EDITORIAL
Capitalist Front-Men Debate

Jul 1, 2024

Joseph Biden and Donald Trump met in a debate last week. We were all told to tune in to help us decide who to choose as “our” president for the next four years.

For ninety minutes, the two touted their own records and attacked each other. For ninety minutes, we heard nothing that had anything to do with our lives or concerns. And if we did, we heard lies about how to solve those problems, like attacking immigrant workers.

Both Trump and Biden touted the economy they presided over as great and strong. Great? For whom?? Yes, the economy was ‘strong’ during Trump’s, then Biden’s presidency. For the wealthy, the banks, and corporations. But working people suffered during both terms.

People lost jobs. People lost buying-power from inflation. People were attacked by their employers, who decided that they could get away with anything to fatten their bottom line. People were sick and died from COVID. And both administrations, Trump AND Biden, showed the capitalists they could get away with it.

After the debate, all of the media reports were filled with stories about how badly Biden had performed—and he had, no doubt. All the big newspapers were concerned with whether Biden could continue as the Democratic nominee, or if they should replace him, and who they could nominate in his place.

The New York Times went so far as to suggest in an editorial that Biden should step down and allow someone else to take his place. They raised questions about whether Biden, at 81, is unfit for the office.

In other words, the pundits were concerned not about the substance of the debate (because there was none), but only about the delivery of each candidate. Biden wasn’t energetic enough. He didn’t LOOK good. That was the only thing that mattered.

This is all smoke and mirrors, for the working-class population of this country, because both of these candidates have shown themselves to be unfit—for delivering what working people need. And not because of their age or ‘diminished capacities.’ What makes them unfit to represent workers is that they are clearly servants of the capitalist class, those who exploit us.

BOTH of these choices, and the parties they represent, are here to represent interests opposed to working peoples’ true interests. Both represent our class enemies, the class that is every day exploiting us and taking away our labor to line their own pockets.

The Democrats, the Republicans, and all of the major media outlets who parrot them want us to believe that this is the only choice we have before us. They want us to pay attention to these ridiculous performances by their top two performing seals, telling us that OUR fates are decided by how we vote in November. When in reality, both are performers who will be ready to sell us on the latest poison they want us to swallow—in the interests of the capitalist class.

That doesn’t sound like much of a choice.

What sounds like a system rigged for the capitalist parties is just what it is. These parties do not represent working people.

The ONLY answer for working people is to build our OWN party, representing our own interests truly, and not to buy into the idea that we are trapped in the cycle of voting for the lesser of two evils.

Evil is still evil. We can’t depend on our enemies to represent us. We need to represent ourselves. And to fight for what we truly need.