Surviving Capitalism (Not) : The Yellow Vests Are Just The Start Of The Global Working Class Revolution That’s Underway

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

Wednesday, May 1, 2019

The Yellow Vests Are Just The Start Of The Global Working Class Revolution That’s Underway

Click here to access article by Rainer Shea posted on The Greanville Post.

I've been a socialist for the past 60 years, and during that time I've always seen the necessity for a revolution that would take away ownership and control of the economy in private hands and put it in the hands of ordinary people to serve their needs. This article is welcome news that at least some of the young generation are waking up to this reality. However, from my vantage point in a milieu that is limited to mostly old people like myself, I still don't see this happening. So, this article evoked mixed feelings in me: skepticism and hope.

Yes, there is growing resistance here in the USA, but it is widely dispersed among people who are directly impacted by the various capitalist crises. Too many Americans seem too comfortable with their circumstances, and their individualism and isolation due to so many years of indoctrination prevents them from uniting behind any organized effort to overthrow their capitalist masters. The Empire's exploitation of the rest of the world and nature has bought off our ~~educated~~, that is, highly trained and indoctrinated upper-middle-class who have the means of shutting down the economy and make the capitalists scream until they surrender their control (ownership) of the economy. Without these people I fear that the capitalist directors of the Empire will bumble along from one crisis to another until they ultimately face the desperate choice to surrender or engage in a catastrophic nuclear war against its foreign enemies. Actually I think we are approaching this scenario now.

But what about the more distant future of environmental destabilization and its threat of destroying the habitat of humans and many other species? If I were a betting man, I would bet that it is too late to prevent the extinction of humans. But I also know that humans, like many other species, will fight to preserve their species. It's too late for me to prevent this tragedy from happening, but my last hope is to see the perpetrators of our extinction lose their power at the hands of ordinary people who can no longer tolerate the abuses and crimes of this capitalist class. So, it's a Pyrrhic victory, but it will be a little something for me: a sweet reward for my lifelong efforts at the end of my life. I only hope that I can live that long.