Over fifty per cent of public school children live in poverty. Regardless of how much their parents work, many of these children are homeless, are hungry and don’t have access to food or decent clothing. A public school teacher fosters two homeless girls, who also attend her school in Albuquerque. She told the Washington Post:
“Getting rid of bedbugs – that took us a while. Night terrors, that took a little while. Hoarding food, flushing a toilet and washing hands, it took us a little while,” she said. “You spend some time with little ones like this and it’s gut wrenching. These kids aren’t thinking, ‘Am I going to take a test today?’ They’re thinking, ‘Am I going to be okay?’ ”
Isn’t it time we put an end to a world where anyone, let alone children, have to live like this?
The ruling class sets the conditions that are destroying families, condemning our “little ones” to a life of suffering and terror, eradicating the most basic human connections. The League of Revolutionaries for a New America, with Rally, Comrades! as its voice, is fighting for a world where no one goes to bed hungry, or cold, where no one has to live on the street or in their car, and where the worst thing that happens to a child is a summer cold.
We can’t protect our children and our families simply by fighting back, by reacting to what is done to us. Our cover article, “What Happens in Michigan Won’t Stay in Michigan,” shows what the ruling class is capable of and what they intend. They poisoned an entire city and permanently disabled thousands of children. This was all made possible with by the forcible and legal elimination of democracy that is Michigan’s Emergency Manager System. The ruling class is not going to let a bunch of workers they no longer need decide their future. But these workers took matters into their own hands – organized, publicized, and taught about what was going on, not only in Michigan, but all over America.
“Global Capitalism and World War” shows that the work of the ruling class does not end at the U.S. borders. The U.S. has a multi-pronged strategy to dominate the world market, suppress the rise of rival economies, and position itself geopolitically using constant war, terror, and torture.
There is little doubt that we are in a battle for our survival – as human beings and as a class. We have to have a plan, a strategy, a way to get from A to B and on down the line. First, we have to know what’s possible. The advances in robotic and computer technologies are making it possible to provide a decent and stable life for everyone. There is no reason for anyone to be without the wherewithal of life.
So what is the problem? Private property ownership of the means of production by the capitalist class stands in the way of this abundance being distributed to everyone. This means we have to figure out how we are going to get control of these means of production for the good of all, not the few, as it is now.
We have to figure out who our forces are, who has the same interests that we do. We can see that those of us in the same economic boat must unite around our common economic interests. A class that poisons children has nothing in common with our class.
“Demonized and Deported: Both Parties Blame Immigrants” shows that around the world debates over immigration are being used by the ruling class to deflect blame for the way they are reorganizing economies and governments in the interests of globalization. Unless our class – this growing global proletariat – comes to see ourselves as the mighty class we can become, we won’t be able to defeat the enemy’s strategy of dividing us by color, immigration status, language or religion.
The article “The Battlefield of Nationalization and the Fight for a Cooperative America” points out the next step we need to take – “placing the corporations under the control or ownership of the government.” But it has to be in the interests of the people, not the corporations as is the case today. Raised with one voice, these demands bring our class together in common cause and point the way to a cooperative society.
“Public Education and the State” shows just how deeply the government is entangled in turning public education over to the corporations. It shows how the only solution is for the “federal government to live up to its responsibilities to guarantee quality education for all and therefore nationalize education in the public interest.” It then goes on to show why nationalization is the best solution not only for education, but for every aspect of society.
Our class is going through hell. But the world we want is out there, within reach. It will take strategy, organization and unity. The League of Revolutionaries for a New American is building an organization of revolutionaries, dedicated to presenting a vision of what the new technologies make possible, and strategy to get achieve that vision. Join Us!
September/October 2016 Vol26.Ed5
This article originated in Rally, Comrades!
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