Spooky Season for the Capitalist Class
Friends and Constituents,
I hope you’re doing well. I’m absolutely exhausted, but my spirits have never been higher.
It’s been a frankly dystopian time to be organizing and fighting for change in the United States.
The portions of the federal government that help people - like preventing widespread hunger - are shut down; yet federal agents are beating and detaining hundreds of American citizens with no sign of stopping.
Our state government claimed not to be able to afford to provide medical care for the poor, cutting tens of millions of dollars away from these programs; yet Governor Braun as soon as tomorrow may spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to pursue nakedly partisan redistricting.
“I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one man who does absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, while millions of men and women who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a wretched existence.” -Eugene V. Debs
And as always, it’s simple economics behind all of this. The richest people on earth continue to experience astounding growth in their wealth. The top 10% of earners account for record-high percentage of consumer spending, and 67% of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck. Groceries cost 25% more than they did in 2020, unemployment is up, and consumer goods are rapidly going up in price.
“The class which has the power to rob upon a large scale has also the power to control the government and legalize their robbery” - Eugene V. Debs, 1918
Due to the flood of money into our election system, it costs far too much to run for office. The oligarchs profiting from this state of affairs are buying the government. To an unprecedented level, Trump has directly granted them political access. He has pardoned their crimes in exchange for personal gain - a textbook definition of corruption. The policies Trump has championed directly enrich these donors and supporters.
The ultra-rich have never had it so good.
But the one thing they fear the most is increasingly giving them nightmares.
The same spectre that haunted Europe’s nobility and capitalists in 1848 is once again causing a spooky season for those who want unchecked control over the economy and politics.
“The truth has always been dangerous to the rule of the rogue, the exploiter, the robber. So the truth must be suppressed.” -Eugene V. Debs
Organized working people, standing together to demand justice, have all the power in society if we can learn to use it.
This week, I got to see example after example of that organizing coming together and bearing fruit.
I met amazing undergraduate students at IU-Indianapolis who are carrying on the dreams of a steelworkers’ organizer from decades ago and learning the skills it will take to bring the fight to a new generation. Working people need to pass down our skills to the next generation if we want to win - so we are doing it.
I stood with casino workers demanding the bosses recognize their union despite a government shutdown preventing the NLRB from conducting an election. Working people need to assert our rights even when the government denies them to us - so we are doing it.
I watched an open socialist, backed by the largest socialist organization in the United States in a century, trounce his opponents in debate after debate and become poised to steamroll the billionaires’ candidates and become mayor of New York City. Working people need to win political office - so we are doing it.
I cheered for Sara Nelson, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Bernie Sanders in a room packed full of 700 people in Terre Haute last night, holding hands and singing Solidarity Forever. Working people need to build national connections - and we are doing it.
Bernie Sanders was honored for channeling the spirit of Eugene Victor Debs, the Hoosier hero who inspired millions and changed the face of the labor and political movements of his time.
“Debs frightened the ruling class when he was alive, and his ideas still frighten the ruling class”, Bernie said during his speech.
Debs’s central message was that regular people, organized in their workplaces, can and must put a stop to the wars, the poverty, and the corruption in our society.
“What can Labor do for itself? The answer is not difficult. Labor can organize, it can unify; it can consolidate its forces. This done, it can demand and command.”
When we stand together, we have nothing to fear.
But the billionaires should be very afraid. We are coming for them, and we aren’t stopping.
In love and solidarity,
Jesse