The story of humanity is a story of struggle, not just between classes, but against all forms of oppression. We face a rigged system where the powerful exploit us as workers and consumers, as well as based on our differences of identity. Further, the cultural parts of our political economic system socialize us to internalize greed, selfishness, hierarchies, authoritarianism, oppression, and violence, directing them at others and ourselves, thereby increasing alienation, antagonism, low self-esteem, and loneliness. Our society experiences many forms of poverty.
The super-rich get richer while wages for most of us stagnate and prices increase. The elite maintain and increase their wealth, status, and power by dividing us, using race, gender, sexuality, age, background, nationalism, cultural issues, and whatever else they can to justify low pay, low benefits, and bad treatment for the majority, while using the slogans of freedom and democracy. The system isn’t broken; it was built this way. It uses racism, sexism, homophobia, religious bigotry, and xenophobia as weapons to keep working people from uniting and demanding what’s ours.
When a Black woman is paid less than a white man for the same job, it’s not just unfair to her; it drives down wages for everyone. When a corporation exploits immigrant workers with low pay and no benefits, it’s an attack on all of our wages and benefits. When gender identity or sexual orientation are used to discriminate in hiring or housing, it weakens our entire community.
We are told that hard work leads to prosperity, but this is a myth for most of us. Many of the hardest working people are the least paid. The system has become a trap, a vicious cycle of debt from student loans, medical bills, and mortgages, while a handful of billionaires own more wealth than the bottom half of the country. At the same time, the elite are sabotaging unions (the only organizations that look out for the interests of workers), rolling back our rights and protections, defunding Social Security and Medicare, charging us more for less, politicizing education and science, cutting taxes for the wealthy, and giving free reign to mega-corporations. This exploitation is not accidental; it is by design, it is anti-democratic, and it is disastrous.
Speaking of the system, another manifesto sagely says that “This Machine shapes us so deeply it feels like brainwashing. Biases, prejudices, and snap judgments often take hold before we’re even aware of them. The outer world shapes and reflects the inner; the inner shapes and reflects the outer. External oppression produces internal oppression; internal oppression produces external oppression.” It feels like brainwashing because it is. We are socialized from birth by family, friends, teachers, coaches, media, politicians, corporations, advertisements, etc. and they brainwash and domesticate us, making us willing and unwilling cogs in the machine. This is how the system successfully reproduces itself and keeps us divided and down.
This must change. Working people of America, it’s time to unite for fairness, becoming more aware and spreading awareness. And because this country is so culturally, politically, economically, and militarily powerful, changing America will also change the world.
Our power lies in our solidarity. We are the ones who build the houses, grow the food, and provide the services. Without us, the whole system grinds to a halt. We must stand together, regardless of our race, gender, background, or any other characteristic. Our shared struggle is greater than any difference that they use to divide us.
We need a Real Deal, a new political economy where the people, not corporations, are in control and where the people, not corporations, benefit the most.
This means demanding for a system that benefits the overwhelming majority, not simply a privileged few.
- Democratic ownership: The workers who produce the goods and services should collectively own, control, and operate the businesses. Democracy, meaning that the people affected by decisions should participate in making those decisions, should be extended into as many spheres as possible.
- Equal pay: Everyone should receive a living wage that reflects the true value of their labor, with no pay gaps based on race, gender, or other characteristics unrelated to work.
- Economic security: No one should go bankrupt from medical bills, be crushed by student debt, or be unable to access the necessities of life. Housing, healthcare, food, internet, education, and public transportation should be rights for all, not commodities sold for profit.
- Basic Fairness: We must dismantle the systemic racism, sexism, homophobia, and religious bigotry that have been used to divide us, spread hate and violence, increase discrimination and mistrust, and create unequal opportunities.
- Environmental justice: We need to protect our environment, leaving it at least as good for our children and grandchildren as we had it for ourselves. Without a clean and stable environment, the rest of society, including our political economy, cannot be stable.
- True democracy: The government should work for the people and their needs, not for corporate lobbyist and billionaire greed. All policies and programs should primarily serve the needs of living beings, not things, governments, organizations, corporations, or systems.
- Self-improvement: Along with these other changes, we can change ourselves for the better, too. Alongside a more kind, caring, and compassionate political economy, we can become more kind, caring, and compassionate people, helping ourselves to live better lives while helping others.
We have a wonderful world and meaningful lives to win. Working people of America, unite!