Caption: October 1, 2024: Workers at Port of Boston and along East and Gulf Coasts went on strike against job displacing automation. /Photo Arthur Mansavage, Shutterstock
A Social Revolution in the Digital Age
We are living through a profound societal transformation, driven by a technological revolution as life-changing as the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s. Digital technologies and artificial intelligence are replacing human labor fast as possible, reshaping not only how we work but also the structure of our society.
Working people feel this impact daily through disappearing jobs, rising costs, failing schools and crumbling communities. Even if they don’t call it a social revolution, they recognize that they are under attack. This widespread awareness reflects the reality of our time. The question is what must be done to address it.
The new reality of shared struggle
This transformation is creating an “equality of misery,” where people from all backgrounds increasingly face similar hardships. Factory workers lose jobs to automation, office workers are replaced by artificial intelligence and professionals face career disruption. This growing equality of poverty is uniting a displaced class, turning it into a social force capable of acting in its collective interest.
Traditional divisions are breaking down. When a rural factory worker and an urban office worker both struggle to afford housing or health care, they begin to recognize their common interests. Similarly, when immigrant and native-born workers face the same unstable job market, the barriers that once divided them start to dissolve. Their shared struggles can foster new awareness and open the door to unity and collective action.
The growing equality of poverty is pushing workers’ struggles into coordinated political action. In the wake of the recent elections, communities across the country are organizing to pressure local legislatures to defend workers’ needs, like healthcare and social housing. In cities like Oakland, these issues are being debated in budget battles, where fascists push for cuts and blame the state of California for disasters such as the wildfires. This reflects the political mobilization of a class no longer willing to accept marginalization.
Understanding today’s power structure
A new elite of tech billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg leverages public resources – government contracts, tax breaks, and research funding – to increase their personal wealth while shaping their toxic messages in the media and in politics to serve their interests. They use platforms like Twitter/X, the Washington Post and Facebook to promote deregulation and policies that give them power over government and law. Meanwhile, essential needs – housing, health care and water – are privatized to make the tech elite even wealthier.
The ruling class uses racism and patriarchy to divide workers, while turning to fascism to secure its survival. This new fascism fuses state and corporate power to protect capital at the expense of democracy. The 2020 CARES Act, a $2.2 trillion economic stimulus package in response to the COVID pandemic, exemplifies this dynamic. It funneled resources to corporations while leaving workers to struggle. Police militarization, mass incarceration and violent border policies illustrate the state’s role in maintaining the status quo.
The importance of politicization
The working class today is potentially the most transformative revolutionary force in history. Unlike previous revolutionary classes, this class has a unique mission: the abolition of exploitation. Representing the majority of humanity, the working class spans all backgrounds, embodying global diversity. With the potential to democratize modern production, it can reorganize society for the collective good rather than the narrow interests of a privileged few.
Politicizing this social revolution is essential. This process involves raising consciousness, connecting struggles to systemic issues, and envisioning transformative solutions. Immediate economic grievances – such as demands for food, housing, and healthcare – must be linked to broader questions of inequality, private property, and political power. Revolutionaries must take specific steps:
• Connecting economic grievances and political demands
• Building structures for sustained action
• Creating educational programs to develop political understanding of class
• Fostering coalitions among movements
• Proposing alternative economic arrangements
For instance, a housing protest can spark discussions about public land ownership, while a strike can highlight the dangers of wealth concentration. Through politicization, immediate concerns become part of a larger revolutionary framework.
The stakes are high. The concentration of wealth drives fascism, poverty and ecological collapse. Yet, with the rise of displaced workers, a revolutionary class is emerging. By uniting globally and rejecting divisions like white supremacy and patriarchy, humanity can build a cooperative society that prioritizes people and the planet over profit.
New leadership and building solidarity
In this moment, solidarity is essential. New forms of leadership are emerging that reflect the diversity of modern struggles. Community organizers build trust across neighborhoods, tech workers equip movements with digital tools, healthcare workers connect patient care to broader social issues, and young activists bring innovative methods. Effective leadership today must be collaborative, drawing on diverse skills and perspectives. Networks of leaders are needed to build bridges between communities, strategize for immediate needs and long-term goals, and share resources across movements.
Shared hardships create opportunities for solidarity. Union campaigns unite workers across industries, housing movements bring together renters and homeowners, and environmental justice efforts connect urban and rural communities. These movements are strongest when they recognize their interconnections – strikes gain power when supported by community groups, housing activists find strength by collaborating with labor unions, and environmental campaigns thrive when addressing both climate change and economic justice.
The power of solidarity between movements is evident in reproductive health victories. Despite attempts to impose a national ban on women’s reproductive freedoms, activists have secured legal protections. This shows how movements connected by shared goals – such as class rights, gender equality, and public health – can win tangible victories and push the broader social revolution forward.
A future worth fighting for
The technological revolution presents a stark choice: corporate fascism, where wealth and power are concentrated in the hands of a few, or a true democracy where humanity uses its collective creativity to build a just, equitable society. The working class – especially the growing displaced segment – united by shared struggles, has the potential to turn this crisis into lasting change. By politicizing the social revolution – raising consciousness, challenging systemic injustice, and connecting struggles to broader demands for equity and public ownership – we can forge a path toward a society that prioritizes people over profit.
The growing equality of misery and solidarity among workers and communities shows that meaningful change is underway and a cooperative, sustainable society is within reach.
In spite of the enormous obstacles, stopping Project 2025, allows us to work in solidarity while holding on to our vision: Technology that the ruling class uses to throw people out of work can also be used to set people free.
Looking ahead, May 1, 2028 offers a crucial rallying point for deepening the workers’ struggle. A collection of unions nationwide, including the United Auto Workers and AFT, have invited unions around the country to align their contract expiration on that date for a possible mass strike across sectors and regions. This won’t return us to the past era of plentiful jobs, but it will lay the foundation for a new understanding of class struggle – an evolving revolutionary vision to replace capitalism with a society rooted in cooperation, equality, and sustainability.
Published on January 29, 2025
This article originated in Rally!
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