{"id":3921,"date":"2013-02-28T11:32:26","date_gmt":"2013-02-28T17:32:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lavozlit.com\/?p=3921"},"modified":"2013-02-28T11:32:26","modified_gmt":"2013-02-28T17:32:26","slug":"after-the-2012-elections-we-must-fight-to-build-an-independent-working-class-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/workersvoiceus.org\/es\/2013\/02\/28\/after-the-2012-elections-we-must-fight-to-build-an-independent-working-class-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"After the 2012 Elections….We Must Fight to Build an Independent Working Class Movement!"},"content":{"rendered":"

 
\nby Juan Diaz, La Voz de los trabajadores\/Workers Voice<\/em><\/b><\/b>
\nHope & Illusions<\/strong>
\nNow that Obama has won a second term, we must ask ourselves (once again): is Obama a symbol of hope? For the working class and it\u2019s oppressed (Blacks, immigrants, Latin@s, women,etc.), the answer is no because Obama has continued to cut social programs & deported record numbers of people- all while spending trillions on war and bailouts.
\nObama has managed to continue and increase the policies of austerity on working people and assisted in the a partial recuperation of profits for some sectors. He accomplished all this without the majority of people knowing he did so. In other words, he has somehow managed to maintain the impression that he was the \u201clesser evil\u201d, that he was \u201cgiving concessions\u201d, that he wanted to do more- but that \u201chis hands were tied by the Republican Party\u201d.
\nTherefore, we see Obama not as a symbol of hope, but as an illusion, a mirage, intended to fool the working class into supporting him without delivering any results good for them. And for these reasons, in regards to the ruling class, Obama is a symbol of hope because he has proven himself effective in carrying out their agenda of austerity.
\nTherefore, it is no surprise that Obama has started off his second term by continuing with the same strategy of the past fours year: making the workers pay for the crisis while making them believe he cares about them. That is to say, Obama has returned to the driver seat with more of the same and we must continue the job of breaking the illusions the working class has on the Democratic Party (DP).
\nThe analysis of the election results and the reasons why Obama won<\/strong>
\nWhat were the factors that contributed to Obama\u2019s win? First, many analysts agree that historical demographic trends favor the Democrats and hurt the Republicans. Namely, the growth of the Latino population and black population & decline of the Anglo\/white population. \u00a0Under pressure from the Tea Party, Romney and the Republicans had to go far to the right in their positions. Campaign statements that he made like that he “likes to fire people” or is “not concerned about the poor” were predominant on many working people\u2019s minds. In addition, several Republican senatorial candidates made statements on rape and abortion that shocked many women, which ended up benefiting the DP. All these factors and more contributed to Obama being seen as the lesser evil of the two candidates.
\nSecond, the economic situation was a double-edged sword. Obama\u2019s campaign and propaganda was successful in conveying the feeling that there was a slight improvement in the country\u2019s state and that the Republicans (” the ones responsible for the crisis”) would be a worse thing for the country. For one, in 2012, the country didn\u2019t go deeper into another economic recession#, although the situation in Europe was and is still worse. Furthermore, in the US., there official unemployment figure has been steadily hovering around 8%# (if we are talking about \u201creal unemployment, its been around 14-16%#). On the other hand, there were also no signs of there being an actual economic recovery and the socio-economic problems of the the vast population only seem to be worsening.
\nThird, the Democratic Party managed to repress and co-opt the Occupy movement and any potential working class initiative with a base. And this was done with a conscious and concerted plan. Throughout the winter of 2011, city mayors and State officials did everything to raid all the Occupy encampments they could and imprison any people who resisted. This meant that by May 2012 when the electoral campaign was at its peak, \u00a0there was no mass independent movement that was ready to organize and fight. In addition, where repression was not enough- because Occupy had some base and independent political leadership (like in California, Chicago or New York)- they did everything to co-opt this movement (like the Millionaire\u2019s Tax compromise deal in California#).
