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But both parties, representing two factions of the same ruling class, intentionally keep the working class divided into different political blocks, into the fiction of “blue vs. red” so each can be more easily mobilized in favor of their respective rulers, rather than against their common enemy. Backed by powerful media institutions churning out content, both factions each invent existential threats in the other and drum up points of division to keep workers estranged and voting out of fear. The Republican leaders are, of course, less subtle in their cultural appeals to racism, sexism, and xenophobia. The Democratic leaders, by contrast, use “politically correct” language to signal sympathy for targeted communities, while doing nothing for them and instead protecting the same system of exploitation and Empire.

For all the harsh rhetoric the two parties use against each other, the truth is that they are just shades apart! On most of the issues that are important to the capitalist class, they are on the same team. They work for the same lobbyists and banks, enact the same mass surveillance policies against all of us, and work together to fund and arm Israel, Ukraine, and military contractors. They both work to keep third parties off the ballot and out of the debates. Both scapegoat immigrants for declining services. Neither fights for working people. Our problems won’t be solved when these two parties are more “united.” They are functionally already the same.

As long as this deception continues, and as long as workers have to fight among themselves for the scraps left over by the billionaire class, there will inevitably be countless points of division and conflict. The basis of broad working-class unity is a program that advocates for taking away the power of Wall Street and the Military-Industrial Complex, instead using the country’s wealth to build up housing, healthcare, education, and good-paying jobs, while rejecting all forms of hatred and bigotry.

Since its founding, a small group of rich capitalists have maintained a hold on the political power in this country. For over 150 years, they have maintained this grip on power through two ruling-class parties. The vast majority, those whose labor creates all the real wealth in society, do not hold any political power and are only allowed to participate either as supporters of one of the two parties that don’t represent their needs and interests or as spectators to a system dominated by Big Money. This is a Plutocracy, not a Democracy. Biden tells the public that Trump is the problem. Trump says that Biden is the problem. The real problem is that the biggest banks, corporations, and capitalist-owned media have dictatorial power over society, the government, and its policies. We can create a real democracy in the United States by ending the stranglehold on political and economic power by Wall Street banks and corporations, and their political servants in government.