Neighborhood News

21/01/2025

21/01/2025

Deportation - not a solution – but a threat to all!

Deportation of poor immigrants won’t solve our problems. Allowing our government to violently attack and disrupt the lives of millions of our neighbors sets the stage for violent force to be used against the entire US workforce. That’s why Neighborhood News is sounding the alarm. Allow us to explain why we make this claim.

What’s our biggest problem? Half the US population is struggling to make ends meet. Housing takes the biggest bite out of our meager incomes and the price of everything else we need continues to rise, but our incomes don’t keep up with inflation. Are immigrants and refugees responsible for this?

The rulers of our country point the finger at everyone else but themselves. They want your anger to focus on other poor people. They want us to support the use of our tax dollars to fight their enemies. What did any Palestinian family ever do to your family that you would want your precious dollars to be spent on killing them? For that matter, what has China done to harm the common person in America? Or why would we choose to send billions of our hard-earned money to support a neo-N**i government in Ukraine?

If it was up to you to decide how tax money was spent, wouldn’t you want it to go for better schools, improvements in the community, affordable housing and affordable health care? Even though “we the people” number in the millions, our “democracy” does not allow our will to be done. Why is this? Who controls our economy?

We have all witnessed the rise of technology and the rise in power of the big tech monopolies. Amazon controls the digital marketplace for most of the world. Internet giants like Google, Meta, Apple etc. (Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg) – they sit like overlords over most of the world’s economy.

Those with tremendous wealth make up the ruling class of our country and they control our government. All the decisions made by our lawmakers must favor the wealthiest companies and allow them to accumulate more wealth. Any law or bill that would help those of us struggling to make ends meet will not pass – ever! When it comes to helping themselves – they are allowed to soak the coffers. Anything that would improve the life of the common man – they call it “welfare” and claim they just can’t afford it.

How in the world do they get away with this? Why haven’t the people seized the reins of power and organized a government that takes care of them instead of our wealthy rulers? Keeping people ignorant of the truth and using force to control them– these are the historic tools they use to continue the rule of the few over the many.

This is the real reason for the attack on immigrants and refugees, blaming them for everything wrong with the country. Companies of all kinds encourage immigration when American workers demand livable wages, then demonize these same immigrants when they need to reduce the possibility that we might unite to demand what we need. Our rulers know that those of us in the bottom half of the population could dominate them if we united to demand that our basic needs be secured. We all need housing, health care, food, and education and if we stopped blaming each other and joined forces instead, we could shape a better society for ourselves.

Launching a loud attack against immigrants not only distracts the working class from this logic, but it also sets a very dangerous precedent for how the government is allowed to treat people. By now the poem written by a German pastor during the N**i rule in Germany… “First they came for…” has been sited so many times that it’s a cliché, but things often become clichés because they are true. This could be restated today that – first they came for the immigrants… but eventually they will come for you. This is the threat that we face, but it doesn’t have to be this way if our logic becomes, “An injury to one is an injury to all!”

25/07/2024

Plenty for War – Nothin’ for the poor in 2024

We are surrounded by plenty of everything, so why can’t everyone have a good life. Billions of dollars go to support the genocide of the Palestinian people. And billions more go to the n**i infiltrated Ukrainian government to supposedly protect them, but nothing can be spared to protect workers here from homelessness and ruin. Nothing can be spared to guarantee good health care for all.

Half the country is struggling to make ends meet with growing inflation and they tell us – don’t worry – it’ll get better. Well,
WE CAN’T EAT LIES!

It doesn’t make sense that people should go without anything when the technology exists today to provide everything fast and cheap. A house can be 3-D printed in a day, tons of food can be harvested with machines, and piles of goods can be cranked out by computer-controlled robots.

In fact, we already have plenty. But you can’t have it because you can’t pay for it.
So while people go without:
• houses and buildings stand empty all across the country
• car lots are full of unsold vehicles
• warehouses are stacked to the rafters with goods that have nowhere to go
• and tons of food is thrown into the garbage everyday (ask any grocery store employee).

Yes, it’s all out there, it’s just not distributed fairly – only those who can pay have any security. That’s the economic system that both the Republicans and the Democrats are protecting. Protecting the property of the wealthy and protecting them against us, the people at the bottom.

No matter how divided the Republicans and Democrats appear to be – they are completely united in squeezing out our last cent and our life’s sweat and blood to maintain their rule over us.

The government that the ruling class of this country has constructed protects those who own the land, the technology, and the natural resources. This is their private property, and we can’t have anything if we can’t pay them. If we take what we need – we break their laws. If we break their laws, we join over 5 million people in this country that are either in prison, local jails, on parole or probation.

The ruling class of property owners is the same class of people who robbed the Native Americans of their land and attempted to wipe them out completely. They are the same class that chained immigrant children from Europe to machines in the Northern factories. They are the same class that enslaved millions of people they kidnapped from Africa, brutalizing them into forced labor.

All this horror committed against us, the common people, just to insure their power and riches. Most people know this about our country and only fools try to deny it, so why do we trust this ruling class? Why should we place any faith in their political parties?

Many people have come to the conclusion that this election is not about the lesser of two evils. No matter what or who sits in the white house or the chambers of government – we will be dominated and discarded by these masters at the helm when they don’t need us.

Who are these masters? It’s easy to see that today corporate money determines who gets elected, what laws get passed, and what rights are taken away. With the advent of robots and computers in production, owners of corporations just don’t need as many of us. That’s the real reason we can’t get any help from the government today! If they don’t need us, they won’t feed, house, or care for us!

Our only hope lies in organizing ourselves around a new vision for our future. Yes, it’s time to join all those who shout – We’re the bottom and we’re coming for the top!

And if you think change can never happen, just look back at history. Change is what does
happen through the centuries. Not that long ago we had serfs and lords. Not that long ago we had slavery in this country. Abolitionists (both slaves and citizens) organized and fought for a new vision.

If you still think that change can never happen – look around you at the growing movement demanding change. This is the moment for those of us who are the dispossessed of a dying system to determine how it will change. We can and we will build a different society – one of cooperation, equality and sharing.

17/03/2024

Robots – Friend or Foe?

If you haven’t heard some of the chatter about Chat Bots (Chat GPT) and the new advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), then you must be very young or very old, or not listening. But what is the big deal? We’ve heard that the Chat Bots can write anything for you from letters to essays (causing teachers to worry about students cheating). We’ve seen examples of “deep fakes,” where clips of famous people are shown and heard (in their own voice) saying things they never said (worrying lots of people for lots of reasons). These Chat Bots can carry on a conversation with you and fool you into thinking you are talking to a real human being. Yeah, they are that good.

But the truth is that this technology has been around and in development for quite a while, it’s just recently that big companies like Google and Microsoft are releasing it to the public. They are doing this for many reasons; commercially to make money of course, but also, as we use these free versions, we feed it data (information) that it digests and uses to grow itself into a better and better tool.

While this technology is presented as a new toy for us to play with, there are some worried voices calling for regulation and a “pause” in the competitive race to introduce more and more advanced AI into society. Why? The reasons for slowing down the development of AI do not just come from people who are afraid that AI will take over the world, dominate humans and even kill us all. Most of these warnings are coming from people who want to slow down the inevitable consequences of AI and the effects on society that this is going to cause. Why? What are these effects that everyone agrees are definitely going to happen and are, in fact, happening right now?

One threat to profit driven companies is that it is difficult, even impossible, to hold on to information. In the process of developing the internet and electronic technology, big companies have learned how hard it is to keep their information and their technology to themselves. The internet allows widespread sharing of everything.

Widespread involvement with the internet has led to companies devising ways to make profit through targeted advertising to each of us. For example, platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube are “free,” but not only is your every move recorded, digested, and used for marketing directly back to you, it is also used to improve all marketing effectiveness everywhere. Additionally, your data increases the advancement of AI’s abilities in general.

AI is programmed to use the science of human psychology to influence and control us. It is not an accident that we have become “addicted” to our phones. Most of the cautionary voices, however, are not troubled about these effects on us. No, they are concerned that information cannot be controlled by the companies who are releasing it. They are upset that information about absolutely everything imaginable can be shared and used by anyone.

They are also very anxious about what the latest advancements in technology will mean for the economy as it chops away more and more jobs. Companies do not want to take care of workers that they don’t need anymore, and they are very afraid of rebellions which are inevitable. They know people will not starve quietly.

We are constantly told not to worry about technology eliminating jobs. The experts keep telling us that new jobs will be created. Let’s examine what the last 50 years have shown us about this soothing declaration. As factory jobs disappeared by the thousands (starting with the Rust Belt), what new jobs have been created? Fifty years ago, we did not have a “gig economy.” The social contract of yesteryear, where it was possible for many people to have a full-time job with benefits for your whole working life, has been replaced by most jobs that are either part-time, contingent or contract work.

