The Empire Will Endure
We have to be realistic: Kamala Harris will be an imperialist President. I'm still working to get her elected.
In the months after October 7th, I agonized about my choices in the presidential election. As Israel’s war crimes continued undeterred, and Joe Biden offered no resistance, I joked darkly to a friend, “I would like to be able to vote for an anti-genocide candidate.” I couldn’t stomach giving Joe Biden my vote. And yet, I couldn’t fathom allowing Donald Trump to retake the presidency. I couldn’t figure out what to do, until at some point it dawned on me: I was naive to want a presidential candidate who wasn’t committed to continuing American imperialism.
And yet when Biden dropped out and Kamala Harris took his place, I got swept up in the surge of hope. For the first time in months it seemed like defeating Trump was possible. But it also felt like perhaps the Democratic party might be responding to the demands of its voters. When Harris selected Walz that feeling was reinforced. But the last month or so has brought me back to reality. The fact is Harris may represent a transformational figure in many ways. But when it comes to American empire she only represents the latest in an unbroken tradition.
This first became clear to me during the DNC and was reinforced last Tuesday during Harris’ debate with Trump. While she paid lip service to Palestinians’ right to self-determination, the DNC refused to offer a speaking slot to a Palestinian-American, even one willing to stump for Harris-Walz. In the same speech, Harris declared, “As Commander-in-Chief, I will ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world.”
On the debate stage, Harris was pressed on how she would achieve a ceasefire. She avoided answering the question, opting to repeat her talking points from her DNC speech. This included the line, “The one thing I will assure you always, I will always give Israel the ability to defend itself.”
We must be clear, the United States’ policy on Israel-Palestine is about imperialism as much as anything else, including Zionism. Israel’s role in the Middle East is to serve as a Western ally in a region whose resources the U.S. wants to control. Harris’ rhetoric and policy (or lack thereof) reflects that.
Harris’ commitment to imperialism can also be seen in the discussion of immigration and border control. Biden and Harris have completely capitulated the debate over the border and immigration to the Right. In her DNC acceptance speech, Harris told Americans, “Joe and I brought together Democrats and conservative Republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades. The Border Patrol endorsed it.” She mentioned her support for this bill in the debate again, while making no mention of a pathway to citizenship.
This disheartening imperialistic logic extends to the Democratic party’s post-2020 shift on policing. Harris has gone all in on her “tough on crime” prosecutor image. This is in perfect lockstep with Biden’s pro-police oratory and policy. This may or may not be a winning message. I doubt I fall into Harris’ target voter demographic. But I know that Harris’ commitment to policing, abandonment of humane immigration policy and unconditional support for Israel all serve the same purpose. They are about the projecting power and exerting control. They delineate whose humanity matters. I am holding out hope that a Harris presidency will make life better for millions of Americans. But I am also clear that in these core respects, she represents a continuation of the status quo.
So what do we do? I ultimately believe a democratic empire is more likely to be responsive to its citizens and capable of change. A Trump-led Empire would unleash chaos and harm at even greater scale inside and outside our borders. Within the U.S., the collective energy of the left from liberals to socialists would be spent on fighting to protect the rights we have. We could spend decades just trying to keep this fragile democracy alive, rather than actually expanding rights and resources for all.
For this reason, I’m committing myself to getting Kamala Harris elected. But I’m doing so with few illusions about what a Harris presidency means for the most vulnerable among us domestically and abroad. American Empire will continue regardless of the winner in November. I don’t say this to diminish the importance of a Harris win. Instead I want to be clear that once she is elected, there is so much work left to do.
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