These protests are organic uprisings against a capitalist state whose representative institutions are increasingly failing to provide it with democratic legitimacy, leaving it to maintain a semblance of order by relying on violence in defense of property.

The contradiction between democratic legitimacy and capital accumulation is a major fault line in the capitalist state. Neoliberal reforms helped sustain growth after the crisis of the 70s, but at the expense of democratic legitimacy, insulating state institutions from oversight.

The decline of democratic representation was complemented with more intense state investment in the repressive apparatuses, usually at the local level. This is the period of authoritarian neoliberalism.

The heavily federalized and racialized form of the US state always meant that this transition would be uneven. The brunt of it would be borne by groups who were already structurally disadvantaged by race, class, and gender. The history of the carceral state testifies to this.

In "normal" times, the capitalist state acts as a shock absorber for class domination, by consolidating capitalist class power and disorganizing social struggles. If those struggles are persistent enough, they leave an imprint on its institutions as social rights & provisions.

But when the representative channels for conveying those struggles break down (parties weaken, executive consolidates power, repressive apparatuses grow), as they have over the last 20 years, the state becomes more susceptible to hegemonic crises.

Hegemonic crisis + expanded means of violence are a bad combination.

So far, setting aside Trump's own idiosyncrasies, both parties have converged on the "law and order" message: protest peacefully, but don't damage property. The ruling class is unified on this, but the hegemonic crisis is a crisis of leadership, and no one has stepped up.

Multiple contradictions (economic, political, ideological) are at work. But I don't think resistance to state violence and a hegemonic crisis by themselves mean this is a revolutionary conjuncture. Our organizations are weak and this could very well end in a major reaction. /end