Over the next few weeks and months, most states will finish holding their primary elections before the midterms in November. Of the many candidates running for various positions in their states, many Democrats and a few Republicans and independents have expressed their criticism of the Trump administration. Some talk about the so-called affordability crisis, or the unprovoked war on Iran, or the mistreatment of immigrants by ICE, or raise other critiques as well. Regardless of their different criticisms, all of them point to the elections as the best way to confront the attacks from this administration. But it will take more than elections to stand up to all of these attacks.
Everywhere we look, the attacks on ordinary working people and the poor are escalating both here in the U.S. and internationally. The U.S. war on Iran continues to drag on, causing immense suffering inside Iran, and needlessly wasting billions of dollars. With full U.S. backing, Israel is escalating its assault on Gaza and Lebanon, seizing more territory and costing more lives every day. And the Trump administration has intensified its military threats against Cuba, where the entire population is suffering from a fuel shortage imposed by the U.S.
In response to ongoing bombing, Iran continues to block the Strait of Hormuz, causing economic chaos across the world, especially in oil markets, which has resulted in skyrocketing prices around the world in energy and many other essential goods.
All of this amounts to way more than a so-called affordability crisis. Corporations are making record profits as millions of working families are struggling to get by, and the effects of deepening cuts to vital social services are settling in and becoming impossible to ignore.
Schools and education programs are closing from lack of sufficient funds. Public hospitals and smaller hospitals are facing huge cuts and possible closures in many states. Access to food assistance, housing assistance, and transportation is being slashed. Health care costs continue to increase, forcing millions to go without care. Reproductive rights are under open attack across the country, with the Trump administration pushing to ban abortion medication nationwide.
This goes far beyond mere affordability! Those in power are determined to make it harder and harder for working people just to live. Every program we depend on is being treated as something to be cut, while the money flows to wars and to the billionaires.
On top this, we are seeing new levels of authoritarian repression and corruption. We see restrictions on voting rights, redistricting efforts to disenfranchise voters of color, the removal of people from the voter rolls, and new restrictions on mail-in voting. There is even a fund with $1.8 billion that has been set up by the Trump administration to give financial support to far-right groups and individuals who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021. It is certainly possible that these groups, along with ICE agents, could be used in November for voter intimidation and further attacks on the population. The fact that this blatant corruption can even happen just shows how corrupt their system is, and how little they really care about justice or democracy.
Alongside all of this, ICE’s attacks on immigrants keep intensifying, with mass arrests and deportations carried out without any hearings in the courts. And the Department of Homeland Security is spending billions to acquire and construct new detention facilities to hold more and more people. These facilities are designed to hold immigrants, but we are also seeing the government increasingly target and detain activists who oppose their policies, calling them terrorists or extremists.
Across the board, we are seeing a real escalation of attacks on the whole population in order to serve the interests of billionaires and their corporations. And what are we supposed to do in the face of all of this? We are told that the midterm elections are where we should direct all of our anger and put all of our hope. Regardless of how these primaries play out and whatever happens in November, we can say clearly that the ballot box will not be enough to stand up to these attacks — it will take a lot more.
But we are not powerless. The only way working people have gained anything under this system has been by fighting for it. And when we stop fighting, their attacks escalate, and whatever gains we made can disappear.
Our real power lies not in the ballot box, but in the fact that we do the work to make their system run. And in order to stand up to their attacks, we will have to organize our forces in order use that collective power. We can’t wait for November. We must start now to organize for a real fightback to resist their attacks and defend our interests.
