Isnt there something wrong with a society where people decked out in diamonds and fur coats are stepping over homeless people laying on the sidewalk? The obscene polarization of wealth and poverty is barely acknowled by the so-called "major" parties. Our wealth - the wealth of our labor created - and our technology have given us the power to end poverty. But to do this, we, the people, must first gain control of the wealth.
******************************************************************
People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition)
Vol. 27 No. 8/ August, 2000
P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654
http://www.lrna.org
******************************************************************
2. ELECTION 2000: POVERTY IS ISSUE NUMBER ONE
As the date for the 2000 election draws closer, a simple, powerful
question confronts every candidate, every party, and -- in one way
or another -- every person in this country: What are we going to
do about the growing poverty in America?
Let's brush aside the lies that are routinely published and look
at the facts. Behind the glitter of the "dot-com" millionaires and
the stock-market frenzy is the real America. In the real America,
some 30 million people go hungry at some time each month. Millions
are destitute and homeless, surviving from day to day by begging,
collecting scrap metal or working day-labor jobs. Millions more
are temps, part-timers or working full time at minimum-wage jobs
with no benefits.
Many homeless people are working full time yet still can't afford
housing. Many people are working two and three jobs just to feed
their families. Tens of millions have no health care or bad health
care. Even the "middle-class" worker is just a paycheck or two
away from being sucked down into the growing new class of poor.
At the top of our society, meanwhile, a tiny handful of
billionaires and multi-millionaires continues to grow fat and
happy.
Isn't there something wrong with a society where people decked out
in diamonds and fur coats are stepping over homeless people laying
on the sidewalk? Isn't there something wrong with a system that
prides itself on throwing women and children off welfare in the
midst of spreading poverty?
The obscene polarization of wealth and poverty in our country is
barely even acknowledged by the so-called "major" parties and
their candidates, and they certainly have not proposed a solution.
The days are gone when the ruling class, to protect its own
interests, handed out certain favors to the working class and
guaranteed a certain standard of living, at least for a large
section of workers. In those days, a thousand economic strings
tied the majority of workers to the ruling class, and that meant
the workers were tied politically to their rulers, as well.
Today, with technology replacing labor in the workplace and the
globalization of capitalism, the economic strings are being cut.
The workers are being told to sink or swim in a global economy. If
you can't make it, tough luck, and don't expect any help from the
government. And don't complain or fight back, or you'll be
answered with bullets and billy clubs.
As the economic strings are being cut, it's time for we, the
people, to cut the political strings that tie us to our enemies.
The identity politics of the past are no longer relevant. These
politics tie the people to the ruling class. The struggle that is
beginning to develop today is a class struggle -- a struggle
between social classes over who will control and organize society.
The question that is slowly coming to the fore is: Will we
continue to have a society where a wealthy handful of people own
and control the economy, and they decide who will prosper and who
will suffer? Or will we have a cooperative society, where the
people own and control the economy, and where everything necessary
to have a full, rich, cultured life is guaranteed to every person?
The politics we need today is class politics -- that is, a
politics based on the working class taking control of society and
reorganizing things in its interest. This is the only solution to
the spreading poverty that is destroying our country, and only the
people can impose this solution on the ruling class.
Imagine the society we could have. Our wealth -- the wealth our
labor created -- and our technology have given us the power to end
poverty, to provide health care and education for all, to give
every one of us the opportunity to reach our fullest potential.
But to do this, we, the people, must first gain control of the
wealth and the technology that we ourselves created. We have every
right to this. And we have the moral obligation to our children
and to history to do so.
******************************************************************
The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO is available on the World
Wide Web at http://www.lrna.org