Standing in the way of social progress and socialism in the U.S. is the monopoly capitalist class.
The ruling class is composed of the top owners and administrators of the huge multinational banks and corporations that control the economic life of the U.S. Their power extends far beyond the boundaries of the country to control the destinies of millions of others around the globe.
Immediately serving and protecting this class are other high-level and highly paid managers, executives and advisers. Altogether, the number of individuals who are responsible for monopoly capitalism is less than 2% of the entire population. They are the target of the U.S. revolution.
In opposition to this minority is the vast majority of the rest of the population. In the final analysis, the conditions of life for 98% of the people cannot fundamentally improve without the overthrow of the ruling class of monopolists.
The monopoly capitalists are a powerful enemy and it will require protracted efforts to overthrow them. But there is a potentially much more powerful force opposing them: a united front of the vast majority of people in the U.S. and millions of people all over the world oppressed by U.S. imperialism. This united front is a basic approach to ending monopoly capitalism and attaining socialism.
The groups that comprise the united front have many different interests and concerns. But what unites them all is their objective opposition to U.S. monopoly capitalism. It is the strategic task of the multinational working class and its vanguard party to unite and lead all the various classes and strata against monopoly capitalism.
To forge this united front, we must understand the class breakdown of U.S. society. Incomes are often used to define “upper, middle and lower” classes, but Marxism defines classes according to the relationship to the means of production. Classes are large bodies of people who are defined according to their historically determined role in the production and distribution of social wealth. The following is a preliminary analysis of the main classes in the U.S. today:
The monopoly capitalists: This class controls the economic life of the U.S. Through the Democratic and Republican parties, this class uses the government for its own ends. The most prominent monopolists are the Rockefellers, du Ponts, Fords, Morgans and Mellons, among others. The monopoly capitalist class also includes an elite stratum of managers, politicians and intellectuals who serve the monopolists. This class is the enemy of the revolution and the vast majority of the people of the U.S.
The non-monopoly capitalists: Under the monopolists are capitalists who are owners or directors of businesses on a regional or local level, wealthy investors, some highly paid intellectuals (writers, journalists, lawyers and other professionals) and cultural personages (famous entertainers), and the like.
These capitalists are very wealthy and live off the exploited labor of others. They do not have the national or international power of the monopolists, but still exert considerable economic and political influence. Most of the non-monopoly capitalists are closely connected to the top monopolists and have a vital interest in the preservation of monopoly capitalism. They form part of the target of the socialist revolution.
Some of the big capitalists of the oppressed nationalities are in this class and they have some conflicts with the monopolists over control of the minority peoples. Some may be won over to the revolutionary struggle while others will side with the monopolists.
The petty bourgeoisie: This is a diverse and complex class. It is composed of people who have some independent means of livelihood such as a small store, or those who have special technical or creative skills that they control and sell. The petty bourgeoisie is divided into three different strata distinguished by their incomes, working and living conditions, and social status. The upper level contains some local businessmen, professionals (like doctors and lawyers), big farmers, scientists and many entertainers and intellectuals. In its middle levels may be found people such as semi-professionals, middle level administrators, independent truckers and small retailers. At the lower level are people who are self-employed shop owners, artists, craftsmen, family farmers, and supervisory personnel.
The members of this class generally have more security and stability in their lives compared to the working class, but they are constantly threatened with ruin, or find their skills no longer in demand. They face being driven down into the working class and objectively are in contradiction with the monopoly capitalist system.
Because the U.S. has been a wealthy superpower for many years, the petty bourgeoisie is relatively numerous. This class is often influential in local affairs. The working class must try to win this class away from the monopolists. Many will join the struggle against monopoly capitalism, while others, in their belief in private property, will side with capitalism.
The lumpenproletariat: The lumpenproletariat is a small class that survives through criminal activity. Its main victims are the working class. The lumpenproletariat should not be confused with those who have had some petty run-ins with the law or who are unemployed. The lumpenproletariat is a parasitic class that preys upon the labor of others. Politically, the lumpenproletariat sometimes opposes the authorities, but usually in an anarchistic way. They can also be bought off by reactionary forces to do violence against progressive forces.
The working class: The working class is the class that is most systematically and brutally exploited by capitalism, and is the most revolutionary class. The working class is composed of all wage earners – mental and manual, urban and rural – whether in basic industry, manufacturing, service, farm, sales, domestic, clerical, public, or other jobs. The working class is composed of skilled and unskilled, employed and unemployed. Some workers may make more money than some in the petty bourgeoisie, but they are still members of the working class because they do not exploit the labor of others and must sell their labor power to survive.
The vast majority of people in the U.S. belong to the working class. The working class produces the wealth appropriated by the capitalists and its basic interest lies in the abolition of the private ownership of the means of production. It will be the leading class in the socialist revolution.
The basic interest of the working class is in opposition to monopoly capitalism, but there are a wide variety of current attitudes among workers about their position in society.
A small number of advanced workers see the need for fundamental change and want to bring this about. They are often leaders of struggle and are open to the path of socialism and revolution. Relatively more of these workers can be found among the lower stratum, those workers who are paid less, less skilled and more oppressed. Some of these are unskilled production workers in basic industry and manufacturing, service workers (in hospital, transportation, culinary and other jobs), unorganized workers and farm workers. They have fewer illusions about the nature of U.S. capitalist society. Many women and oppressed nationality workers are in the lower stratum. The majority of workers at this time do not understand the need for basic change or socialism. They have difficult lives, but they do not see how their problems can be resolved. These average workers want an improvement in their lives and often struggle mightily against their employers, but they do not understand yet the need for revolutionary change.