\nIn the end, all these elements contributed to Obama winning overwhelmingly amongst Blacks (most data says around 90%), comfortably in Latinos (70%) and he was supported by a white sector (over 40%), mostly in women and youth.
\nObama\u2019s second term agenda within the U.S. and worldwide.<\/strong>
\nBased on this characterization, Obama will try to continue and deepen the foreign policy of the first period. Specifically, Obama will continue with his method of trying to stop the Arab Spring revolutionary processes; specifically, he first supports the dictators, like he did with Mubarak and Gaddafi and the others, then he tries supporting the moderate oppositions. He does this to deviate the revolutionary processes, not to assure democracy.
\nFurthermore, he is not proposing to end these wars abroad because he\u00b4s a pacifist, on the contrary, he\u00b4s only doing that due to the economic crisis and because he wants to maintain economical and political control with puppet regimes, with no need for troops. In addition, he continues to use war and drones as a weapon whenever necessary.
\nInternally, it is likely that Obama will continue to go to his more consistent policy of a \u201cbuffered austerity\u201d plan, with continued attacks on education and public health (we are already seeing this in 2013). Also, we\u2019ll for sure see continued attacks on wages and working conditions, aided by the complicity of most of the union leadership\u2019s bureaucracy. His recent campaign work in avoiding the “fiscal cliff” has allowed Obama appear as if he\u2019s making a concession to the masses, and this is likewise on Medicare and in funding education, both of which he has made plans to privatize at the expense of quality and accessibility.
\nIt\u2019s also important to note that the elections deepened the crisis of the Republican Party, with it now being divided amongst the Tea Party wing and the more moderate sectors. This may make it easier for Obama and his DP to push for their agenda. And though he failed to reverse the general international balance of power, he had some partial successes in Egypt and Libya.
\nLess confidence in Obama & the perspectives for a response of the workers<\/strong>
\nWhat will be the social & class response to the offensive of the ruling class, especially now that there is still a high disillusionment on Obama resolving the crisis? Can we expect more \u201cWisconsins\u201d (i.e. the 2010 capitol occupation) and more struggles, or concessionary agreements by labor such as the one with General Motors in Obama\u2019s first term?
\nFirst, it\u2019s important to point out of the weak state that the labor movement is. Specifically, the unionization rates have fallen to a 97-year low of 11.3 percent and that the level of strikes\/work-stoppages of 19# for 2012 is low when compared to previous decades of class struggle. Though there was a slight uptick in the amount of idled 148,000 workers, as compared to the 113,000 in 2011.
\nSecond, there are three main obstacles that working-class & oppressed people\u2019s struggles must overcome to stand a fighting chance, namely 1) illusions in Obama\u2019s government, \u00a02) the lack of a working-class movement that is independent of the DP & 3) the role of the traitorous labor leadership who are the ones pushing for concessionary labor contracts.
\nNonetheless, the working class struggles that happened before, during & after Obama\u2019s 2012 election campaign point towards possible sectors of resistance in the class struggle. And although there aren’t any national movements or strikes going on at this moment- because of cooptation, illusions and also defeats- workers have lots of reasons to start to organize and fight: to fight for their wages, job conditions, against unemployment, against budget cuts in education and healthcare, for an immigration bill that guarantees rights for all immigrants, not to only a part of them, and many other reasons.
\nThe struggles we see today vary from work-actions and strikes from public education teachers ,staff & students, to fast food and other service workers. There are also possible fightbacks to the ruling class offensive on unions amongst port workers, nurses and hospital workers and other sectors.
\nFurthermore, we should keep an eye out for possible resistance among oppressed sectors like immigrants (where we saw some organizing mounting last year) and against the racist discrimination that Blacks and Brown people face through policies like stop and frisk, the shootings of Black youth by police and others (like Alan Blueford and Trayvon Martin), and possible organizing mounting amongst women, environmentalists, LGBT folks, and others.
\nSome of the sectors that point towards more resistance in the coming period include:<\/strong><\/p>\n