Capitalism: biggest winner in election campaign

The writer was Workers World Party’s presidential candidate in 1996, 2000 and 2016. She won more votes than any other socialist candidate in the 1996 election. 

Almost a week after the Nov. 5 elections, bourgeois pundits continue to analyze how Donald Trump won so easily, and what went so badly wrong with Kamala Harris’s campaign. These questions may be important in the short term, but in the long term, they leave out what is most important: the class question.

Marxists understand that the issue of class oppression is at the heart of every development, from all forms of white supremacy, misogyny, migrant bashing, trans oppression, climate change, etc. to bread and butter issues. It comes down to the exploited and the exploiter, the oppressed and the oppressor. On the surface, it may appear that individual politicians like Trump and Harris represent solely the Republican and Democratic parties, but this erroneous view is missing the forest for the trees. 

The class truth is that these candidates, like many before them, belong to parties that represent the interests of the capitalist system, not the workers and oppressed peoples. Capitalism is a global economic system driven to make profits at any cost by superexploiting the labor and resources of the global working class. 

It is the capitalist system that gave rise to a small clique of multimillionaires and billionaires to help maintain this crisis-ridden system, with all its erratic up and down cycles. The system is absolutely dependent on bailouts, the raising and lowering of interest rates, mass layoffs, low wages and more for its very survival. 

While the working class was in essence the biggest loser of the 2024 elections, since their day to day survival did not fundamentally change with the outcome, the biggest winner of all was the billionaire class and the system that they serve. 

One only has to read the Bloomberg Billionaire Index report after the election to substantiate this reality: “Wednesday wasn’t just a good day for Donald Trump. The wealth of the world’s 10 richest people also soared by a record amount. The biggest gainer was Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and one of Trump’s most outspoken and dedicated supporters, whose wealth jumped $26.5 billion to $290 billion Wednesday.” 

“Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ wealth grew $7.1 billion a week after defending his decision to withhold the Washington Post’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris. Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison, another Trump supporter, saw his net worth rise $5.5 billion Wednesday.” 

The report went on to say: “Other gainers include former Microsoft executives Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, former Google executives Larry Page and Sergey Brin and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett. Although none of those billionaires endorsed a candidate this year, they have spoken in favor of Democratic candidates and causes in the past. Collectively, the top 10 richest people gained $64 billion. Bloomberg notes it’s the ‘biggest daily increase’ of wealth it’s seen since the index began in 2012.” (CNN, Nov. 7) 

Forbes now estimates Elon Musk’s net worth at $304 billion.

This report did not make major headlines following the election. And for good reason. It is not in the interest of the major mouthpieces of the billionaire ruling class, the media, to spread these outrageous figures. The ruling class fears creating anger amongst the workers and, more importantly, raising class consciousness about what the U.S. elections are all about: maintaining and strengthening class rule.

Elections: one arena of reaching our class

In every election that Workers World Party has participated in since 1980, the main objective has been to expose the class bias of the elections to any worker and oppressed person who would listen — anyone seeking a real alternative to their unstable conditions. 

WWP electoral campaigns always spoke to the needs and aspirations of our class, what capitalist politicians only give lip service to every four years, hoping to occupy the White House. WWP never separates its revolutionary program from the necessity for a socialist revolution to overturn cruel and inhumane class relations and free the workers from wage slavery. 

Any anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist party choosing to use the arena of the bourgeois elections – which are forced on our class every four years – as a tactic and strategy to reach the broadest sectors of the working class is duty-bound to show that the road to true liberation is not dependent on one capitalist party over another but through an independent struggle.

What is the task going forward now that the 2024 elections are over? This is not an easy question to answer with many progressive forces still reeling from an openly fascistic, misogynist, xenophobic billionaire once again occupying the Oval Office. 

Supporting upcoming demonstrations as a defensive measure will remain important to show the proponents of the status quo that the movement is still alive and well and not going anywhere. At the same time, the most class conscious, revolutionary forces must go on the offensive to develop a united, classwide perspective on a global scale. That will help fill the void that the bourgeois elections have created. They have held sway over the workers and oppressed for way too long.