Function of Cartel Parties to Depoliticize the People
The cartel parties, while still called Democrat and Republican, are no longer political parties. They act to depoliticize the people and eliminate politics, which are necessary for defending the interests of the people, their collectives and the public good.
As an example of how the cartel parties are currently operating, New Hampshire by state law must be the first primary election (not a caucus as Iowa's is). The Democratic National Committee (DNC), however, decided to put South Carolina first for the Democratic primary in the name of giving Black people more of a say. Thus, the effort to divide the population along racial lines and pit states against each other has already started.
New Hampshire responded by moving theirs before South Carolina and removing Biden from the ballot. The DNC then eliminated New Hampshire's delegates for the convention and openly called the primary "meaningless." Even so, Biden supposedly used it to "cement" the nomination.
What is significant here is the cartel nature of dictating from the top and that these fights represent the destruction of the parties as political parties, especially at the state level, which is where any connection to the people was made.
The DNC and Republican National Convention (RNC) work together to decide the debates of the candidates during and after the primaries. For the debates prior to the primaries, the RNC dictated content and procedure, deciding who could and could not participate, contributing to the promotion of some and eliminating others. The field for candidates challenging Trump went from 13 to six and then three, before any votes were cast.
The promotion of Iowa and New Hampshire as decisive and representative of the rest of the population means only Nikki Haley is left challenging Trump. In Nevada the cartel parties rigged the caucus, involving all delegates to the convention, in Trump's favor, and had a primary involving no delegates.
The DNC, for its part, determined there will not be any debates during the primaries, as usually occurs. This is to block any efforts to challenge Biden, such as that by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The RNC and DNC together will decide the presidential debates, the questions, the form, when, where, how many, who moderates, etc., again acting as a mafia-like cartel and not political parties.
The cartel parties also block efforts by independents to even get on the ballot, for primaries and the general election. There is a very complicated process to get on the ballot. Every state is different, all require a large number of signatures gathered in a short period of time, signatures that are then challenged by the cartel of the Democrats and Republicans for purposes of getting independents kicked off the ballot. Kennedy, Cornell West, and Jill Stein are among the independent candidates planning to run for president, but it is highly unlikely that they will be on the ballot in more than 25 of the 50 states.
These various examples bring to the fore that remaining in discussion pro and con Biden or Trump, or the latest scandal, or who endorses which candidate and reacting to such news embroils everyone in the narrative of the rulers and not our vantage point, which is to our advantage and serves our interests. Paying attention to developments is needed. But what is relevant is how the people's resistance is expressing itself, what stands workers are taking for rights here and abroad, such as the resolutions for ceasefire, by unions, cities and organizations. Chicago, for example, where the Chicago Teachers Union had already passed a resolution demanding a ceasefire and where large demonstrations persist, because of concerted organizing including packing city hall, became the largest U.S. city to pass a resolution for a ceasefire.
Chicago city council
votes for ceasefire in Gaza, January 31, 2024
Organizing to discuss the alternative of empowering the people and finding ways to give politics of empowerment expression during the elections is already underway and being further strengthened. This includes elaborating what is needed for a modern democracy, for modern states and anti-war governments. This is true internationally as well. It is important to bring forward the need for modern states that empower the people and act based on mutual respect and benefit, that block impunity and are organized to harmonize relations among states, not intensify conflicts. The spirit is one humanity, one struggle, where homeland is humanity.
This article was published in
Volume 54 Number 13 - February 23, 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS54134.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca