Communism Rebranded – the American Left Today Part 2

Part two of Judge John Wilson’s (ret.) study examing Marxist roots of left-wing thinking, written exclusively for the New York Analysis of Policy and Government.

Basic to the concept of Marxism is the idea of perpetual struggle. Living human beings have certain physical needs and desires – as such, we struggle against nature to satisfy those needs and wants. “Becoming aware of their struggle against nature is what separates them from it, they find the conditions of their fulfillment, of the realization of their true stature. The dawning of consciousness is inseparable from struggle.” On this basis, a Marxist does not believe there is a God – “human activity reveals that ‘for man, man is the supreme being.’ It is thus vain to speak of God…fully naturalized, humans are sufficient unto themselves.”

Yet, “living in a capitalist society…the individual is not truly free. He is an alienated being; he is not at home in his world…the more the worker produces the less he has to consume, and the more values he creates the more he devalues himself, because his product and his labour are estranged from him.” This “alienation of the worker takes on its full dimension in that system of market production in which part of the value of the goods produced by the worker is taken away from him and transformed into surplus value, which the capitalist privately appropriates.”

Thus, “In…capitalist society the individual is divided into political citizen and economic actor. This duality represents his political alienation, which is further intensified by the functioning of the bourgeois state…Marx came to see the state as the instrument through which the propertied class dominated other classes.”

Marx focused on the production of “surplus value” by workers as his basis for believing that capitalism is a system that needed transformation. “In the hands of the capitalist the labour power employed in the course of a day produces more than the value of the sustenance required by the worker and his family. The difference between the two values is appropriated by the capitalist.” This fundamental unfairness “can only be resolved by a change from capitalism to a new system.”

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Based upon this framework, Marx believed that there was an inherent “class struggle” between workers and their capitalist “masters,” and that to achieve a new system, the workers, understanding their exploited nature, would rise up in rebellion. “This revolution will be the prelude to the establishment of communism and the reign of liberty reconquered. ‘In the place of the old bourgeois society with its classes and its class antagonisms, there will be an association in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.’”

Having this basis understanding of Marxist thought, read again the statements and demands made by CHAZ and its supporters, and their calls for “the creation of restorative/transformative accountability programs as a replacement for imprisonment,” and to “overhaul our entire society, abolishing the disparities that make police necessary to maintain the prevailing order.” Couple these demands with the proposed Ordinance of the Minneapolis City Council, which seeks to replace the Police Department with a “Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention Department” which will ” have responsibility for public safety services prioritizing a holistic, public health-oriented approach,” the Director of which “will have non-law enforcement experience in community safety services, including but not limited to public health and/or restorative justice approaches.”

Read again the statement of BLM regarding “liberation” and a “beautiful struggle,” and recall that one of the founders of BLM admits to being a “trained Marxist.” Having done so, then understand the true nature of those who seek to abolish our established order.

Illustration: Pixabay

Quick Analysis

Ukraine’s Frozen Conflict

As we approach winter in the northern hemisphere, the war in Ukraine is beginning to resemble a “frozen conflict” from many perspectives. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently told the media he hopes the war will end faster once President-elect Trump takes over in January. Opinions in Moscow, however, differ from that of the Ukrainian leader. Russian President Vladimir Putin argues that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) needs to exclude Ukraine from joining in “exchange” for peace. If it does not, he says, then no end to the war is in sight. So far there is no Christmas solution. Several NATO countries, according to Vladimir Socor of the Jamestown Foundation, are tentatively considering “coalitions-of-the-willing” to provide security for Ukraine outside of the formal NATO framework. There is, however, no collective mechanism today under which such an arrangement is viable. According to the NATO Charter, while Ukraine is a NATO partner country, it may not join as a full member since it has not fulfilled the requirements for membership. That has not stopped NATO and allies from continuing “to provide Ukraine with unprecedented levels of support, helping to uphold its fundamental right to self-defence,” according to the organization. Socor says that keeping Ukraine out of NATO will not advance peace with Russia. Waiting for a peace settlement, he suggests, would only serve to encourage Moscow to continue the war indefinitely. Although the Biden Administration officially withdrew its support for Ukrainian membership in 2021, NATO maintains an “open door” policy toward membership-seeking countries. The current White House position led the way for European states to oppose Ukraine’s membership saying that a decision should be delayed until “conditions are met.” Biden pushed for changing “open door” to a “bridge” metaphor. It is not intended as an across-the-board NATO policy and has been implemented in the past on a case-by-case basis, says Socor. “The alliance’s open-door policy was not fully insulated from Russia’s non-statutory blocking power, and NATO-aspirant countries’ path toward membership was not always irreversible.” Russia has successfully blocked states like Georgia from joining, first in 2008 and again after the war in Ukraine began in 2014. Russia recognizes the value add of Ukraine to NATO is enormous and that Kyiv has a better case than some other nations. Putin’s invasion was, in part, intended to foreclose that option. By 2021, Moscow was pushing hard to maximize its war objectives, which included further annexations of Ukrainian territory. A main goal for Putin was, and is, to ensure there is no Ukraine left to join NATO. As President-elect Trump prepares to assume office in January, he is faced with the historical challenges presented by the war. Post-conflict security guarantees were the center of several proposals made during the 2023 military stalemate. The incoming Trump Administration has yet to outline how it intends to handle the Russia-Ukraine war. Analysts in Washington believe that the new Administration will expect its European allies to guarantee the majority of Ukraine’s security needs. As we approach 2025, several European nations have acknowledged that they do not view Ukraine as eligible for NATO membership as it would draw the organization into the middle of the conflict. Others want to wait until the war is over or pending a “peace” settlement before considering Ukrainian membership. Socor reports that some “influential voices” are suggesting that “Kyiv should join NATO after “freezing” the war along a stable armistice line, de facto accepting Ukraine’s partition, with NATO security guarantees applying de jure to the government-controlled territory only.” This would mean starting accession talks soon with the actual talks to commence only after a ceasefire is in place. Trump arrives in Washington at a time when Putin’s hybrid strategies of war in Ukraine have eviscerated commonly-held differences between war and peace. “Absent a political consensus in NATO over Ukrainian membership, certain European allies, including France’s President Emmanuel Macron, are holding informal consultations about post-conflict security guarantees to Kyiv by NATO members outside of NATO’s framework,” according to the Jamestown Foundation. The Biden Administration downplayed the discussions on possible forms of military assistance and defense industry cooperation by sending only an Assistant Secretary of State. For a European peace to hold the Trump Administration would need to formally extend the United States’ nuclear deterrence to Ukraine. Options under discussion in Europe include a “coalition of the resolute” to deploy forces to Ukraine as part of a possible armistice package, deterring further Russian attacks, says Secor. European officials are also debating, without any agreement, whether its military forces could perform non-combat logistical roles to free Ukrainian forces to fight. None of the possible courses of action has moved forward as all eyes are waiting on the incoming Trump Administration for clues about its intended level of support for a NATO framework and other non-NATO proposals. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept.