Sons and daughters of the privileged class are leading the charge against genocide - a cause that ultimately represents working-class interests. So, in a sense, they are serving as class traitors, whether they consciously understand the class implications or not. This is a GOOD thing, and we appreciate their moral courage!

Meanwhile, much of the US working class is more concerned about traffic disruptions. This is due to both:

(1) material reality: of which the former are afforded the opportunity to think about the greater interests of humanity and

The US is rapidly deteriorating because capitalism was thrown into overdrive in the 1970s/80s under the banner of neoliberalism. Massive deregulation ironically led to the formation of a full-fledged corporate state, which allowed capitalists to siphon trillions of dollars from the working masses.

Mass homelessness, tent cities, drug-addicted populations, dilapidated city centers, ghost towns, food deserts, poverty wages, skyrocketing costs of living, forced debt, etc. are all products of this very conscious move by the capitalist ruling class, which

Decades ago, there was an arranged marriage between husband & wife. The husband, who had widespread support from his family & the community, was excited and eager to begin this new life. The wife, who had much less support, did not approve of the arrangement but had no choice. The marriage immediately became abusive. Over the years, the husband regularly beat and raped the wife, put guns in her face and threatened to kill her, called her demeaning names, and restricted her ability to do much of anything. Eventually, the husband confined the wife to a

Labor unions in the US were coopted during the New Deal era, stripped of their anti-capitalist roots & turned into forces of class collaboration with capital. This made them weak/vulnerable & ultimately led to their destruction in the private sector over the next several decades. We are finally starting to see a slight recovery in terms of labor activity in the US, as strikes and work stoppages are incredibly important avenues of class struggle, but what is also desperately needed to complement this activity are things like

🧵 Crime is a social construct. In the US, it is an inherently classist and racist construct that exists as a codified form of mass oppression, primarily designed to protect the wealth/property and stability of the oppressor class (capitalists) from the desperate underclasses. So, when politicians talk about "law and order" or "stopping crime," they are really just talking about violently crushing the already-desperate elements within the working class. And they rely heavily on two specific things to carry this out: (1) the sanctity of property,

We've been conditioned to believe the welfare state is a form of socialism when, in fact, it is a feature of capitalism.

When land and the means of production are placed in private hands for profit (as they are under capitalism), the masses are rendered landless and homeless.. commodities who must sell ourselves to capitalists for wages that may or may not allow us to purchase basic needs, which also become commodities in this process. Like all markets, the "labor market" is driven by competition to fill a limited number of "jobs."

Bourgeois (capitalist) democracy is a brilliant scheme for the (capitalist) ruling class because it gives off the appearance of freedom via constitutional documents, legal systems, voting, and a variety of supposed civil/human rights... However, beneath the facade is an extremely strict power dynamic represented primarily by class distinctions (the minority class who own/control property and the means of production overseeing the majority class whose only basis of survival is our labor).

The real tragedy of the Trump phenomenon is that it has roots in some very accurate observations: the government IS a corrupt "swamp," the "deep state" and military industrial complex DO have undue control, and mass media IS mostly "fake news" (propaganda). But what it misses.. completely, or intentionally covers up, is the fact that all these things, which are direct byproducts of capitalism/imperialism, have developed over the course of two centuries for the purpose of benefitting and protecting capitalists like Trump, both in the US and throughout

The United States is imploding at a very fast rate. 1% of the country has stolen 90% of the wealth. Federal debt is higher than the GDP for the 8th consecutive year, an unprecedented phenomenon that is only growing. Safety nets have been gutted. Food stamps are being drastically reduced. Costs of basic necessities like food and shelter have skyrocketed. Homelessness is growing exponentially, with tent cities becoming the new norm. Food pantries are being swarmed and emptied daily. Houses are being hoarded by landlords. Drug overdoses are everywhere.

So-called inflation is not a natural phenomenon; it is the inevitable result of a system (capitalism) that feeds off the majority (workers) to enrich a minority (capitalists) with neverending streams of wealth... In the modern era, capitalism has reached an advanced stage where the rich have guaranteed themselves perpetual accumulation, with zero risk. Within this arrangement, the capitalist state ("US government") not only covers any "losses" capitalists may accrue, but it also..

There is nothing the rich & powerful fear more than worker/community-control of the means of production, aka freedom for the masses. From the lords of old, the slave-owning founding fathers & the industrial-age oil/rail tycoons to the modern corporate executives, royal families, media moguls & oligarchs around the world, their self-preservation has always been about fooling the people. That's why we're taught socialism/communism is "evil" without ever being taught what it really is. That's why we're taught capitalism is "liberty" and "free enterprise"..

