etmm:
Liberate Oakland! Shut down the 1%!
Thank you to the people of Oakland for standing up and coming back in full force against the brutal fascist attacks of the police on Wednesday, October 26th. The contradictions between the people and the ruling class are sharpening and what is happening in Oakland is only a prelude to how the local governments will eventually react all across the country. Our eyes are wide open.
The wealthy will respond with violence against non-violence because they will do anything and everything to maintain the status quo and retain their superior position in society, at the expense of the majority of working people. But as history has proven, they can and will be unseated from power when the masses awaken and rise together in unison.
But the root of all the oppression and exploitation we are fighting against is imperialism. More specifically, US imperialism. And we need to develop our understanding of it, because it is the world system that controls the economy, politics, culture, military, and yes, even the police. It is manifested in the collusion between the corporations and the government.
Imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism in which society is ruled by a handful of wealthy big businessmen and monopoly conglomerates that control all the major industries. They are the multi-billionaires on the Forbes 400 list as well as the politicians they are partnered with. It is how these ruling elite in the wealthiest countries divide up the world amongst themselves to control resources by waging wage wars of conquest that kill millions of people.
And by spending trillions of our tax dollars to wage these wars, we are left with reduced budgets for education and basic social services. In order to further reap super profits, they cause unemployment by outsourcing our local jobs and exploiting workers even worse in the third world.
These imperialists are the tiny portion of the population that make up the 1%. But it is us, the 99% of working people, that produce their wealth. If we didn’t work, their businesses wouldn’t run and they wouldn’t be able to make their profits. They are only wealthy because they exploit us. Working people make the world go round and make every thing around us.
A successful general strike in Oakland on November 2nd will be a testament to where the real power lies - in the people. The real power lies in the 99%. Oakland stand up! This is only the beginning.