We were told that that this fate could be avoided by obtaining a college education. So, millions of young people took on a lifetime of debt to get a college degree, only to find that the promised prosperity for them was a big lie. Most jobs requiring a degree do not pay enough to service their debt and give them a good life. And they have no security, no guarantee that any job will last. Collapses in the economy keep happening and they ruin workers’ lives. (Strange that the wealthiest people keep growing richer in spite of these crashes.) Anyway, the result is that those with and those without college degrees now compete for the gig jobs at the bottom of the economic ladder.

Most crashes in today’s economy are a direct result of job eliminating technology. Every advancement in technology creates the ability to produce goods and services faster than ever before, without humans. But as wise people have observed - robots don’t go shopping. The less people employed, the more products go unsold, leading to more layoffs, and unstoppable downturns in the economy. This way of running a society, where the owners of companies rule over powerless workers, who are continually being replaced by automation, simply does not work.

If we don’t change this system, it will only get worse. Here is a partial list of jobs that technology will reduce or eliminate completely in the next 5 years: postal workers, mail carriers, bank tellers, data entry, electronic assemblers, inspectors, executive assistances, administrative assistances, clerks, team assemblers, cashiers, telemarketers, freight stockers, taxi drivers, word processors, typist, librarians, tax preparers, locomotive engineers, warehouse stockers, meter readers, casino dealers, engine and machine assemblers, fast food workers, farm workers, computer programmers, proofreaders, textile workers, toll both operators, legal secretaries, dispatchers, etc.. Even jobs that require creative skills like in the entertainment business and management skills for all kinds of businesses are being whittled down. *

Over the next 10 years, automated vehicles will destroy over 10 million jobs in the transportation industry! As AI is incorporated more and more into health care, there will even be job losses in that field too. Eventually, any job that humans do could be replaced. Under the present system this would spell disaster for millions of people on the planet.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. It all depends on who controls this incredible technology. If it were publicly owned and operated for the benefit of all we could all enjoy a life of plenty without breaking our backs. This is not sci-fi or pie in the sky – it really is possible. What does it require from us, the working class? In an article by Caitlan Johnstone, in speaking of the working class she puts it this way, “They’ve got to realize that this power structure does not ultimately serve their interest… Only when enough eyes open to this reality can revolutionary change via direct action become possible.” **

It may seem like the practical thing to do is to keep our heads down, our mouths shut and try to survive the best we can. But that path is a dead end for us and for all those in the boat with us. No, the best thing we can do for the sake of our families and even humanity is to educate ourselves and develop a vision about what kind of society we need for a brighter future.

Written by Leslie Willis for the Poor People's Army Blog https://www.poorpeoplesarmy.org/field-reports

*Facts about job loss from Finances Online by Allan Jay, and “Jobs that will Disappear Thanks to AI” by Billy Haynes (Career Addict)
**Caitlin Johnstone, “Nobody with real power cares if you refuse to vote for Biden,” March 2024.

The Blog and central source for updated information on what's going down with the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign and the Poor People's Army. Come check it out!

13/03/2024

Some people are saying you guys are just the same?

09/12/2023

In 2024 something very important is coming. The people will not have to just vote for the lesser of two evils. No, because the Poor Peoples Army is organizing an historic march from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee (July 15) to the Democratic Party Convention (Aug. 19). Why March?
Here is Neighborhood News' answer to that question...

Why we March?
Are you fed up with hearing that the U.S. is the richest country in the world when we are surrounded by poverty? If we are so rich, then why do we have more than 10 million children living in poverty (and 5 million of those kids live in homes with an annual income less than $13,000!). Of course, there are 735 billionaires and one-fifth of the people are making over a million dollars a year. But what about most of us that comprise 4/5th ‘s of the population? The National Center for Children in Poverty says that a family of 4 needs from $86,000 - $100,000 a year to meet their basic needs. That leaves most people in the U.S. barely able to afford what they need.

It is easy to see by looking just a little closer, where our “riches” have gone – they have gone straight up to the top. There is an abundance of housing, food, and material wealth but it’s unequally distributed. Those who need it least have the most and continue to accumulate more as most of us sink economically lower each day. A 2023 U.S. Census Bureau Survey report found that 16% of renters are likely to be evicted in the next 2 months and 4% of homeowners face repossession of their homes.

This is not only unfair, but also life threatening, and tragically it is not even necessary. There are 16 million homes and 2.6 million apartment units standing empty – right now. So, while we are surrounded by empty homes, people freeze to death because they have no shelter! Even 1,100,000 million children in our public schools are homeless. Why can’t these children live in one of the 19 million housing units that are empty?

No, poverty is not about scarcity anymore - it's about power. Yes power. Power that the class at the top of society has, but most of us lack. Even though there are millions of Americans hard at work in jobs that are low wage, part time, gig, or contingent, (and never secure) – we rarely get ahead. Our needs go unmet year after year. Of course, plenty of lip service is given to us at election time, but nothing real is delivered no matter who gets elected.

But here we go again - all the attention of the media is turning towards the 2024 presidential elections. Once again, neither party offers real solutions for the constant decline of most Americans; neither party offers real solutions to the inequality in America. Republicans and Democrats do not offer any real solution to the high cost of housing, food, gas, health care etc. No, they just continue to squabble over the best way of serving themselves, which is what will bring the most profit to the corporations and to themselves as members of the ruling class.

With most of us suffering under their rule, how do they continue to get away with it? What is their strategy that keeps them in power, which keeps all the wealth going to the top? First, this ruling class understands that their wealth depends on us submitting to their system. This means they must keep us from uniting and exercising our power as the majority. This is their number one task. So, while they understand that they are in a class war, many of us do not. Most of us were brought up to believe that if we walked the straight and narrow and worked hard, we would get a piece of the American dream. We were taught in school that in America, despite our problems, we were one family, that what was good for our ruling class was good for us. We believed that the enemies of our rulers were our enemies too, and we would march off to war when called upon to do so. As we watch billions of our hard-earned tax money being used to slaughter innocents abroad, most of us question this logic. What do we gain by siding with our oppressors (for that is what they are)?

Another key weapon our rulers use against us is to divide and conquer. Many of us are pulled into believing candidates who pretend to be on our side and point the blame at immigrants and refugees, on inner city minorities, on people without a home, on Muslims, on people who aren’t Christian enough, on Communists, on the Chinese, on this one and that one – anyone but the corporate ruling class. These people that they ask us to blame do not sit on all the wealth in our country; they do not make laws to favor themselves; they have no power to redistribute the wealth and provide us all with life’s necessities. No, these people they blame are nothing but convenient scapegoats, and the hatred they whip up keeps us from focusing on developing a winning strategy for ourselves – for our own class.

On the other hand, we sometimes get caught up in supporting candidates who promise to give us the things we are asking for, the things that we need. They promise justice and equality, the say “Yes we can!” and promise to make it possible for us to have a fair share of the wealth and services that we presently go without. We rise up in large numbers, put them into office, only to be disappointed at their complete failure to deliver on anything they have promised. Often, we watch in disgust as they cave and compromise all their “good intentions” away, settling for the status quo and their newfound elevation into the ruling circles. Some of these candidates come from humble origins, and start out honestly but end up as deceivers, traitors to their class (traitors to us).

Sometimes we are deceived into believing that if we just elect more minorities, more women, more candidates from marginalized sections of society that they will open the way for programs that we need. As a result, today most of the major cities in the country have minority mayors, women and people of color etc. The results? Nothing has improved for the dispossessed class, but the wealthy (property developers, financiers, and corporations) have continued to accumulate more and more wealth.

As 2024 moves us closer and closer to the Presidential election in November, we will be consumed by the media’s preoccupation with this event. The millionaire talking heads on TV have little to lose no matter who wins, but the networks will rake in profit by convincing us that we have a horse in this race. So, does this mean that we have no stake in these events? On the contrary, we must use the opportunity to pe*****te the bu****it they dish out and declare the truth of our situation. We must prevent another election cycle where the ruling class claims victory declaring “Ain’t democracy grand!” and “The people have spoken.”

We must march from one convention to another, from the Republicans in Milwaukee to the Democrats in Chicago if we are to be heard. We must unite and lift our voices. Now is the time to demand that we, the downtrodden and the poor, for us to realize OUR program, the program we need and deserve. Housing for all! Health care for all! Food, clothing, education, recreation, culture, and a bright future to look forward to! We demand a program that we determine for ourselves. It is time for the bounty to be shared and redistributed according to need and not about how much money one has.

05/12/2023

Rita Karlo

21/11/2023

Say No to the Genocide in Gaza!

