This Saturday at 2 p.m. in London, the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) is hosting a public lecture, “The American Volcano: Towards Fascism or Socialism.” David North, national chairman of the Socialist Equality Party in the United States and chairperson of the WSWS International Editorial Board, is the featured speaker.
North, a leader of the world Trotskyist movement for 50 years, will discuss US President Donald Trump’s bid to erect a presidential dictatorship, based on the military, police, paramilitary forces and fascist gangs. Trump has deployed National Guard troops to major cities and demanded unswerving loyalty from US generals in a war against the “radical left.”
What is unfolding is not a temporary aberration. There will be no “return to normal.” With the Trump administration, the American ruling class is breaking with constitutional forms of rule.
Trump’s actions are the response of America’s capitalist class to an existential crisis of US imperialism. His administration represents the realignment of the political superstructure to reflect the real social relations in the United States.
The president is acting on behalf of an ultra-rich oligarchy: The richest 1 percent hold a staggering $49 trillion dollars, one-third of all US wealth. These grotesque fortunes represent the apex of explosive levels of social inequality which cannot be reconciled with the preservation of democratic rights.
What is taking place in America is of the greatest political concern to workers and young people internationally. Not only because the consequences will be felt around the world, but because the US situation only reflects in the most extreme form the same global crisis gripping every country.
The decisive question is: What is to be done? How can Trump’s coup be defeated?
There is growing opposition to Trump’s efforts to set up a fascistic dictatorship in the United States. The “No Kings” protests drew millions. However, anger and outrage are not enough to stop dictatorship. What is required is a clear program and political strategy to direct this struggle.
North’s lecture will tackle the fundamental political, theoretical and historical issues facing the working class and young people in the fight against dictatorship and war.