Since the original Rage Against the War Machine event happened a year-and-a-half ago, the discourse has changed in certain ways. Ways that make this next rally, which will take place on September 28, have a role which differs from that of the first RAWM event.
Back at the start of 2023, the established left was by far the biggest ideological force that stood against the RAWM coalition, and it thereby became the foremost element whose ideas the coalition’s supporters argued against. Today, these leftist sectarians are still a big problem for the anti-imperialist cause, but they no longer have as much ability to obstruct our united front’s activities, since this front has grown in its support and influence. So the “dissident right” has come to be a much bigger foe for our coalition than it was last time. Amid the organized left’s failure to stop the rise of an independent and mass-based antiwar movement, the imperial state has boosted the far right, hoping it will be what thwarts our efforts.
RAWM got so much backlash for the same reason it had momentum: because it brought together ideological groups which have potential to seriously advance the anti-imperialist cause if they unify. The Libertarian Party, the People’s Party, the communist formations that joined with the coalition, and the other figures or groups which had a part in it were enough to have a real discourse impact. When combined, they could substantially amplify ideas that most threatened the Ukraine psyop, as shown by the event’s visibly pro-Russian participants.
This was more radical in its anti-imperialism than the other biggest antiwar events were, and it challenged the idea that the antiwar movement should exclusively be a leftist thing. Since the established socialist orgs also want communism to be something owned by the left, these forces joined in on the media’s attacks against the rally. We’ll of course see leftist attacks against RAWM again during this next month, but in our new discourse landscape, another major source of hostility is going to be the “dissident right.” The online community of “groyper” Nazis whose presence and platform have massively expanded in just the last year or so.
These fascist agitators, with their “Jewish question” narratives and their efforts to appropriate anti-imperialist rhetoric, are ironically what the leftists who hate RAWM accuse our coalition of being. They seek to divert anti-establishment sentiments towards fascist ideas, arguing that the source behind capitalism’s crises is not capital but rather Jews. They tried to infiltrate RAWM and its member orgs, but they failed, because what they represent is fundamentally incompatible with any real anti-imperialist coalition. They’ve since come to be some of the primary ideological targets of the communist current that’s not invested in leftism; perhaps just as much as the “pan-leftists” who seek to keep communism controlled by the left, we’ve been working to combat their ideas. With this new RAWM event, the groypers find themselves further threatened by us, because we’re about to give major visibility to an authentically anti-establishment alternative.
The three-letter agencies hope to use the groypers to prevent revolutionary progress, both by funneling disillusioned Americans away from class consciousness and by weaponizing these Nazi trolls against genuine dissidents. They especially seek to advance the “dissident right” psyop at this moment, when an election is approaching and the ruling class is anxious to maintain narrative control. Another reason why the deep state backs the groypers, aside from a need for controlled opposition or a need for political attack dogs, is because the groypers make dissident politics easy to smear. When the groypers are highly visible, the liberals can shut down any anti-imperialist argument by pointing to these vile actors and saying “that’s what they say too!”
We’ve seen liberals do this in the Ukraine debate, arguing that nobody should support Russia because certain elements of the far right fetishize Russian culture. Now, as “JQers” like Nick Fuentes and Lucas Gage get Twitter attention by speaking against Zionism, pro-genocide libs can better portray every anti-Zionist as anti-Jewish.
RAWM, and the coalition-building idea that it represents, are about constructing a force that can genuinely fight imperialism. That seeks to divert the antiwar cause towards neither sectarian and dogmatic leftism, nor ahistorical and bigoted conspiracies. The modern left is by design unable to connect to the masses, with it being led by petty-bourgeois radicals who hold an elitist view towards the people. So as long as the left owns antiwar organizing and the class struggle, the JQers will be able to fill the void within anti-establishment politics which the left creates. The only thing that can defeat the “dissident right” psyop, and give the people an avenue for advancing their anti-imperialist interests, is a united front among the forces which truly oppose monopoly capital.
When this new rally happens thirty days from now, it will be another month into the latest phase which the counterinsurgency has entered into; the phase where the USA and its satellite states have greatly accelerated their repressive campaign. Since Kamala Harris got the nomination last month, and the ruling class thereby felt an urgent need to crack down, half a dozen high-profile individuals have been either raided or arrested on politically motivated grounds. By the time RAWM happens, there’s little doubt that more people will have gotten this treatment; the imperial state has even told us who some of its next victims could be. The trial of the Uhuru 3, who’ve been accused of acting as foreign agents for Russia, is scheduled to take place on September 3.
In this perilous climate that our class enemies have cultivated, where it’s considered a crime to simply talk to people from certain countries, RAWM’s organizers and supporters can expect more severe backlash than they experienced last time. Yet we have a good chance of turning this confrontation in our favor, because in the last couple years we’ve gotten much closer to “strategic equilibrium”; the stage where revolutionary organizations no longer exist in a purely defensive way, and can also operate on an even level with the mainstream political forces.
A crucial part of reaching strategic equilibrium is taking advantage of the divisions within the ruling class, which this moment presents us with growing opportunities for doing. The wing of the bourgeoisie that’s behind Harris is increasingly in conflict with capital’s lower levels, which seek an end to big capital’s degrowth schemes and are looking for allies in this fight. The dissident right psyop seeks to convince these rogue capitalist elements that the JQ, with its lie about how monopoly capital comes from a global Jewish conspiracy, is what they must invest themselves in to defeat the monopolists. Within this narrative, Marxism is another part of the conspiracy, with the driving force behind monopoly power being “Judeo-Bolshevism.” We must intervene in the discourse. Marxists must expose the lies of those who scapegoat the Jews, while illustrating how Marxism is what can build an alternative system to monopoly capital.
This is how the anti-imperialist front’s communist wing can unite the workers who’ve been divided by culture war issues, and unite the proletariat with its potential allies in capital’s lower levels. When our coalition acts next, it will show more of those we must reach why the correct path is to join with this united front, rather than accept the lies of monopoly capital’s fascist agents.
————————————————————————
If you appreciate my work, I hope you become a one-time or regular donor to my Patreon account. Like most of us, I’m feeling the economic pressures amid late-stage capitalism, and I need money to keep fighting for a new system that works for all of us. Go to my Patreon here.
To keep this platform effective amid the censorship against dissenting voices, join my Telegram channel.
