The Nattering of Fools: A Brief Retrospective on the Capitol
Well, I suppose it was going to happen eventually. Of course, it was pretty tame, meaningless, and moronic, but hey, I guess that worked out. There were a bunch of Trump supporters with guns at the Capitol. I’m not sure why I’m supposed to be surprised, given the reality that many people predicted this situation would’ve happened. It’s interesting, if nothing else.
It’s only interesting. I suppose it was a dramatic attempt to influence the inevitable. Was this a real threat to American democracy? No. This is tiresome. The “insurrection” in Washington was perhaps a little surprising for those unversed in American history; for myself, a student of American history, it doesn’t surprise me much. Now we see all the news outlets reacting with sensational headlines about veterans and police officers being involved in the events at the Capitol. They say this as though it’s supposed to be surprising, as though we hadn’t seen the fully-fledged fascist suppression of dissent last summer. White supremacy and fascism in the police force has been repeatedly proven and recorded. In Los Angeles, a white supremacist gang within the police force extorted money from colonized people. I’m not sure why we’re supposed to be surprised that this happened, both with regards to the groups involved in the events of January 6 or the fact that it occurred at all.
The Americans have been typically arrogant in their assumptions that their democracy has not been shaped or manipulated through violence. The only difference with the present bourgeois democracy compared to previous iterations of electoral conflict is that in this one, the whole theme of violence is now institutionalized, a more restrained and internalizing social control. We are seeing the breakdown of that internal control of capitalist society.
A portion of the bourgeoisie who have appealed to the traditional primacy of wealth and power have sold out another. One structure of white power has struck out against another. And now, as I discuss politics with others, there is a sigh of relief that Biden is in office. And now people go back to their old complacency. Now that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders have played their roles in opposing Trump, the Democratic Party will censure the “Progressive Wing” and their careers will have essentially meant nothing. It is the same strategy that the Democrats have always used in response to accusations of socialism — purging the “socialists.”
And now, war profiteers will run the Biden foreign policy squad. The police will be overseen by white supremacist police officers. The economy will be overseen by faithful members of the bourgeoisie. The affairs of the colonized will be run by the colonizers. Fascism with another name. And yet, as I’ve come across many Americans with faith in our “democracy,” they are never satisfied with the president or the candidates. Somehow, people proclaim the United States a democracy when nobody chooses their favorite candidates. This whole electoral thing, I paid no attention whatsoever to the political machinations surrounding it. I simply observed, watched, and waited. The community in which I live today is dying economically as no help is on the way, and the help that is on the way is mistrusted and despised. It is well known in rural America that the American government does not care for the well-being of its people.
It is further known that the local community government is dominated almost exclusively by landlords. Three of the five seats on the city council are filled by landlords who own virtually the entire town. It used to be four, but it no longer matters; there are only five members of the city council. The community support structures are failing. A venue for our clothing distribution has shut its doors. All that really remains are a couple mission stores. My organization has been building ties to the community, but it remains difficult; many of the religious organizations here refuse to work with communists, and there are no DSA chapters, PSL chapters, or so on to work with here. A working relationship with the community must be built upon the trust of that community. A communist must build ties even when it seems difficult.
What does this have to do with the “Capitol Riot?” Nothing. Communist organizers don’t much care about the nattering of fools. We look at it as the result of a long-standing process which has spanned decades, even more than a century. What effect should it have on our organizing? None. We should be preparing, ever vigilant. Thus, why should we care? I argue that we need not focus in particular upon the event, the individuals involved, and that we should take a much longer view. The defense of the people, the colonized, the marginalized is the most pressing concern. Why should we care that a bunch of white people took a bunch of guns and broke a bunch of windows to get a bunch of other white people to do something that would affect a bunch of white people? Why are we concerned for the legislature? We are not.
