The Inauguration of Technofascism

In the theater of capitalist spectacle, the coronation of Donald Trump to his second term as CEO of the capitalist empire is less a democratic transition and more an initiation into the fraternity of the real power brokers. Amidst the shimmering ballrooms and gaudy trappings of the inauguration, one finds not the people’s representatives but the architects of modern feudalism—tech moguls, hedge fund managers, and CEOs who see Trump not as a loose cannon but as their golden bullet.

The Yankees, the old moneyed elites of the Northeast; the Cowboys, Sunbelt oil barons and reactionary politicos; and the Digerati, Silicon Valley’s new overlords, converge in uneasy alliance. They bankroll Trump not out of fear, as the lapdog media suggests, but from a shared conviction: that his authoritarian swagger serves as the perfect battering ram against regulation, workers’ rights, and foreign competition.

This inauguration, with a record-breaking $200 million price tag, is not just a celebration but an investment. Figures like Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi are not currying favor; they are underwriting the next phase of their class project. The public-private partnership—a euphemism for legalized looting—finds its most loyal steward in Trump, whose gaudy populism cloaks the meticulous execution of bourgeois interests.

Zuckerberg, once hailed as a resistance figure for imposing “misinformation controls” during Trump’s first term, now dons a different mask. His $1 million contribution to the inaugural committee and pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago signal his allegiance. His public musings about America “winning” are nothing more than a tech imperialist’s vision of market hegemony underwritten by state power. His rollback of Meta’s hate speech controls serves as a gift to the alt-right forces that grease the Trump machine.

And what of Bezos, the cowboy in digerati clothing? His saccharine optimism about deregulation and his presence at Trump’s court confirm what was already obvious: the richest man on Earth sees in Trump a man who will guard his empire against the incursions of labor and competition.

At first glance, the inclusion of figures like Miriam Adelson, a Zionist media tycoon, alongside Silicon Valley technocrats might seem like a clash of interests. Yet this is the genius of the Trump era: his brand of nationalism seamlessly unites the Yankees’ financial engineering, the Cowboys’ extractive industries, and the Digerati’s digital empire-building. Together, they aim to crush all resistance—whether it’s labor unions, anti-capitalist movements, or rising economic powers like China.

This is not merely a policy agenda but a continuation of a centuries-long tradition of American imperialism. The trade war against China, spearheaded by Trump and continued by Biden, is less about national security and more about preserving the hegemony of American capital. Bans on Huawei, TikTok, and other Chinese firms are not just about spying or security; they are about stifling competition. The Yankees fear losing financial dominance, the Cowboys want to maintain cheap production networks, and the Digerati dream of an AI empire unchallenged by Beijing.

In Trump’s America, every oligarch is promised their own piece of the pie. Diane Hendricks, a billionaire who helped bankroll Trump’s 2016 campaign, received lucrative tax breaks in return. Now she doubles down, knowing that Trump’s presidency will shield her wealth from public scrutiny. The Adelsons, meanwhile, view Trump as the guarantor of their vision of an apartheid Israel, where the U.S. Treasury and military-industrial complex bankroll their colonial project.

These billionaires do not fear Trump—they trust him. They see in him a fellow gangster, someone who will leverage the state to enrich the already obscene wealth of his class. This trust is why Silicon Valley has bent the knee, why Zuckerberg and Gates travel to Mar-a-Lago, and why Bezos pledges to help dismantle regulation.

This unity of the ruling class comes at a cost—not to them, but to the working masses. As Trump ramps up his war on China, the Yankees, Cowboys, and Digerati will reap enormous profits while ordinary Americans pay the price. Tariffs will drive up prices for basic goods, bans on Chinese tech will stifle competition, and deregulation will strip away what little protections workers have left.

And yet, amidst this consolidation of power, the seeds of their downfall are sown. Trump’s coalition may be vast, but it is brittle. The Yankees disdain the Cowboys’ crudeness; the Digerati view the Yankees’ financial wizardry as outdated. These contradictions will sharpen as the global economic crisis deepens. But it is not enough to wait for their implosion. The working class must take this moment to organize—not just against Trump but against the entire edifice of capitalist rule.

As Marx so aptly wrote, the modern state is nothing more than a committee for managing the affairs of the bourgeoisie. Trump’s second administration is proof positive of this maxim, a grotesque caricature of bourgeois rule in the era of digital feudalism. Yet history has shown that no empire, no matter how technologically advanced or militarily powerful, can last forever.

The task before us is clear: to expose the charade of capitalist democracy, to reject the divisions sown by the ruling class, and to unite in struggle against the Yankees, Cowboys, and Digerati. They may have the money, but we have the numbers—and history, as always, is on our side.