Fascist plots in the U.S.: Contemporary lessons from the 1934 “Business Plot”

“In contradistinction to German fascism, which acts under anti-constitutional slogans, American fascism tries to portray itself as the custodian of the constitution and ‘American democracy.’” – Georgi Dimitrov Six months ago, on January 6, 2021, a racist mob, incited by outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump, stormed the U.S. Capitol in a chaotic attempt to prevent the congressional certification of the 2020 presidential election results, a necessary step before the inauguration of Joe Biden. The assault on the Capitol was led by militarized fascist groups composed of many current or former military and police.[1] Some of the leaders of the organizations involved, such as Proud Boys Enrique Tarrio and Joseph Biggs, had direct ties to U.S. intelligence agencies, having served as FBI informants.[2] Only one fifth of Capitol Police were on duty that day, and they were unprepared and underequipped, even though the U.S. national security state had advance knowledge of the plot. A Senate investigation concluded that there was a multi-teared security “failure” on January 6th that involved not only Capitol Police but also the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense, among other agencies: Capitol Police were seen opening barricades and fraternizing with fascists, there were delays in deploying the National Guard, restrictions on reinforcements came from on high (implicating Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, amongst others), DHS agents on standby were not deployed, etc.[3] Much is still unknown about what was actually going on behind the spectacular scenes of the storming the Capitol. The fact that the bourgeois media ran an expansive faith-in-government campaign in its wake, and Senate Republicans blocked plans for a bipartisan governmental commission to investigate it, has only contributed to the obscurity surrounding this event. Essential questions remain: Although there are clear signs of governmental involvement, how deep and wide was the conspiracy? Which precise factions of the capitalist ruling class backed the organizations behind the assault on the Capitol, and to what extent was it “astroturfed” by them (meaning discretely funded to create the illusion of a grassroots movement from below)?[4] What was the exact ratio and relationship between state agents and the para-state—i.e. vigilante—actors involved?[5] Was this solely an organic conflict between the Trump and Biden camps, or was something more at play? It is important to note in this regard that the PR campaign that ushered Biden into office as the “savior of our democracy” has empowered his administration to break countless campaign promises and use the storming of the Capitol as a pretext for pushing for increased securitization, surveillance and the criminalization of dissent (which have always been used to target the Left). Whereas serious and rigorous investigations will need to take place in order to resolve these questions, a scantly known fascist plot to seize control of the U.S. government in the 1930s sheds important light on the history of homegrown fascism and the clandestine machinations of the bourgeoisie. Although there are significant differences between these two events, and facile analogies should be avoided in the name of precise materialist analysis, knowledge of the details of the earlier plot can help us better understand the relationship between bourgeois democracy and fascist movements in the U.S. settler colony. Read the full article: https://liberationschool.org/fascist-plots-in-the-u-s-contemporary-lessons-from-the-1934-business-plot/