Yes, of course, this slogan dates back to 1864: proclaimed by Marx at the birth of the First International. Yet it remains relevant today. Trump takes aim at all the workers of the world in his imperialist posture. I do not mean merely French, European, or Chinese workers, but proletarians in all countries: especially the less-developed ones.
Recession means fewer jobs, inflation means less purchasing power, climate change denial in favor of unfettered capitalism means the destruction of our ecosystems—in particular the most vulnerable, the subjects of colonial capitalism's appropriation of the Earth.
Trump is Enemy Number One of the Working Class
We can rebuke him on May 1st, the international day of workers' rights celebrated since the first demonstration on May 1st, 1886 in the United States to win the eight-hour day. Trump is nothing but the zealous servant of the billionaires of his country, of whom the seven richest have made plain their objective: “we have the power, we are rich, but we want more power and more riches”.
In France, Macron will not be outdone and has Bernard Arnault—the first French billionaire—laying down the law like his “high-class” American colleagues. How could we ignore how his political comments have multiplied? Having attended Trump’s inauguration, Arnault declared that the United States is much more business-friendly than France. That was before the tariffs. He declared that the French must pare down their lifestyle in the same way that Macron talked about the end of abundance. The translation of this discourse in budgetary terms is a cut of 40 billion euros from public spending. And of course, the French billionaire even claimed that he would go so far as to move production to America, blaming Europe! No, capital has no homeland: it will exploit workers wherever it is most profitable to do so.
Make May Day Internationalist
A very different course of public policy clearly needs to be taken. The France Unbowed has made known its proposals for a politics of economic sovereignty. The General Confederation of Labor has also laid out its proposals here. Yet all this presupposes taking power by the ballot box.
To do so, we must convince people that we offer a different project for France and the world. In all our efforts, we must convince people that no positive change is possible without a rupture with capitalism. In Canada and the United States, Jean-Luc Mélenchon found many who lamented that they lacked a major political force pushing for that rupture.
Alter-globalization is an essential element of our unifying work in France itself.
The ‘New France’ Must Make Itself Heard
The New France must engage in this struggle. Alongside the trade unions and civil society, as we do on May Day, we must continue to knit people together in mutual respect. The youth have clearly understood that there is no accommodation possible with the present world-system. For them, the word “rupture” is not only a programmatic demand but a way of life. Their action is radical because this society radically excludes them from any human future. Women demand the realization of their hard-won rights, true social equality, and bodily autonomy. They have seen how Trump, from his first words, mixed antisocial aggression and sexism in equal measure. Racialized people in working-class neighborhoods and across every site of social exclusion know that the struggle has two prongs: that which must be waged in France, and that which must be waged for another world.
They identify with the Palestinian cause because they also suffer discrimination.
They also identify with those in every country excluded from international trade by lack of sufficient economic development, a condition that perpetuates colonial dependence. Our program, “The Future in Common”, highlights the importance of the French Agency for Development and the role the United Nations should play in aiding these countries. There cannot be fair trade without a minimum basis of development in all countries. Promoting international policy that redresses these issues is not merely a humanitarian gesture: as the former Malian minister Aminata Traoré said, the problems of the Global North cannot be resolved without those of the Global South.
Workers Must Defend Peace
Our marches on May Day will also be a great occasion to respond to Trump: “We want peace, not war”.
The United States has already lost the trade war that it claims to have started. Trump admitted this the day when he declared that the market would not allow him to “win” this commercial conflict with China.
Now as usual, capitalism sees war as the only means to accelerate the accumulation of wealth for the capitalist class. Western states will follow obediently, acquiescing to the wisdom of Dear Leader. Only the people can rise up and make themselves heard, opposing this global chaos; respectful of international law and inflexible against the perpetrators of mass murder and war crimes.
“Workers of the World, Unite!”
This May Day is truly international.
