Role of Conflict in Society. Goals and Effects of This 5 12 2026
Donald Trump has been president for two terms now. His war machine now has attacked 3 countries, Afghanistan, Venezuela, and Iran. He is now calling what was the defense department the “Department of War”.
The war effort in Afghanistan did not work out; at least it brought home no capital. In Venezuela, Trump had a coup d’etat against Nicholas Maduro. It remains to be seen if a profit can be made pumping the oil there, assuming companies will be willing to take the risk of going there and working given nationalization could be the result.
Trump’s latest war against Iran, in a cease fire currently, has also not resulted in victory, like Afghanistan. In the latter the Americans spent a lot of money, and got no real return.
The purpose of war is, one, conquer the country and take anything you want, then, two, put the conquered population to work supporting the conquering country.
In Afghanistan only number one was achieved. There was no profit made there, this tells us the Americans and NATO did not win there.
At this point, Donald Trump’s Department of War looks like a non profit organisation. One may say adventures like Afghanistan and Iran are for the public good, but it remains to be seen if Iran is like Afghanistan, a large expenditure of capital and men with no profit coming home.
Our casino owner seems to have pious wishes. But pious wishes do not always bring popularity, and the bourgeois effort to conquer Iran is deeply unpopular, like Afghanistan towards the 20 year mark of war.
Don’s coup in Venezuela seems to have emboldened him to attack Iran. The result was Iran fought back, and now the Americans are getting no military help from NATO, who seems to have learned about Middle Eastern military adventures with the bourgeoisie.
Now that Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz, oil prices have doubled. The gains of war in Iraq, control by Chevron and ExxonMobil of the oil wells there, expropriated from their nationalized state by Americans, are now unable to ship through the Strait. Every day that goes by is a loss for ExxonMobil, it is unable to sell oil and make a profit.
Don feels he is helping society by attacking Iran. Even if he was, the fact of the matter is capitalists expect to make a profit anytime there is labor involved. And although war may seem unproductive, a profit can always be made employing the conquered population in capitalist factories.
But all we have ever seen with Don is a non profit effort, in Afghanistan and Iran.
It makes one wonder how much longer capitalists will tolerate this. With control of both Houses of Congress and the presidency, the Republican bourgeoisie can only blame themselves for their inability to bring home the capital from Iran. And they can blame Joe Biden for ending the war after 20 long years in a defeat, but it was Trump who made the peace agreements with the Taliban; Biden just honored them.
The mid term elections are coming, and the Republican bourgeoisie may lose its majority in the House of Representatives due to these factors. The Senate rarely falls, it is dominated by large landowners. They are reliably more reactionary than the big bourgeoisie, who sometimes support the radical democrats. The possibility of losing has sparked a desperate effort to draw new lines in voting districts to keep a Republican majority. It’s been most effective in the South, dominated by large landowners. Fear of nationalization of the land drives forward the most reactionary measures to control suffrage, for instance requiring people to show up to vote on the day of the election rather than just being mailed a ballot.
The Trumpers will only have themselves to blame if they lose the war in Iran. If it stops tomorrow, it remains a non profit effort by Don. Who will buy the weapons used, if they cannot achieve victory in a developing world country, with little resources?
That is how it stands, and time is ticking. The midterm elections could change the course considerably, but nothing will change if perfection is the only way a person votes. The radical democrats are the liberal progressive bourgeoisie, but in the past they have sided with the proletariat, for instance in Europe in 1940. The sentiment is not so strong today, but nevertheless they appear less extreme than the reactionary bourgeoisie. It remains to be seen if this can translate into victory for them. It is only by being flexible one will achieve change, unbending objects break when pressure is applied. Obstructionist tactics will not be effective, workers representatives are needed who can try to legislate change. This is not the end all result of worker organization, but begins to address the political movement. At this point obstructionism will only isolate the workers movement further. With elections coming Don’s machine could be dealt a decisive blow.
Nicholas Jay Boyes
Milwaukee Wisconsin
American Democratic Republic
5 12 2026
Ecological Era 