That “the system is rigged” is the sentiment of millions of Americans as we head into the final stretch of the candidate selection process. Both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, who are seen as anti-political establishment outsiders, have tapped into this deep vein of discontent.

The following is the draft US perspectives document which will be discussed at the National Congress of the US section of the International Marxist Tendency. The document aims to outline the main economic, social, and political developments in the United States over the past period and lay out perspectives for the class struggle in the coming period.

ْْْْْْThe 2016 presidential election is not like most recent US elections—it is actually interesting and exciting! For the first time in US history, a mainstream candidate who calls himself a socialist and says we need a “political revolution against the billionaire class” is having a major impact.

On March 11, the workers of Chicago, with the youth leading the charge, gave Donald Trump a very rude awakening, which was celebrated by activists and revolutionaries around the world. Trump, who had spoken earlier that day at a rally in St. Louis which featured physical violence and death threats against protesters, must have expected his visit to Chicago to proceed similarly. After hearing about St. Louis, however, it quickly became apparent that ordinary Chicagoans had different plans for Trump and his rally.

In the current campaign to receive the Democratic Party’s nomination for president, Hillary Clinton has tried to portray herself as a defender of women’s rights, appealing to “sisterhood” and the possibility of becoming the first female president in order to galvanize support. While there is certainly a layer who views her as the most progressive candidate because of her gender, many young women and men in the U.S. can see right through the smoke and mirrors, and recognize Clinton as a member of the increasingly hated establishment.

Mass enthusiasm and interest in the Bernie Sanders campaign has swept the entire planet. As his viability as an electable candidate gathered momentum, a chain reaction of support was unleashed throughout the country.

America is going through the biggest political upset in living memory, perhaps longer. Never has the American Establishment, having lost control over the situation, been in such a state of confusion.

Although it had been widely predicted, the landslide victory of Bernie sanders in the New Hampshire primary produced shock waves. After narrowly losing in Iowa (and it is quite likely the result was rigged), Sanders beat Clinton by a margin of more than 20 last Tuesday.  This result has produced bewilderment among the commentators. That was something that was not supposed to happen.

The Iowa Caucus results are in. Bernie Sanders, who identifies himself a socialist and calls for a “political revolution against the billionaire class,” was defeated by Hillary Clinton by a mere 0.3%—far less than the statistical margin of error. One year ago, Clinton was set to cruise unopposed to the Democratic Party nomination. Sanders was portrayed as an irrelevant protest candidate and trailed her by 50 points.

With the 2016 presidential race in full swing, top fundraisers are predicting that candidates and advocacy groups will spend a whopping $5 billion dollars on the 2016 campaign—more than doubling the 2012 haul of $2 billion.

These days, it would seem that nearly everyone is a socialist of some sort or another. That was certainly not the case back when Socialist Appeal was founded fifteen years ago. To be sure, what most people understand as “socialism” at the moment is far from the fully revolutionary conception defended in the program at the back of our paper. But this marks a dramatic change in consciousness nonetheless.

Whether you live in the United States or somewhere else in the world, if you share our vision of a world organized around raising the living standards of humanity and establishing abundance for all rather than accumulating profits for “the billionaire class,” there are many ways you can support the work of the US section of the IMT as we launch our campaign to strengthen our national center by acquiring an office space in New York City!

With a population larger than Canada and over 70 cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants each, California is the largest and by many measures one of the most important states in the US. Home to Hollywood, Silicon Valley, a number of the country’s busiest seaports, the biggest agricultural center, and with 54 of the Fortune 500 companies, California will be key for the socialist revolution and thus for building the forces of Marxism today.

After increasing outrage around statements made by billionaire presidential candidate Donald Trump, many on the left, academics, and sections of the capitalist media have begun to raise the question, “Is Trump a fascist?”

The “Great Recession” may have “technically” ended in June 2009, but what really matters are full employment and a steadily increasing quality of life. Capitalism’s inability to provide this is not due to individual malice or indifference— though there are plenty of sociopaths on Wall Street—but because under capitalism, creating jobs and paying workers are mere afterthoughts to the real reason for the system’s existence: profits. This is the inner contradiction and absurdity of a socio-economic form that can exist only through the exploitation of workers, and yet is unable exploit all the able, willing, and available workers, millions of