There are also backward workers who are generally content with their situation or who feel that, even though things could improve, monopoly capitalism is the best system. They do not favor basic change and many are affected by racism and national chauvinism. These backward workers usually agree with the bourgeoisie on major domestic and foreign policy issues.
The labor aristocracy: A section of the working class, with high wages and privileges gained from the superprofits of imperialism, is a pillar of support for the bourgeoisie. The labor aristocracy is recruited from the upper stratum of the working class, from among the highly paid and highly skilled workers, and from the trade union bureaucracy. The international leadership and sectors of the local leadership of the American trade unions are part of the labor aristocracy. The labor aristocracy materially benefits from imperialism and the suppression of the majority of the working class. It is an active defender of imperialism. This labor aristocracy is relatively very small in number, but has influence far beyond its size, due to its control of the trade union apparatus. It is a major obstacle to the struggle for socialism and tries to lead the working class movement along a path that is acceptable to the ruling class.
With the help of advanced workers and communists, more and more workers will become politically conscious and understand the need for revolutionary socialism. As the conditions of life deteriorate in the U.S., workers will seek ways out of the crisis and become open to the ideas of socialism. Through struggle and education, workers will also realize that their interest lies in the overthrow of capitalist private property and the establishment of socialist ownership. But such a revolution will require the solid unity of the workers of all nationalities and an alliance between the working class and the oppressed nationalities.
The working class and oppressed nationality movements are the two most powerful social movements in the U.S. and their alliance is necessary to bring down monopoly capitalism. The solidarity of this alliance will influence the entire development of the united front against monopoly capitalism.
There are two aspects to this alliance.
One is forging unity within the multinational working class.
The working class is multinational, composed of workers of many different nationalities. Their common identity is that they are all exploited by the capitalist class. But the greatest problem in the history of the U.S. working class movement has been its division. National oppression has forced minority nationality workers into the worst jobs and working conditions, and “last hired, first fired” is as true for them today as a hundred years ago. By comparison, white workers have higher incomes, better living conditions and more political rights. English is the official language and Anglo-European culture predominates, while the language and culture of the minority nationalities is suppressed and degraded.
Communists must oppose national oppression and must strive to build multinational unity on the basis of full support for equality, and an end to national oppression.
The other aspect of the strategic alliance is building the unity between the workers movement and the movements of the oppressed nationalities.
The system of national oppression has created a deep desire among the oppressed peoples for equality and liberation. These national-democratic movements are a powerful revolutionary force and, ultimately, can succeed only with the overthrow of imperialism. This struggle against a common enemy forms the basis for the alliance between the movements of the multinational working class and the oppressed nationalities.
To forge the strategic alliance, communists strive to win workers to oppose all forms of racism and national oppression. This includes upholding and fighting for the just demands of the oppressed peoples for freedom, all the way up to autonomy for minority nationalities and self-determination (including secession) for the oppressed nations. Only in this way will the oppressed peoples see that communists and workers of all nationalities have no unity with the white monopoly capitalist class.
Revolutionary white workers have the particular responsibility of opposing racism among whites and winning support for the oppressed nationalities. Revolutionary oppressed nationality workers have the tasks of uniting with and leading the movements of their people and opposing narrow nationalism. All workers must strive to forge unity with their fellow workers of all nationalities in the common effort for full democracy and socialism.
The government of the U.S. today serves the interests of the ruling monopoly capitalist class.
The state suppresses and controls opposition to capitalism. It maintains social order to provide a stable environment for big business. It does this through the massive state apparatus, including the courts, police, army, FBI, jails and bureaucracy. It also helps direct the capitalist economy and administer vital support services (postal, communications, transportation).
In times of crisis the repressive functions of the state become more visible, as during the uprisings of Afro-Americans in the 1960s, the anti-Viet Nam War demonstrations, or during strikes of workers. As social contradictions in the U.S. intensify and as the struggle against monopoly capitalism develops, the ruling class definitely will utilize the state more openly against the people. The threat of fascism – the undisguised terrorist rule of the bourgeoisie – may grow.
The working class would like to attain socialism without violence, but the history of the world shows that violence inevitably accompanies the overthrow of one class by another. The monopoly capitalists will not give up their control over the U.S. without a bloody fight. The working class will use every available means to attain its goal of socialism. It will utilize all legal possibilities and legislative approaches to improve the conditions of life and the struggle for socialism.
The form of struggle in the U.S. will mainly be a protracted legal one, but the working class cannot chain itself to the rules established by the ruling class. The working class must make preparations to defend itself from attack and be able to adopt different tactics in the case of fascism or war. The working class also must prepare for the eventual seizure of power from the monopoly capitalists. In the final analysis, the bourgeoisie will not relinquish power peacefully.
The transition to socialism will be difficult in the U.S., since the bourgeoisie is powerful and ruthless. But the bourgeoisie has created the factors that will bring its own downfall. The revolution in the U.S. will involve domestic and international forces. At home, the working class, oppressed nationalities and people generally will take up increasing struggle. Abroad, people will fight U.S. imperialism. One day these forces will converge into a mighty current that will weaken and then topple the monopoly capitalist class.
The eventual overthrow of imperialism is as certain as tomorrow’s sunrise.