By Jerry Ginsberg
Right now, we are watching our democracy give way to reactionary and authoritarian forces under the Trump regime. As Democratic Party leaders overlook the needs of the working class, a new progressive coalition is starting to take shape in response to aggressive ICE raids and threats to our rights. That’s why reading Earl Browder’s The Popular Front is especially important today to help us understand what we’re facing.
Browder’s book, first published in 1938, reminds readers of our “American Tradition” and describes how progressives have always fought to protect democracy, just as leaders like Jefferson and Lincoln did. In his time, Browder argued that progressives—including communists, socialists, and supporters of FDR’s New Deal—needed to unite in a popular front to defend democracy against fascism. While FDR was not a communist, he worked with them to protect the country during a constitutional crisis.
Browder talked about “acts of treason” in his time, pointing to figures like Aaron Burr and Trotsky. He saw these acts coming from both right-wing reactionaries, such as the Liberty Leaguers, and from Socialist Party leader Norman Thomas. We can see similar patterns today.
Today, the Supreme Court is once again acting as a barrier to progress by allowing what many see as “acts of treason.” In our time, it is the President himself committing these acts. Still, Trump’s actions are protected by the Supreme Court, which ruled that his incitement during the January 6th insurrection was an “official act.” Republicans have defended Trump’s attempts to use U.S. troops against civilians, and Democratic leaders have allowed funding for ICE. The fight we face now is not just about opposing capitalism directly, but about uniting progressive forces against these threats.
Even more troubling are those on the left who call for revolution right now. Like the Norman Thomases of Browder’s era, these figures shift their positions for convenience, which is not truly revolutionary and only ends up helping reactionary forces.
Browder combats this opportunism by stating what the masses will be faced with, “When the masses of our country are aroused to battle against entrenched privilege, monopoly capital and political reaction, there is no third or neutral position. This is all the more true since the leading forces in both camps so clearly proclaim the fundamental issue.”
Guidance by Browder reminds us that we can fight this reactionary Supreme Court through history: “Every constitutional crisis in American history has been, of course, merely the juridical form taken by great social struggles, conflicts of classes, contradiction between fundamental class interests. In every such struggle, the role of the Supreme Court has been a very active and vital one, and in each case the Supreme Court has been the main fortress of the forces of political and social reaction, of privilege and monopoly.”
Analyzing history is our tool for developing the future which is why this book needs a careful look by any serious professional revolutionary.
The People’s Front can be purchased from New Outlook Publishers – The People’s Front – New Outlook Publishers
