I am a blue-collar, union, working father getting screwed by the system. I am a member of the Freedom Socialist Party because I know socialism is the only realistic option to get us out of the mess we are in.
Trump won. The picture of Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg lined up at Trump’s inauguration spoke volumes. This administration is of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich. This is the rich attacking workers. It is extremely alarming and should be a call to arms for working people everywhere. But it is also an acceleration of existing systemic problems baked into capitalism.
The Democrats lost because they represent their billionaire patrons while only paying lip service to the interests of workers. The party leadership tried to maintain the status quo of deportations in the U.S., and arms and money for Israel. It perpetuated the lie of stability as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
There is no reforming capitalism into a kinder, gentler version. It has always preyed on workers at home and abroad. The profit motive perverts government from acting in working people’s true interests. We face the existential threats of climate change, nuclear war, and AI run amok, all to protect and preserve profit for the billionaires.
The world ends every day for marginalized people around the world via the smaller scale apocalypses of recurrent economic crises and conventional warfare. The system functions as a meat grinder of the poor.
I have heard many people say the Democrats have to win in 2028. To that I say, Trump is not going anywhere without a fight. He is going to do everything he can to stay in office and out of prison. Democrats and elections aren’t going to prevent another Jan. 6 insurrection.
No one is coming to save us working people. We have to save ourselves. We need an independent anti-capitalist labor party of workers, for workers, by workers. No billionaires.
We need a united front to fight like hell. We can belong to different organizations and have political disagreements, but we need to unite to fight back against what threatens us all. Solidarity with each other is our best defense and best offense.
Workers can organize our own democratic bodies to make our own decisions: united fronts, unions, independent political parties.
We need a second American revolution. Remove the profit motive, nationalize industry under workers control, democratize the workplace, and give us the surplus value of our labor — you know it as the profits that line your boss’ pockets. That is socialism in a nutshell.
There is no going back to normal as billionaires and politicians flirt with fascism. Normal was awful for the working class as a baseline. But the sky is the limit. Workers can run everything. It’s time to realize our power and use it to build a better world.
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