The governments of the United States and Israel are guilty of carrying out the massive bombing and destruction of human life in Gaza. We see with our own eyes all the evidence we need. The massacre of the entrapped people in Gaza is a war crime!
Millions of people around the world are in the streets demanding an immediate ceasefire and an end to all military aid to the state of Israel. It is our tax dollars that are funding this mass murder. We cannot allow the government of the USA to do this in our name!
Ceasefire!

30/10/2023

Tricks or Treats in Chicago

Halloween is supposed to be slightly scary, but full of fun for kids and for grown-ups. To keep the fun, we grown-ups know there have to be some changes made.

Why, for instance, is 2 billion in tax dollars going to the police - a third of the city's budget? Already poor communities look at this spending of our money and ask - "How is this going to help?"
That money needs to go for great public education, jobs and community restoration and fun programs for our children. The mayor and the local, state and federal government work in the interests of the banks and wealthy developers not the people.
In order to make things work for us we have to build our power from the ground up. Begging won't help because the city only listens to the wealthy who want policing expanded to protect their property. They tell us to wait and be patient.

Every year the city has to pay out about $100 million in damages for police abuse. But the police don't pay that - the taxpayer does! The police department is not accountable to the people - at all!

We need to organize in large numbers of friends and neighbors to force change. No more waiting. We want a new society that will treat every child and adult to a healthy life with fully funded schools, recreational programs, healthcare, jobs and whatever is needed for a great life!

What's it going to be Chicago - Trick or Treat?

10/10/2023

Immigration: Capitalism in Crisis

With inflation raising the cost of living, there has been a lot of pressure by workers for higher wages. Strikes and labor unrest have been widespread over the past year and wages have risen but not enough to keep pace with inflation. Workers across the country are angry and having a hard time making ends meet. It is within this environment that we have had a sharp increase of people being allowed by the US government to apply for asylum in the country.

In the past year 1 million immigrants were added to the US population. The number of foreign-born people residing in the U.S. quadrupled since the 1960’s, so that now there are 46 million people in the U.S. who were not born here.

In fact, over 18% of the U.S. labor force is foreign born. There are more than 7 million undocumented workers working in the U.S. The undocumented occupy the most precarious position in the work force. Employers ignore their “rights” subjecting them to illegally low wages and even theft of wages, as well as sexual harassment, and physical and mental abuse! This law-breaking and degradation of workers' rights threatens the rights of the entire U.S. working class. Working conditions for U.S. workers in general are being driven down closer to the level of third world countries with each passing day.

Corporate Interests

Examining the recent history of immigration to the U.S. we can see that the capitalist have allowed migration to the U.S. both legally and illegally because it benefits corporations. It drives down the cost of labor within the country in general and fills jobs that US workers have been reluctant to do; backbreaking field work, dangerous and difficult factory work, and service jobs (for businesses and for private individuals) – all for extremely low wages. There are also professional jobs being filled by immigrants in tech industry, health care, etc. (causing brain drain of other countries as well as helping to depress the cost of these types of labor in the U.S.).

Immigration is a part of the U.S. strategy to insure the economic interest of global capital. Corporations exploit workers and natural resources globally and the impoverished conditions that result make rebellions an ever-present danger. For example, it relieves a potential revolutionary situation to develop in Mexico because desperate workers can and do risk crossing into the US to seek employment. In this way the corporate interest protected by NAFTA are kept from being disrupted.

Immigration is also used to reinforce propaganda against countries rebelling against the U.S. (Venezuela, Cuba, China etc.), as well as immigrants coming from countries in the middle east, Ukraine, and Africa. They are all accompanied with propaganda about the U.S. governments’ benevolence, love of democracy etc.

Dangers for the Working Class


Due to technology, good jobs are disappearing. U.S. born workers are increasingly working in gig jobs and part time, contingent and low wage jobs. This “new class” makes up about half of the working class, and their position is not stable. They border on being pushed completely outside the economy and unable to purchase the necessities for survival. Competition for jobs, even bad jobs, is a fact of life. This competition for jobs has made the issue of immigration and immigrants in particular a convenient target for the ruling class causing deep division in the working class. Most of the immigrants coming in are part of this new class too, but impoverishment of the U.S. born workers has made this issue a great tool for preventing this section of the workers from uniting to fight for their common needs.

In addition to disarming the working class these divisions have become the means to build a social base for fascism. Trump is singled out as the leader in building this social base and there is no question that that is what he is all about, but it is a mistake to see Biden as something other than “good cop” in this “good cop-bad cop” scam. It is important to see past the rhetoric and look at what they do. So, while Trump is now using Hitler’s racially charged language of declaring that the immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country,” the present administration in power (Democrats) have been strengthening corporate power and control over the country. Public funds are financing wars abroad and greater oppression at home. No matter how “progressive” government officials claim to be – no reforms materialize.

