The United States’ two-party representative democracy has always been a right-wing system, and this election it has transformed into its most dangerous form yet.
For decades, the Democrat versus Republican narrative has dominated every election cycle, allowing candidates on either side to engineer narratives about the other while largely ignoring necessary historical and global context.
By focusing Americans’ attention on two-party politics, mainstream political pundits have misled Americans into thinking that solutions to complex, global issues can only exist within this narrow capitalist framework, effectively shutting out all alternative viewpoints.
In this way, political figures have convinced the U.S. public that ideas commonly accepted around the globe are dangerous and highly contested.
Republicans have perfected this, casting doubt on climate science, engineering election conspiracies, and calling Democrats politically-charged terms like “ the radical left” and even “communists” for championing policies so commonplace and centrist they are even accepted in several right-wing circles, like common sense background checks for gun legislation.
Similarly, U.S. politicians – even Democrats – talk about universal healthcare as if it is a communist conspiracy while in reality, publicly-funded healthcare systems are so popular and successful that they exist in every other wealthy, developed nation.
Both Democrats and Republicans have also long gaslit the public into supporting U.S. involvement in various foreign conflicts, be it the unjustified invasions of Kuwait and Iraq or the unwavering support of Israel as it continues to massacre innocent civilians in Palestine and Lebanon.
Indeed, the U.S. political system is so right-wing that both parties are flushed with the cash of corporate lobbyists, and the so-called “liberal” party is currently supporting genocide and dragging its feet on meaningful climate legislation. The American two-party system has always existed within this right-wing capitalist framework, prioritizing the profit of weapons manufacturers, fossil fuel giants, insurance companies, and corporate billionaires over the needs of the human race.
However, since the inception of Trumpism, this already right-wing framework has shifted so far right that it is flirting with fascism.
That brings us to the 2024 election:
The Republicans are running a convicted rapist who has repeatedly sewed doubt in elections, attempted an insurrection, called for a “bloodbath” and a national day of violence, has said people won’t have to vote again if he wins, has suggested complete police immunity, and using the military to go after political rivals – in other words, a literal fascist.
This creates a political reality in which the Democrats could build a campaign around anyone from George Bush to a literal can of soup, based solely on the idea that their candidate isn’t a fumbling fascist felon.
Kamala Harris is no fascist, but she is a right-wing candidate.
Harris is bringing attention to the fact that Trump is dangerous, she supports restoring the protections of Roe v Wade, has a record of standing for LGBTQ rights, supports common sense background checks and an assault weapons ban, and has some economic policy ideas aimed at helping working people, like her proposal to provide up to $25,000 in support to first-time homebuyers. However, she supports Israel, she refuses to ban fracking, and she hasn’t discussed any meaningful, swift climate action as we face unprecedented heat and hurricanes. Her campaign has forgone discussing refugees and paths to citizenship in favor of portraying immigrants as dangerous, a move straight out of the Republican playbook. Like all corporate Democrats, she also doesn’t support universal healthcare.
We need a candidate who isn’t afraid to enact a Green New Deal and ban oil drilling and single-use plastic. We need a candidate who is willing to discuss the failures of capitalism as billions of people live in poverty and the rich continue to climb their way to trillionaire status. We need a candidate who isn’t bought and paid for by Israel’s lobbyists to portray genocide as necessary self-defense. We deserve a candidate who will raise the minimum wage, who will cut the military budget, expand social services, and shift foreign policy focus from endless war to actual peace and diplomacy.
These candidates exist, but until we change our two-party system, they don’t have a chance of winning. The sad reality is that we will once again be forced to choose the lesser of two evils this November and hope like hell it’s the Democrat and not the fascist.