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Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Convinced Yet? (General Strike Now!)

 

"The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress." --Frederick Douglass
 
"The world is dominated culturally, economically and militarily by a regime that just killed women's rights protections because they make Jesus mad." --Caitlin Johnstone

Convinced Yet?

words and protest photos by C. A. Matthews

I hate to say, "I told you so," but I told you so. This is all getting a bit ridiculous. I discussed the history and likely outcome of the Supreme Court's recent ruling a little over a month ago in a piece entitled The Ministry of Truth v. Roe v. Wade. I followed up a week later at the first pro-abortion rights protests with Your Obedience Is Prolonging This Nightmare. Go back and read those two articles and then tell me that I'm not prescient. Go on. I'll wait.

Okay, now that you're back, and scratching your head over what we can do next to protect our human rights, let's get down to brass tacks. It might be too late. The damage has been done, and we can't overestimate the damage enough. Americans have sleepwalked into allowing the oligarchs, a.k.a. the 1%, a.k.a. the billionaires, a.k.a. the true rulers of our country and the world, into doing whatever the hell they want to whomever the hell they want, whenever they want.  Here are a few examples:

Equal rights/equal pay for women? Whatever! Put out the fire and put your bra back on, Grandma.

LGBTQIA rights and marriage? Excuse me? These persons don't exist in our perfect society ruled by white, hetero, cis-gendered males of wealth and privilege. Go back into your closets and shut the f*ck up.

Public schools? Desegregated public schools? To paraphrase a younger Joe Biden, "We aren't going to let our superior white offspring go to school in the jungle with all those brown and black kids." And besides, government school vouchers are good at religious schools now according to the Supreme Court. We only want our children associating with people going to heaven with us, not straight to hell where everyone who is not us automatically goes to upon death, an early death probably brought on by malnutrition caused by childhood poverty.

Yes, they'll be coming for more than just your or your friends' right to have an abortion. Count on it.

So, what are we to do? Voting harder doesn't work. Voting doesn't seem to work period. According to the infamous Princeton study, politicians don't even listen to us little people, the 99%. Money is what influences their actions. We'll never have as much money as the top 1% or even top 10%, so we'll never be able to influence politicians the way the wealthy can. 

Stop wasting your tears on feeling betrayed by "progressives" or "The Squad" or whoever lied to you to get your vote and/or a donation out of you. Their job is to manipulate you into thinking the system works for the poor and struggling of America. But the system is corrupt. It's broken. It's not worth saving.

Get over acting like "temporarily embarrassed millionaires" as John Steinbeck once put it. Even if you consider yourself "middle class," you are desperately poor compared to the billionaires who own everything, including our government. You ain't ever going to be allowed in their club, let alone dictate terms to them.

That means there's only one thing left we can do. We can use our vast numbers to overtake and take down the super-wealthy minority from their position of power. We can even the score and even out the inequalities of our society. We can start by letting them know in no uncertain terms that We The People are in charge.

How do we take charge? Two words: General strike. 

Our super power is our labor. In case you haven't noticed, rich folks don't know how to do shit for themselves. They have slaves--I mean, wage slaves--to do everything for them… Everything from cleaning their mansions to mowing their estates to painting their fingernails to piloting their private planes to wiping their backsides. If We The Workers don't do the work, the one-percenters are effectively dead in the water, particularly if the captain of their yacht abandons ship with them on it in the middle of the ocean.

And a general strike doesn't have to be one big, long, dragged out affair that happens everywhere at the exact same time. A general strike can be a series of shorter strikes done in rapid succession and spread across a wide variety of industries and occupations. Medical workers can strike at the same time as teachers and fast food workers. The next week it can be civil servants, airline pilots, and telecommunication workers. And so on. The main thing is that workers are all agreed to keep inconveniencing the oligarchs until they capitulate to the workers' demands.

What if you're unemployed or retired or disabled? You can help the strikes by boycotting businesses and institutions that treat their workers disrespectfully and cruelly. You can use your voices and wallets to support strikers by helping them stay out on the picket lines for as long as necessary and relieving them from time to time. Just the fact that we are the majority of Americans gives us unspeakable powers over the tiny majority that hoards most of the material wealth on this planet.

So, get creative and stick it to the Man. The Man undoubtedly wants to stick it to us. 

The actions of the 1% wealth-hoarders indicate that they're aware of our great power. It's why they've been militarizing your local police. It's why they continue to build up our bloated military (while simultaneously raking in lots of profits from the military industrial complex). The only way they know how to keep us in line is by force and violence. The oligarchs long have been dreading the day when working class Americans woke up to the fact that they've never lived in a democracy. The US is actually a corporatocracy ruled by those who come into the world connected to great wealth.

