Konikow
23rd June 2016, 02:36
Democrats and Republicans Push Reactionary Response
Horrific Anti-Gay Massacre in Orlando
On June 12, a deranged and hate-filled gunman murdered 49 people and wounded 53 more at the gay Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, which was holding a Latin music night. For many it was a deeply painful reminder that virulent homophobia has deep roots in this profoundly violent and irrational society. The capitalist politicians saw the events as grist for their mill of hypocrisy and repression. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Clinton seized the occasion of the Pulse massacre to call for increasing police-state measures at home and ramping up wars abroad, while Republican Donald Trump shamelessly exploited the massacre for his anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim demagogy. Obama and liberals generally saw it as a golden opportunity to push for more gun control. Marxists, in contrast, uphold the right of self-defense and point out that gun control means giving a monopoly on armed force to the police and military, the repressive forces of capitalism which are a far greater danger to the oppressed. The capitalist system of exploitation feeds off of and continually reproduces every form of oppression, backwardness and bigotry that lead to such horrors as the Orlando massacre, and it will take socialist revolution to put an end to it. Horrific Anti-Gay Massacre in Orlando (http://www.internationalist.org/orlandomassacre1606.html) (21 June 2016)
Horrific Anti-Gay Massacre in Orlando
On June 12, a deranged and hate-filled gunman murdered 49 people and wounded 53 more at the gay Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, which was holding a Latin music night. For many it was a deeply painful reminder that virulent homophobia has deep roots in this profoundly violent and irrational society. The capitalist politicians saw the events as grist for their mill of hypocrisy and repression. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Clinton seized the occasion of the Pulse massacre to call for increasing police-state measures at home and ramping up wars abroad, while Republican Donald Trump shamelessly exploited the massacre for his anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim demagogy. Obama and liberals generally saw it as a golden opportunity to push for more gun control. Marxists, in contrast, uphold the right of self-defense and point out that gun control means giving a monopoly on armed force to the police and military, the repressive forces of capitalism which are a far greater danger to the oppressed. The capitalist system of exploitation feeds off of and continually reproduces every form of oppression, backwardness and bigotry that lead to such horrors as the Orlando massacre, and it will take socialist revolution to put an end to it. Horrific Anti-Gay Massacre in Orlando (http://www.internationalist.org/orlandomassacre1606.html) (21 June 2016)