So it’s time to face reality: capitalism has failed us yet again.The economic systems of the past are collapsing all around us. Due to the failure of the banks, the failure of our money and the failure of our government; free market economies are falling all over the world, and in our backyard.
As students and other working class folks struggle to pay rent, get food on the table, pay tuition and for books, the government elite has stolen our taxes to pay for a bailout of the very institutions that put us in this mess in the first place. Barrack Obama voted for the bailout. And even his new plan will only prop up the same system that hurt us in the first place. No party (on the left or the right) can save us, and no politician ever will.
The failure of capitalism is obvious to the majority that are put under the boot of poverty, unemployment, meaningless work, hopelessness, police and other forms of oppression. The capitalist economy and the government has only one goal during this crisis; they must keep this system the dominant system of our lives. They must keep the classes in their place, and pay for the billionaires’ bailout with our money. There will never be justice in this economy for the working class folks, youth/students and other oppressed people. There will only be a constant struggle to survive, struggle to get by and our quest for a world beyond misery.
What we need to demand is something that the government can never give us. We need to demand what the CEOs and capitalist class will never give us. We need to demand a world in which every person has the ability to put food on their plate. We need to demand a world in which every person has a safe home to live in. We need to demand a world in which every person has the health-care that they need. We need to demand that justice is given to all people, not just the billionaires on Wall Street. We need to demand that people are given control over their communities. We need to demand our lives back.
We can look to history for the possibilities of the future.
In Argentina during 2001 the economy collapsed. Due to investors and businesses taking money out of the country and putting it over-seas the economy went into crisis. Small and medium sized enterprises went out of business and thousands went into unemployment. With the closure of these factories and businesses the workers of these places took control of their workplaces themselves and created worker managed cooperatives. As of 2007 there were 10,000 people employed by self managed cooperative businesses.
This bears a striking resemblance to the workers occupation in Chicago only a few months ago. The workers were given only three days notice that their Republic Windows and Doors factory would close, well short of the 60 day minimum notice required by law. The workers decided they would take matters in to their own hands and occupied the factory until their demands were met. Thanks to immense solidarity from all over the country and media pressure, their demands were met and the workers walked away victorious. They are now in the process of reopening the factory as a worker managed cooperation.
These are only two small examples of the struggles that will continue as capitalism continues to rob us of our lives, dignity and power. The struggle against capitalism is a struggle that all of us can join in. Resistance can come in the form of factory occupations, building occupations by students, protests, underground newspapers, and/or anything that gives us an edge over this world of money and exploitation.
The tides are turning and the world of the old is rotting away and cracks are appearing for a new world to grow. We all must plant the seeds for a better world. A new and better world IS possible and on its way.
Nick is a second-year student majoring in Sociology.