In capitalist/consumer society, happiness is largely a myth (because it's rooted in an intentionally scarce construct: money) & contentment is nearly impossible to attain because we are in a constant state of frenzy trying to survive & cope without money (without basic needs)... So, the default for the working-class majority is depression, anxiety & despair. Add in the fact that our only purpose in this society is to work & consume (to make others rich) & we find ourselves stuck in a seemingly endless & meaningless existence, just waiting for death...

Bernie's raw assessment of the US in 1978 was right on. Bourgeois politics are a funny thing. As someone who has become a career senator of this very state of "poverty, wage slavery, and mind-destroying media and schools," you have to wonder how much he has either.. (1) compromised his principles, or (2) changed his views to maintain this career.

Is he the best of the rotten bunch? Clearly. Does he still seek some justice for the US working class? Of course. Does he hammer away at corporate corruption and excess? Absolutely.

As our state-sponsored celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. commences, let’s not forget some important facts about this great man:

1) He was against the Vietnam War during a time when many Americans were not. Decades later, this view against the war has developed into... mainstream narrative, but in the 1960s, those who spoke out & marched against it (students, activists) & refused to serve (Muhammad Ali) were beaten, hosed down, killed & jailed. He would undoubtedly be railing against the US imperialist state and its perpetual war machine today.

This quote is part of a speech given in 1867, during the "first socialist schism." Bakunin was correct: capitalism is the latest epoch of slavery. Let's see it for what it is: a system that coerces the vast majority to spend our lives laboring and struggling for idle owners. It was the bargain given to slaveowners, feudal lords, and "old wealth" at the dawn of industrialization. Of course they took it, and here we are.

"Wage slavery" was once a commonly understood notion. Today, however, we are told that capitalism is the way of the world,

Right-wing terrorism has been a staple of American society throughout history. The country was born from it. When carried out by militias, mobs, and "lone wolves" among the masses, it mimics the state terror that has targeted slaves and descendants of slaves, women, immigrants, workers, and anyone who has dared to defy the guiding elements of Americanism since the country's inception: capitalism/imperialism, white supremacy, and patriarchy.

The state not only sets this tone by operating mass-murdering campaigns against poor, Black, and Brown peoples..

Labor under capitalism IS NOT CONSENSUAL; it is coerced through the systemic threat of homelessness and hunger.

Yes, people must labor to survive and thrive in nature. But capitalism makes it so we must labor for an "owner," to create profit for them (surplus/unpaid labor)... in return for a wage, instead of laboring for ourselves and our communities. This is an inherently exploitative process. Since we have no leverage (by design, through underemployment & unemployed - Marx's "reserve army of labor"), we must accept whatever wage we can get.

Assata Shakur on life in socialist Cuba:

"The first thing that was comforting was the politics. It was such a relief. You know, in the States you feel overwhelmed by the negative messages you get & you just feel weird, like you're the only one seeing all this pain & inequality.. [In the U.S.] People are saying, 'Forget about that, just try to get rich, dog eat dog, get your own, buy, spend, consume.' So living here was an affirmation of myself, it was like 'Okay, there are lots of people who get outraged at injustice.'

"Fascism only talks ideology but it really is just marketing, marketing for power. It’s recognizable by its need to purge, the strategies it uses to purge and its terror of truly democratic goals. It changes citizens into taxpayers so individuals become rife with anger at.. .. the notion of the public good. It changes citizens into consumers so the measure of our value as humans is not our humanity, nor our compassion, nor our generosity, none of the virtues that human beings aspire to claim. None of that but what we own.

Working-class life in the United States is a series of daily interactions with petty dictators.

Our workplaces are dictatorships that hold measly paychecks over our heads in demand of daily subservience. Our homes are owned by banks & landlords, who hold the threat of homelessness over our heads in demand of payments we cannot afford.

Creditors bombard us with phone calls, holding the threat of court action & wage garnishment over our heads in demand of payments we cannot afford

Black leaders who extend their battlegrounds to class struggle (in other words, are anti-capitalist and/or socialist) are too much of a threat to the internal power structure of the US. Because they've found the key to liberation not only for Black folks, but for all folks. So, they are dealt with extra harshly:

- MLK started focusing on imperialism and economic justice, suggesting capitalism had "outlived its usefulness": ASSASSINATED.