this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2025
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I think that's precisely the point Finkelstein is making actually. Since there is lack of organizations the fascists have effectively won already. The oligarchs control the media, the means of production, the security forces, and the military. There is pervasive mass surveillance, and any threat to the ruling class will be nipped in the bud before it even has a chance to develop into anything dangerous. So, the fascist coup that libs keep imagining isn't necessary.
I suppose that makes sense if the intent is to counter democrats, but I find that line of reasoning self-defeating. The bourgeoisie in capitalist society will always control those things, at least partially.
Yes, capital doesn't need a coup right now because they already wield state power but that state powe can become even more oppressive and allied with paramilitaries in response to this disorganised outrage. And it also presents working-class organisation as the reason why fascists rise, rather than having common origins of intensifying struggle and crises.
That Capital in the US is still poised to win is a tragedy, and I personally feel comfortable in being more predictive about it because I have no connection to that country. But that shouldn't apply for prominent political figures in English-speaking platforms with majority US audience who constantly point at the problem (disorganisation) but never the solutions (organisations).
I think the point here is that there needs to be a serious working class movement for there to be any sort of threat to capital. Absent that, the capital owning class has nothing to worry about. The task for the people on the left is to figure out how to build such a movement.