Fires raging! Protests spreading! People looting! National Guard mobilizing! President Trump hiding! Protests rage in most American cities! This is an open rebellion!
What is different about these protests from the 1960s?
- They are not racial. People of all complexions and nationalities are united in their outrage. In many cities, whites are leading the protests and demanding justice.
- The protests are more political and demands for justice are at the forefront of the struggle.
- The protests are more widespread and in most major cities of the United States.
- Some police are cooperating and supporting the demonstrations.
- This is taking place during the coronavirus pandemic, which has exposed the vast inequality and rising impoverishment of the American people, especially among African Americans and Latinx.
Our country is entering a deep depression and in the middle of a terrible epidemic. Forty million people are unemployed; our entire infrastructure is inadequate, outdated and underfunded; our police forces are militarized instead of trained to protect. Our political parties are adjuncts of Wall Street and the military-industrial complex. Our national politicians are dependent on money from the 1%.
There is no leadership from the national government. The most they can do is find a scapegoat: Antifa, right-wing militias, “outside agitators” or the Russians. The protests are not pretty nor are they perfect. Are there outside agitators involved? Is Antifa participating? Are right-wing militias agitating? Are “agents provocateurs” instigating? All these allegations may be true. But they are not the cause of the unrest. The unrest is caused by the looting of the American people by the 1%, Wall Street banks, the military budget, the multi-national corporations and the corrupt politicians.
The world we have known is crumbling before our eyes. However, there is also an embryo being born, there is an egg that is being hatched. We are awakening from our slumber and are beginning to realize that we can’t depend on our failing political system to fix our problems. We are going to have to do it ourselves.
We have to get rid of that incompetent in the White House, put a fire in the Democratic Party and replace the leadership with new leaders that represent our interests or build a new party that will. Dismantle and rebuild our entire educational system, develop universal health care, eliminate the electoral college and reorganize our government.
We have a long, hard road, but we have already started walking. Long live the memory of George Floyd! Black Lives Matter!
