The second presidential term of Donald Trump is progressing like an oil spill, with various factions of his administration merging into a formidable and aggressive policy machine, delivering new shock and terror each day — even to those who expect it. A bleary-eyed American populace, still wondering why the Democratic Party has turned losing into an Olympic sport, nonetheless looks to them for some form of opposition. Opinions abound as to why the Democrats lost; some are even saying that the party veered too far to the left — an obvious conclusion to be drawn from a campaign that refused to address the genocide in Gaza, promoted militant xenophobia at the border, and showcased none other than Liz Cheney! Rhetoric about the basic liberties of marginalized communities is far from being “too far to the left,” leading some to argue that the party would do better to advance its progressive wing with figures like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who have drawn thousands to recent rallies. With the material crisis of capitalism expanding and affecting more people, alongside clear popular support for myriad progressive causes, it seems strange to continue sidelining left populists in the party. That is, until one considers what the Democratic Party truly is.

The Democratic Party is an organization dedicated to advancing capitalism. Its historical strategy of cautious reformism has never aimed at advancing the working class but rather at providing just enough concessions to keep them in line, depending on the circumstances. To reorganize the party around even social democratic demands — like those put forward by Sanders’s two unsuccessful campaigns — would undermine the clear goals of the party’s leadership. The reality is this: the Democratic Party would rather lose everything than unleash the power of the working class. We sometimes think that under ideal circumstances the Democrats would reveal that they’ve been on our side all along, but what reason do we have to believe that? Do we really think rich politicians like Nancy Pelosi, for whom there is an app tracking their evident insider trading, are interested in promoting class consciousness? Furthermore, what happens to the Democratic Party when they lose control over all three branches of government? Will they become underground insurgents? Far from it. Their leadership is the bourgeoisie, and their bourgeois colleagues in the Republican Party serve their material interests just as well, because they are the same. They have repeatedly proved themselves to be the graveyard of social movements, quickly attempting to absorb the enthusiasm around popular outrage at issues like police brutality and climate change, funneling it into lackluster campaigns that either compromise themselves out of relevance or simply fail. This further illustrates that they often act as an instrument of bourgeois reaction, persuading people to get off the streets — where they experience class struggle and solidarity — and slip back into atomized and alienated passivity.

The policies that the Democrats campaign on are not the result of rigorous civic engagement or any kind of vibrant rank-and-file democracy — they have no rank-and-file, at least beyond a revolving door from enthusiasm to mere patronage! Kamala Harris was selected to replace Joe Biden without a genuine primary or open convention. Supporting the Democrats now means responding to their endless texts and emails asking for donations, voting for them, and encouraging others to do the same — not engaging in healthy debate with other members beyond the offensively limited lip service like the Uncommitted Movement at the Democratic National Convention. While they have a vocal progressive base, expressed in the Uncommitted Movement and the lightning-rod popularity of figures like Sanders — whom the party sidelines — we can contrast this suppression with the rank-and-file functioning of a genuine working-class party. Clearly, these policies, campaigns, and candidates do not emerge from class struggle, and therefore they cannot hope to represent class independence or transitional demands. Just as we are unsurprised when a corporation harms the public interest for profit, we should be equally unsurprised when bourgeois parties fail to represent us. Once the working class realizes its revolutionary potential, based on the strategic power it holds as the class that keeps society running, it will no longer be satisfied with the platitudes of bourgeois liberalism.

Many people look back at the last century and long for a Democrat like Franklin Roosevelt, whose New Deal established many of the basic economic protections that the United States enjoys. These concessions to the working class, however, originated not with FDR but in the comparatively massive labor movement of the time. They took political form in the campaign of the socialist Eugene V. Debs and the huge labor struggles and union organizing that he and his party came out of. As Rudolf Rocker said,

Political rights do not originate in parliaments; they are, rather, forced upon parliaments from without. … Political rights do not exist because they have been legally set down on a piece of paper, but only when they have become the ingrown habit of a people, and when any attempt to impair them will meet with the violent resistance of the populace.

Likewise, as Debs said,

I would not lead you into the promised land if I could, because if I led you in, some one else would lead you out. You must use your heads as well as your hands, and get yourself out of your present condition; as it is now the capitalists use your heads and your hands.

Taken together, these ideas show us that we should not be surprised by the embarrassing lack of leadership in the form of “symbolic” protests like holding up little paddles with signs during Trump’s speech or singing “We Shall Overcome” while 10 Democrats voted to censure Texas representative Al Green. Nor should we stoop to the cynical actions of Democratic leaders like Chuck Schumer, who voted for the Republicans’ budget. It is not the time to accept defeat but to reject capitalist despair and advance a socialist program!

The current situation requires a sober analysis of reality. While Trump’s first term was marked by instability as much as villainy, his second one is shaping up to be more stable. While many of his ephemeral agenda’s goals may not fully materialize, the sector that is sure to make the most headway is capital. The tyranny of capital, magnified by tax cuts and the shrinking middle and working classes, will exploit every rip in the fabric of society, especially the dissolution of public agencies, the deregulation of the economy, and the repression of workers. While much of organized labor and so-called socialists in the Democratic Socialists of America try to revitalize the Democratic Party that did so little to roll back the damage Trump caused during his first term, the working class must see the writing on the wall. The Democratic Party has experienced a massive setback, revealing substantial cracks in the facade of what they are capable of or interested in, but much work remains to put them in the dustbin of history. If it is not the Left that finishes them off, it will be the Right. We must break with them and begin the process of organizing ourselves into a real socialist workers’ party before they defuse any more of our enthusiasm. It will be a long and difficult struggle, but with optimism of the will, and despite the pessimism of the mind, we will see that we have nothing to lose but our chains!