‘So what are you gonna do?’
At my transit quarters, it is in the back room, away from our supervisor, where the workers’ ideas are shared. Today my coworker shared his struggles with money; like many of us he’s waiting for the over time (ot) to return.
It hasn’t been consistent in four months. Most workers depend on overtime to keep their heads above water, with rising prices of gas, rent increases, etc. My coworker, Mohammed, said he had to borrow from his pension to make repairs to his home but needs more money to finish it. My other coworker, Satana said,”make a Youtube video. Everyone who’s struggling can make it easy; they just have to be creative.” Rolling my eyes, I said, “You can’t expect that to work for everyone.” He said “yes.” I told him “there are over two billion people living in extreme poverty. That means they live on less than $3 a day, they surely don’t have phones.” My other coworker, Jackson, said “That’s the problem with capitalism. It keeps the rich making money and the poor, always needing money.” Santana said,”yeah, that’s why they need to fix that problem of capitalism.” I said, “capitalism can’t be fixed, it’s working perfectly the way it was designed to.” Jackson said, “capitalism doesn’t work for us.” So I asked him, “So what are you gonna do on election day?” He said, “ probably vote for Harris.” I said, “why?” He continued, “because I like her running mate. What’s his name again, Tim something hmm… ahh Walz!” I asked, “why do you like him?” He continued, “because he seems nice and level headed.” I said, “he’s no better than Harris, things will only get worse under them.” “We’ll see,” he said. It appears I have my work cut out for me. We all need to get an early start and make sure no worker sees any one of these racists as a choice for the working class.
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How I make small gains in a big protest
On August 18th I and other comrades took part in the National Day of Action demonstration in Brooklyn, NY. This demonstration was called by several groups including DSA, Jewish Voicefor Peace, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and others to take place as the Democratic National Convention was starting in Chicago, IL. Most people there were angry about the genocide taking place in Gaza.
Although our main work is with those we know in mass organizations, where we work, go to school or where we live, participation in rallies like this one are useful in putting forth our ideas among folks we wouldn’t meet otherwise. I always bring pen and paper to get contact info and ask for donations to help pay for the next edition of our paper!
Collectively our Party group distributed between 300-350 CHALLENGEs. The response to our efforts was very positive. I always ask for donations for the paper and this time I got $56.00.
Other comrades got donations as well. In addition, four people gave me their contact information to find out more about Progressive Labor Party.
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AIPAC doesn’t direct U.S. imperialism
I think there is one misleading phrase in the editorial of Sept.4. It states that “neither Harris nor Biden has the spine to defy the Zionist lobby,…AIPAC.” The implication is that Israel determines the foreign policy of the U.S. It is actually the U.S. that needs Israel, which is the only reliable U.S. ally in the Middle East since the fall of the Shah of Iran and the recent waffling of Saudi Arabia between China and the U.S. Israel is essential as a base to protect the fossil fuel resources and transit routes in the area, the extremely important shipping lanes of the Suez Canal, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, as a bulwark against local nationalist and extremist movements and the power of Iran, and has given the U.S. cover in dealing with unpopular actors such as apartheid South Africa and the Contras. AIPAC is useful for buying politicians and limiting their critiques of Israel, but that is a secondary role, not what determines U.S. needs. We need this understanding to be clearly understood that no presidential candidate will decrease support for Israel, lobbies aside.
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Loved the organizing, write more!
I loved the article about our Kentucky friends organizing at the Republican National Convention in August. They described in detail how they distributed CHALLENGE, engaged people in conversations, even reaching out to people who identified with other parties. Their efforts showed how multiracial unity is possible! While at the Convention, the cops brutally killed another Black man. Our friends immediately mobilized to protest this killing, showing a great deal of flexibility and commitment. The article provided many examples for others to follow. I hope we hear from them again!
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