WASHINGTON DC, November 20 – 50 people including members of Progressive Labor Party (PLP) marched in front of DC’s Black, liberal Mayor Muriel Bowser’s home today to protest Bowser ending the DC eviction moratorium. The moratorium, put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic, prevented landlords from evicting tenants, a protection of basic human needs that is only necessary under a capitalist society that prioritizes profit and rent over safety.
The federal eviction moratorium was struck down by the Supreme Court on August 27 and the local DC one ended on July 25. The ending of the moratorium put workers in DC who are behind on their rent payments into crisis as landlords are now able to evict them. The number of people who can’t pay rent has skyrocketed as the  Covid-19 pandemic continues to rage and expose capitalism in crisis. The DC housing fund for tenant relief ran out so quickly that the “Stay DC” application for rental relief closed on October 27 even as workers continue to lose their jobs and struggle to make rent (Washington Post, 10/14).
Having a place to live is a necessity, but like all the other needs of the working class, for the capitalists, housing is only about making profits. As long as we live under capitalism our needs will never be met. Under capitalism housing, healthcare, food, everything our class needs are only vehicles for profit. No money, no home is capitalism’s mantra. Our needs will be met when we run society for the working class. Only communism, where resources are provided to each according to need, can do that.
DC politicians serve the developers
Federal funds are not expected to be distributed for tenant relief until March 2022, so the most vulnerable of us are in danger of being evicted at any moment. To add insult to injury, Mayor Bowser just launched her yearly “Home for the Holidays” campaign, which seeks to find homes for homeless individuals, while at the same time doing nothing to stop the current wave of evictions. She is just throwing scraps to DC residents to maintain good PR, exposing her racist hypocrisy.
The rally was lively with chants, pro-tenant-themed carols, and speeches. The rally demanded that Mayor Bowser fund temporary rental relief programs such as Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) and reinstate the local eviction moratorium. The very idea of guaranteed housing for the DC working class terrifies Bowser and the bosses because that would eat into the profits made by her allies among developers and landlords. Capitalism requires maximum profits, so such goals are “off the table” for the bosses. Black and Latin workers especially are facing evictions and Bowser’s actions will sharpen this racist attack on our class. By sharing CHALLENGE and having conversations with other protesters, PL’ers brought the message that full, decent housing for the working class can only be achieved through a communist revolution in which workers themselves guarantee that basic needs like housing are available to all.
Fighting against evictions and fighting for communism
At the event, community leaders and members discussed how horribly the DC bosses treat the working class. One speaker, who is currently homeless, observed that DC was already terrible at housing individuals before the pandemic. In fact, he said that when he submitted his application for DC housing assistance in 2007, he wasn’t contacted by officials until 2019. Eight months later, he was told that he didn’t actually qualify.
Another speaker, who came in solidarity, lamented that rent-control doesn’t exist for seniors and that she sees numerous people—mainly Black, Latin and Asian—in the tent cities popping up around DC. She rightly observed that this is only happening because of capitalism.
Capitalist society, led by the profit-motive, cruelly leaves the elderly and the poor to fend for themselves for shelter each night, even though there are more than 15 million vacant homes across the U.S. (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Q3 2021). This serves several purposes: 1) it keeps housing prices higher when housing isn’t distributed based on need and 2) it keeps wages lower when workers are scared they could become homeless.
While the rally primarily sought reforms to make our current society more livable, the only way to permanently end homelessness is to smash capitalism with a communist revolution.
A workers’ state, led by an international, worker-led communist Party would guarantee housing to all workers. Shelter would be distributed based on need rather than based on whatever enriches the bosses the most. Join the PLP and help us work towards this future!