After 4 years of a belligerent racist, sexist, authoritarian President - supported by millions, what lessons can we on the Left draw?

And how do we continue to organize for the radical transformations we seek within a society so deeply entrenched in racism & sexism? 1/18

First, it’s incredible how so many people’s entire narrative of this country completely changes based on if enough voter suppression or ballot purging changes the result of an election between two people who are both ‘widely disliked.’

It's worth examining.. 2/18

Trump would never have been elected president in 2016 if the GOP had not gotten away with purging so many Black & Brown voters. 3/18

In 2016 the vast majority disliked Trump. Even the majority of Republicans preferred a different candidate.

The “problem,” of course, was that Clinton was also highly disliked. 4/18

So, voter suppression tipped the election towards the shittier of two shitty candidates that few people actually wanted to choose between.

Sure, it says something about who we are, but it says *a lot* more about the US's deplorable state of politics. 5/18

It’s the same country, with the same people, with the same problems separated by two outcomes largely the result of voter suppression & having to decide between two “widely disliked” candidates, *both* representing the interests of corporations & the 1% over everyone else. 6/18

If the GOP had not gotten away with stealing the election in 2016, would we have been any less racist or sexist of a society? 7/18

Were we a less racist or sexist society when Obama was president?

If Biden is able to barely win this election, does that mean we’re a less racist or sexist society than we were four years earlier? 8/18

Yes, Trump is a racist, sexist pig exploiting racism and sexism in a highly racist & sexist society for his own gain.

That’s how racist, sexist authoritarians use racism & sexism to advance their own power. 9/18

Meanwhile, the vast majority are oppressed, alienated & exploited by corporations & the 1%.

There’s been a 50-years long one-sided class war against labor, resulting in stagnant & dwindling wages for the vast majority – while shifting virtually all economic gains to the 1% 10/18

Millions are homeless or food insecure. Most families are living paycheck to paycheck. Most families have little to no saving left and are struggling with crushing debt.

Inequality is at Pre-Great Depression levels. 11/18

Forget the rhetoric & just look at the net effect of the corporate-owned duopoly since the pandemic started: There was quick & decisive bailouts for Wall Street, corporations & the 1%. No endless bickering or negotiations.

Crumbs for everyone else. 12/18

For the left to win revolutionary change, we must correctly place blame upon the institutions responsible for people’s lived experiences of suffering, alienation, oppression & pain: capitalism, racism, sexism & authoritarianism must *ALL* be in our crosshairs. 13/18

It is absolutely a false construct that we can either be anti-racist/sexist OR we can fight against the economic injustice afflicting poor & working-class whites. 14/18

This construct is inaccurate, counterrevolutionary & erases the fact that most people of color, women & marginalized communities ARE working-class. 15/18

Instead, leftists must connect the dots of oppression & injustice, demonstrating how racism, sexism, capitalism, authoritarianism, etc. are ALL connected, reinforce one another & are used by those in power to maintain their power. 16/18

And we must build movements that connect ALL our oppressions to one another (because they ARE connected), thus binding our liberation to the liberation of others.

That’s how we build solidarity. And that’s how we win. 17/18

We *can* simultaneously be anti-racist & anti-sexist & anti-capitalist while organizing & fighting for ALL the working class.

Not only is it possible, but it’s also our only hope of truly revolutionary change. 18/18