Surviving Capitalism (Not) : The working class responds to Hurricane Harvey

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Friday, September 1, 2017

The working class responds to Hurricane Harvey

Click here to access article by Joseph Kishore from The Greanville Post.

The response of workers raises broader issues. Hurricane Harvey, like Hurricane Katrina and many other disasters in the US and internationally, has exposed the class reality that the media and the political establishment attempt to cover up. As always, it is the working class and poor, of all races and ethnicities, that are the hardest hit. It is they who are either without insurance or face insurance companies that refuse to cover damages. It is they who will see the media and ruling class politicians depart as the flood waters recede and the major industries resume operations.

No small part of the reaction of the media and political establishment to the disaster is motivated by fear that it will spark social unrest, serving as kindling for a conflagration arising from the immense contradictions of American society.