Fight the Rich
Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair
It’s time to declare war on the rich.
We need to build an organized, unified movement of working people to systematically take on the rich who run society and to undermine their ability to rule. Our goal must be to both fight for radical change in the present and to bring down the billionaires and their system, capitalism.
There is no other path to avoid total disaster for human civilization and the planet.
I served as the only socialist on the Seattle City Council for ten years. In that decade, my council office led movements of working people to win historic victories, including the highest minimum wage in the country. I also saw firsthand how every part of the political establishment, led by big business and the Democratic Party, viciously opposed virtually every pro-worker piece of legislation we fought for. I saw how all the cogs of the capitalist machine — the establishment politicians, the courts, the police, the NGO leaders, and sadly many labor leaders — all work in concert together against the interests of workers.
I can tell you from my experience — and it is increasingly evident to working people — that this system is completely irredeemable, as are both U.S. political parties.
We have no choice but to fight for radical change and for an end to the billionaire class, because the alternative is a hellscape on earth. The wildfires in Los Angeles are just the latest demonstration. Another is the fastest-moving genocide of the 21st century still underway in Gaza, and likely to continue in some form even with the ceasefire negotiated by Trump under the pressure of the antiwar movement and significant vote for Jill Stein.
Our Enemies
Working people need to be clear about who our enemies are. They are the billionaires and the bosses, the capitalist class, their institutions, their political parties, and also their more deceptive spokespeople, who sometimes appear and sound like they support workers, but really act as pressure release valves and gatekeepers.
Our enemies are not other working-class or middle-class or poor people. They are not immigrants, trans people, ordinary Republican or Democratic voters, nor independent voters or nonvoters. Our enemies are those who make millions (or billions) of dollars a year, own multiple homes, own the politicians, own the land and resources, and who call the shots in this system. Our enemies are also all those who justify and protect the interests of the rich.
The billionaires themselves are fully responsible for the disasters engulfing us — Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, the healthcare CEOs, the major shareholders on Wall Street. We must completely reject the bullshit liberal narrative that some collective “we” or “human nature” is responsible. It’s not, it’s the decision makers........
© CounterPunch
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