Homelessness in the nation is increasing while housing costs continue to rise. The lines at Food Pantries continue to increase. Health care costs continue to rise, and hospitals are turning away the sick and dying and even discharging patients in their hospital gown onto the sidewalk outside their doors. There are nearly 5,445,000 citizens incarcerated in federal and state prisons, local jails and on probation and parole. In the U.S., slave-like prison labor is a billion-dollar industry!

In addition to these shocking material conditions for the American working class, tech companies are working with the state to control and censor information that is contrary to a government approved script. It is the Biden administration that is labeling those Americans who are in opposition to its policies as “terrorist.” This is setting the stage for outlawing dissent of any kind. An example of what is developing are the recent events in Atlanta, Georgia, where 61 people protesting the building of a “cop city” (training facility) for environmental reasons, have been charged with the RICO Act (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) and several are even being charged with “domestic terrorism.”

Knowing the present vicious and callous inhuman governing that American workers are subjected to, you must question any claims of benevolence by the Biden administration both globally and here at home. The “humanitarian crisis” that has resulted from hundreds of thousands of immigrants seeking refuge in the U.S. and the resulting political games being played with these human beings is the direct result of U.S. sponsored exploitation and intervention in other countries. We have seen the concentration camps at the border and now we are witnessing the massive busing of thousands of people into a few cities where they are summarily dumped. In September alone 260,000 people were bused from the Southeran border into urban centers.

Government at every level is making this the “problem” of these cities like New York, Chicago, and Denver. The brunt of the burden of sheltering and feeding these people is being placed on the backs of the poorest communities. In Chicago, for example, immigrants are being housed in community buildings in working class neighborhoods where resources for struggling residents have practically disappeared. They are not housing immigrants in the huge convention centers downtown or in the thousands of nearly empty skyscrapers, or even in the wealthier neighborhoods.

In New York and elsewhere some of the city's ordinances that offered some protection for the “unsheltered” are being challenged and threatened. The law in New York that says that anyone needing shelter must be given shelter is now under fire using the excuse that they can’t house everyone who needs it anymore due to the influx of immigrants.

Another alarming development is the use of this crisis as an excuse for building large tent encampments for the homeless immigrants. In Chicago, Brandon Johnson, a so-called progressive mayor, has been spear heading the building of a 30-million-dollar camp by GardaWorld Federal Services (a subsidiary of Aegis Defense Services), the same company employed to bus the immigrants around the country. We have to wonder if such controlled camps will be the “solution” they have in mind for U.S. workers unable to afford housing.



Which way for the Working Class?



Corporations operate globally, they manipulate natural resources around the world, they manipulate the working class around the world, they manipulate the laws and even the leaders of many countries to fall in line with what is best for profit making and corporate control of the world. Never mind that the environment is ruined and that lives are destroyed. Most people, if they had a choice, would like to live comfortably in the land where they were born. So why are there 150 million people today who have left their country of origin? The only possible answer is that they do this to survive!

A scientific view insists that we look at the material world, at the basics of the economy. How are goods and services produced differently today? With the change from industrial to electronic production not only are things produced at greater speed – it is done so with fewer and fewer workers. What happens when there are superfluous workers? Workers that corporations don’t need? In capitalist countries that means that the ruling class has a crisis! If they don’t need you – they won’t want to feed you!

This crisis produces an ever-widening gap between the haves and have-nots. With extreme poverty comes social deterioration (unsafe living conditions, gang rule, corruption at every level), widespread unrest, escalating tensions between countries, wars and of course millions and millions of people on the move.

Here in the U.S., we reside in the “belly of the beast” as our country plays the dominant role in the world in perpetuating the conditions for poverty and war. Therefore, our working class, particularly those at the bottom of the U.S. economy, have a profound role to play, if we are aware of it and will accept it and will fulfill it. The incoming poor immigrants, the “wretched of the earth,” are the brothers and sisters, the comrades, of the U.S. workers also at the bottom who also must fight to survive. We must spread the word that unity is the path forward. We are huge in number, growing every day, and it is up to us to build a different world. Afterall there is an abundance and the technology if owned by the people could take care of all the basic needs of all the people. Commodities that can be produced without labor means that commodities can be distributed without money. The first step is to unite and to hold such a vision in our sights as we struggle for our right to survive and thrive.