Street Veterans Come Together

The time is now to take advantage of the old adage, “In all adversity there is a window of opportunity” in this case for change. There are a multitude of reasons why people are protesting in the street today, and all have a common adversary corporate greed. The last time corporate America was scared of the workers was when the CIO and AFL were going to band together. These two organizations had been at odds for years basically driven by egos, as the CIO workers were less skilled workers than the AFL workers, who were trades people earning more money,. The corporations took full advantage of the animosity, pitting workers against each other. Corporations did not want the two unions forming one large union. Workers figured they were pawns and decided to combine their efforts under one union baring both names: AFL/CIO with George Meany as the president. He was a plumber by trade. The corporations panicked after this happened and started an anti-union campaign, that continues to this day. Today, all those who sell their lives by the hour or the day should band together to bring about the changes needed. This is our opportunity, another chance, to raise wages and living standards. This time we need all of our people who are protesting in the streets or online to stand together. People have already been in the streets for a lot of reasons, so now is the time to bring these street veterans together for a living wage, healthcare, police accountability and reform, prison reform, drug reform, housing, climate crisis, UBI and other concerns. So where will will the pushback come from? Most likely from the rich people, tech firms, which have the power to bring an end to the democratic certainties on which we Americans rely. This last election is a perfect example of tech companies allowing misinformation to be spread on their platforms. Silicon Valley poses a threat to job, in which our industrious society was built. It will corrode and negate the principles of labor. Without consideration for the lives of the people impacted by their actions, these companies will establish unpaid and uncontracted labor as a social norm. Many mid-level jobs have disappeared in architecture, law, accountancy, teaching and medicine. Every time you see a self-check out stand, think of the person who lost their job to that machine. Trucking will soon follow down the obsolete trail. With the elimination of these jobs, we now have 40 million Americans living in poverty, including 5.3 million in undeveloped countries, and in contrast there are but 15 Americans with a combined wealth of more than a trillion dollars. So, it is now time for all unions, workers, young and old to write, march, vote, call, talk, attend meetings, phone bank, and get others to join the fight for what we need. If $15 an hour minimum wage is the best we can get, we need a UBI of $1,500 to $2,000 a month because 70 to 75 percent of our economy is driven by spending, and the government needs to eliminate the second taxing of our Social Security benefits implemented by Ronald Reagan. Question anything you hear about criticism of practices that would help the 99 percent of us. They tried to use socialism to scare people into voting against their own best interests. They deliberately confused the two forms of governance as one and the same and that is an ignorant form of manipulation. Socialism strives for a more equitable society and is more compatible with democracy. Communism uses an authoritarian state, denies basic liberties and puts the wealth into the hands of a few, which is a lot of what capitalism has achieved. In the U.S., Democratic Socialism seeks to reduce inequality and inequity while advancing public sector and private enterprise interventions. So, next time you hear someone fear mongering socialism, consider what their motivation is and look at what they have and you’re losing, like your jobs, healthcare, savings, and way of life. No one is coming for your guns, stop falling for that talking point. By parroting the gun issue you’re proving how degraded our educational system has become. Trump, like previous Republican candidates, used people of color as the boogeyman taking your jobs, raping your women and creating crime wherever they go. Consider taking a DNA test and then study the history of how immigrants were not welcomed here regardless of their skin color.