Our political class, primarily through a strategy and tactics rooted in an ongoing and near-hegemonic white supremacy, have divided our working class, pulling and rewarding the more progressive sector, especially workers of color, into and under the Democratic coalitional tent. The more backward sector of workers embracing rightwing populism have likewise been pulled into a ‘white united front’ aspiring hegemonic bloc, starting with Wallace and Reagan, but rapidly expanding under Trump.

For the sake of a better short formula about strategy, in this case for defeating fascism, I rely on my Maoist background, still useful in some ways: ‘Unite and develop the progressive forces (the workers and insurgencies of the oppressed, largely under the Dem tent); win over the middle forces (the workers and small producers trying to avoid politics), then isolate and divide the backward (the pro-Trump workers with the GOP, by splitting off a part of them upset with the alt right. I know they are there. I went door-to-door in these areas, finding Trump democrats, Bernie Democrats, but very few for HRC.). We have to assign or find cadres to work with all three.

In a large city like Chicago or NYC, it is enough to unite the progressive forces to win an elect and defeat fascists. The problem is to win them to a progressive platform.

But out in vast stretches of the country, including the highly proletarianized ‘Rust Belt,’ we have to work all three. And without winning back, say, 20% of the white Obama voters who turned to Trump, we are not going to get over 50% of the vote to throw out the GOP and Trump. And this is not likely to be done with economic platforms alone. They were won to Trump by white male identity politics in the ‘culture wars’ of hating immigrant and Muslims, even though very few of the latter two groups even live around these places. This is where Gramsci helps, to resurrect their ‘ good sense’ of working-class values of mutual aid and solidarity, against the ‘common sense’ that white folks are being screwed by liberals and the oppressed.

As for our protagonist Modern-Prince-in-the-making, I think it’s currently found embryonicalledin the Bernie faction under the Dem tent, DSA, and LeftRoots, as well as among the nonpartisan and non-electoral forces you mention. This will not be done in one round. To use a motto I made for myself and a small group of comrades, ‘Organization is the central task, revolutionary education is the key link.’ -CarlD

Carl, thanks for your stimulating comment. You are right about the vast difference between conditions today and those a century ago. In particular, consider the major actors in the early Communists’ anti-fascist united front scenario: mass Communist parties, mass social-democratic parties whose members believed in socialism, and a trade union movement with support of the majority of workers. None of this is present today.

And yet anti-fascist united fronts are taking shape all around us. Black Lives Matter; Standing Rock; actions in defense of women’s and immigrants’ rights; and the specifically anti-Fascist rallies. True, they do not pose the question of power; we have a way to go on that one! But in terms of the active involvement of working people and impact on their thinking, such initiatives may well have achieved more than the Sanders campaign.

Yes, giving electoral expression to social movements is vital. As to how that can be done in the U.S., I leave that to you, since you’re based there.

As for the role of parliament in transitions to workers’ power, I assume you are referring to the Russian October Revolution of 1917. As U.S. Communist James P. Cannon told the court during World War 2, “That was as legal an assumption of power as you’re ever going to find.” (I’m paraphrasing from memory….) The Soviets, of course, were the only elected representative body that then existed in Russia.

But that type of parliamentarism is not always possible. To take an example from the period of Cannon’s trial, anti-fascist resistance movements under Nazi rule could not function legally; they resorted to underground work: a combination of civil and military resistance. Abrogation of democratic rights may seem unlikely in the U.S. But consider: why did Cannon get thrown in jail?

Regarding the Arditi del Populo, my impression is that they were an open formation, welcoming participants who were Communist and Socialist (despite the hostility of their respective party leaderships) or Christian. There is a good description of the successful defense of Bari in Bordiga’s report to the Fourth Congress, now available at https://www.marxists.org/archive/bordiga/works/1922/bordiga02.htm.

The story of the Arditi’s victory in Parma is told in Tom Behan’s excellent short book, The Resistible Rise of Benito Mussolini, referenced on my blog article.

Both these descriptions suggest a defense not by an isolated vanguard group but by the entire working-class community, which is certainly what we are aiming at today.

By the way, there are at least two detailed and authoritative books on the Arditi del Populo in Italian.

As for the Antifa groups, I am not close enough to the events to comment. Could you share with us your own thoughts on their activities?