Would Trump’s Authoritarianism Make Life Better for American Workers?

While Vice President Kamala Harris has no doubt experienced success in inspiring confidence in more and more American voters that she can manage the economy effectively and improve their lives, the electorate still remains divided, polls indicate (see here and here), and hence collectively uncertain about whether Donald Trump or Vice President will pursue economic policy that will positively impact their lives and address their real worries.

We could go on and on quoting myriad economists, including Nobel-prize winners, who indicate Trump’s proposed policies would balloon inflation and basically be a disaster for the U.S. economy.

We could go on and on reminding voters of what Trump’s economy was really like–as opposed to the distorted memory he peddles–recalling how how his tax cuts benefited the wealthy while poverty and homeless increased during his administration, how he opposed raising the minimum wage because he thinks wages are too high, or how he tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act with no replacement, threatening the health care of millions of Americans.

We could listen to John Giles, Republican Mayor of Mesa, Arizona, who voiced his support for Kamala Harris because his city suffered under Trump’s rule and thrived under the Biden-Harris economy, experiencing job and economic growth.

Or, on the other side, we could go on about how Biden and Harris actually did take on corporate greed, lowering the cost of insulin to $35 per month for many Americans, signaling their agenda of taking on price-gouging and their fearlessness toward fighting corporate power in the name of fairness for Americans.  Indeed, we saw their follow-through as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, which enabled Medicare Medicare to negotiate for the first time ever prescription drug prices with Big Pharma. We could talk about efforts of the Biden-Harris administration to reduce and in some cases eliminate student debt. We could talk about a lot of ways Biden and Harris created well-paying jobs while improving lives for Americans, just look at the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which has created union jobs for workers and is helping to rebuild the nation. 

I’m not sure this kind of discussion gets through to people, though.

So, let’s try boiling this discussion down to basics and start with this simple question: will a political system that deprives people of democratic rights and the ability to participate in the political system and have their voice heard put people in a better position, a more powerful position, to demand better wages, more affordable housing, quality healthcare, and more?

The kind of authoritarian rule Trump imagines is not one where he recognizes the rights of others.  As a boss and corporate magnate, he opposed unions–and hence workers’ rights– and invariably tried to stiff his workers. And, as he mentioned above, he has repeatedly insisted that workers’ wages are, in fact, too high! 

But just put it in these simple terms: will the curtailing of democracy put any American in a stronger position to advocate for more rights, to take on corporate power and greed, and to have a simple say in the decision-making that makes our governments at all levels run?

Think about the corporate lobbyists that have already overrun Washington D.C.  

And remember Trump’s offer to oil executives that he would lift regulations and supply tax breaks if they supported him to the tune of $1 billion.

His major achievement during his presidency was a huge tax cut for corporations and the wealthiest among us. And he promises another huge tax cut for the wealthy going forward, and overall his economic proposals effectively increase taxes for most Americans.

Conversely, we know how workers have improved their living and working conditions and economic fortunes throughout history. 

We know, as Frederick Douglass tells us, that “Power concedes nothing without a demand,” and we  know that labor unions have been instrumental throughout U.S. history in organizing workers’ collective power to make these demands.

As a recent example–one severely under-reported–take the fact that 58,000 U.S.-based Ford workers represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) received on average checks of $10,416 as part of the collective bargaining agreement that resulted from a major UAW strike.

Achieving this kind of profit-sharing, enabling workers to share in the fruits of their labor, is in fact major progress on the way to a more egalitarian and just world. And this progress was possible because workers have a union through which they enjoy representation, a seat at the table to have a say in how they are compensated and what their working conditions are.

Unions, we can easily see, play an important role in leveling the field for workers so they can have a voice in their workplace and in the economic decision-making overall. They are an egalitarian force.

It’s not hard to see why Starbucks, Amazon, and Walmart fight so hard against their workers organizing. They don’t want to share the wealth their workers produce, and they don’t want to give their workers a voice in the workplace. This anti-unionism is its own version of authoritarianism, denying workplace democracy.

These instances of corporate power denying workplace democracy–a kind of corporate authoritarianism–can give us a glimpse of what a broader authoritarian society looks like.

Trump has not supported unions. J.D. Vance wrote the preface for Project 2025, which proposes dismantling unions and gutting workers’ rights overall.

So, if you’re wondering which presidential candidate will manage the economy better, just think about what it would mean for any of us to not have democratic rights, to give up our power to an almighty tyrant to decide what your rights are, what your compensation is, and so forth.

Giving up power to an authoritarian leader does not seem like the path for workers to improve their lives in America. How is giving up one’s power to participate in decision-making ever a good way to advocate for one’s interests?

Does being in an absolutely politically vulnerable position with no recourse, such as a union or even basic laws, seem like a key ingredient in any recipe to improve your economic life?

Think about this basic question when pondering whether Trump or Harris will manage the economy better to improve all the conditions in your life economically, socially, and politically.