the international proletariat. We need to see where these shifts could take the cause of solidarity with exploited humanity." An excerpt from the bus OPed
As I write this, there is a massive trucker caravan of anti-vaxxers and anti-mandaters in Canada.This presents a not-so golden opportunity for the U.S. left to not only demonstrate our solidarity with genuine Canadian left forces but also our understanding of what leftist internationalism really means.
The anti-vax and anti-mandate movement, now global, is rife with both antagonistic, and perhaps, non antagonistic contradictions. There is more than enough evidence to confirm that the movement is being primarily funded by wealthy rightwing interests. It's also discernible that its social base consists of mostly middle strata, aka middle class, elements, even while many of the participants could be classified as workers.
With the real possibility of these movements on both sides of the border uniting, the U.S. left must grapple with the ramifications of that union. Although, at this time, I'm unable to identify all of the social and political tendencies at play in Canada, I do know that, currently, in the U.S., the anti-vax and anti-mandate movement represents, for the most part, an extremely problematic mixture of rightwing conspiracy theorists, libertarians and climate and Covid deniers, mostly, though, not exclusively, allied with the Trump-figureheaded MAGA movement.
Critically important to understanding all of these developments is the fact that, not unlike where it has emerged elsewhere (Canada, Europe), the economic base of the movement are small business owners who've been financially - or are on the brink of being - ruined by the mishmash of vax and mandate measures in the U.S. (Most of those measures have now been scaled back.)
Of course, leftists cannot consciously nor conscientiously deny the legitimate concerns about the shameless exploitation occurring, and the justifiable outrage it has precipitated. BigPharma, and adjacent private businesses, are amassing unprecedented and astronomical profits from vaccine production. They never let a crisis go to waste, esp, whenever there's an opportunity to profit from it.
The Biden administration's conspicuous silence, so far, on this volatile movement seeping conspicuously into, throughout and within the U.S. body politic indicates, among other things, the neoliberal inability to find a viable solution to the complex political, economic and biospheric crises. In their ineptitude, neoconfederate, fascist forces are now forcing their and our hands, much like they're doing all over the decaying capitalist world.
Nevertheless, we on the left, unlike most self-described liberals, realize that the much broader issue is the need for socialized healthcare. Without that BigPharma will take MAXIMUM advantage of future pandemics to MAXIMIZE their profits. We also know that, as a whole, both neoliberal and neoconfederate sectors of the capitalist ruling class, along with their hardcore ideological bases, have not and will not fight for socialized healthcare. The most we'll get from the neolibs is lipservice; the most we'll get from the neocons is more cries of "freedom!" "liberty!"; individualistic, rather than collective, solutions to public health problems and safety, and the continuation of explicit, despicable, ecocidal policies. The same ones which produced the problems in the first place.
Now, more than ever, the left must think and act globally. More specifically, what will be our collective response be if, or when, the caravan rolls into, and across the U.S.?
Historically, leftist know that fascism has, more often than not, germinated within the small business sector of capitalist economies. Objectively existing as a buffer strata between the principal and most powerful owners of the means of production, and people who have nothing to sell but their labor power, small capitalists are usually wannabe big capitalists. To be fair, more than a few are empathetic to workers, as customers. Some even wisely recognize that the nature of capitalism concentrates the ownership of capital, and vital social and natural resources, into increasingly fewer hands. Mega-profits for a few. Mass misery for the many, including those who are precariously "middle class'.
Nevertheless, leftists, everywhere, realize that the best solution, in the final analysis, is socialist revolution. A credible case can be made that the primary forces leading, and following, this INTERNATIONAL anti-vax and anti-mandate movement are diametrically opposed to socialist revolution. . .This, imo, is one the principal contradictions which should inform, not only our analysis of the present situation, but also, our ACTIONS."
Collectivist Action
Bad Moon Rising...
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