There are very few Cinderella stories in reality--it's why it's a fairy tale. Reality is much harsher. Rich kids inherit a ton of cash and get to go to the exclusive schools. They automatically go to the top positions of government and industry upon graduation. Poor kids stay in poor jobs and sometimes become even poorer than their parents' generation.


We The People need not be shy about it any longer. We know we need to redistribute the wealth of our land to all the people. No American should go hungry, or without health care, or a roof over their head. There is more than enough for everyone. It's the distribution methods that are totally f*cked. It's the corrupt distribution of wealth in the US that allows the homeless to die on the streets when there are homes enough for all--and then some.

That's why it's so obvious that our politicians are on the take from the 1%. They gladly perpetuate this screwed up distribution system to keep the majority of us poor and struggling so that a mere handful can enjoy every creature comfort ever invented. Politicians can't wait to be in that top percentage group, too.

So here's a plan: General strike. Stop wasting time voting for those now currently in office backed by the corrupt establishment political parties. Support leaders who aren't in the pockets of Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Ag, etc. Chase the oligarchy away. Tear down the system. Rebuild it back better. Be open to change and a new way of doing things that is truly democratic, not just pretend democratic like the mess we've got currently.

Convinced yet? If you are, get going!

If not, re-read this piece and ask yourself, "Why do I not believe I'm worthy of the human rights the Supreme Court has taken/will continue to take away from me?" Deep down, you know you are worthy. Leave behind the abusive relationships that make you feel unworthy of equality, liberty, and justice.

It's time. We need you on the picket line.


A telling quote:

That’s why America’s authoritarians are out of control. They are reveling in their power so much they’re flaunting it. They’re openly, gleefully saying that, next, they’re going to come for gays, kids, minorities of every kind, everyday marriages, families. When authoritarians are that open, my friends, you had better understand: it’s a message. They’re trying to humiliate you, because they are no longer afraid. They are only this open when they are unleashed to the maximum degree, and unafraid of any form of consequences whatsoever. --Umar Haque, If You're Scared For America, You're Still Not Scared Enough

Related articles:

When Joe Biden Voted to Let States Overturn Roe v. Wade https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/29/us/politics/biden-abortion-rights.html

Just Hurling Money at the Democrats Won't Save Abortion Rights https://www.rsn.org/001/just-hurling-money-at-the-democrats-wont-save-abortion-rights.html

How the Democrats Are Culpable in the Erosion of Abortion Rights https://www.gp.org/democrats_are_culpable 

If You're Scared For America, You're Still Not Scared Enough  https://eand.co/the-end-of-roe-is-the-beginning-of-a-totalitarian-america-c9038f7d1d91  

The Creative Methods Workers Are Using to Stop Bosses' Abuse https://popularresistance.org/the-creative-methods-workers-are-using-to-stop-bosses-abuse/

What Overturning Roe v. Wade Means for Pregnant People in Pollution Hotspots  https://grist.org/health/what-overturning-roe-v-wade-means-for-pregnant-people-in-pollution-hotspots/ 

As Roes Falls, Criminal Defense Lawyers Sound Alarm About Mass Incarceration  https://www.npr.org/2022/06/16/1105291030/scotus-roe-v-wade-abortion-law 

GUIDE: How Will My State Be Impacted by the Overturning of Roe v. Wade? https://therealnews.com/guide-how-will-my-state-be-impacted-by-the-overturning-of-roe-v-wade

Green Party Calls for Mass Mobilizations to Protect Reproductive Rights https://www.gp.org/green_party_calls_for_mass_mobilizations_to_protect_reproductive_rights?

"A Revolutionary Ruling--And Not Just For Abortion"  https://scheerpost.com/2022/06/25/a-revolutionary-ruling-and-not-just-for-abortion-a-supreme-court-scholar-explains-the-impact-of-dobbs/

How Clarence Thomas' Concurring Opinion Suggests Other Rights May Be Vulnerable After Roe  https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/clarence-thomas-2657559336/

Fascist Republicans Kill Roe v. Wade, Useless Democrats Let It Happened https://www.directleft.com/p/fascist-republicans-kill-roe-v-wade

The Ministry of Truth v. Roe v. Wade  https://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-ministry-of-truth-v-roe-v-wade.html 

Your Obedience Is Prolonging this Nightmare  https://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2022/05/your-obedience-is-prolonging-this.html

 

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