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ABSTRACT

The US 2024 presidential election is existential, with significant peril for the survival of not only US democracy but the planet itself. Trump and Trumpism are a virulent breed of US politics that aim to undermine democracy while also creating a systemic extinction threat to the entire world. In my 2023 book, Dying for Capitalism: How Big Money Fuels Extinction and What We Can Do About It, I discuss the “triangle of extinction,’ which links capitalism, climate change and war. All three are causally intertwined and all are fueled by Trumpism. Trump is not only militaristic but a climate denier and a neoliberal oligarch who will unleash the full force of the extinction triangle. Moreover, as he is also an “election-denier,” the extraordinary prospects of an election in which democracy and planetary survival are both at stake have created a US political theatre in which the fate of all peoples in the world hang in the balance. Drawing also on my newest 2024 book, Who Owns Democracy: The Struggle Over Class and Caste In America, I discuss the dynamics of the existential peril and the politics of how to ward off extinction while creating a resilient democracy.