“Our task is not to teach the unconscious to be conscious; but to make them conscious of their unconscious behavior. Because unconsciously, instinctively, they seek freedom.”
“You must never get discouraged in struggle. You will build something, and the enemy will knock it down, and you’ll have to start from zero…. The easiest way for the enemy to take you out is to make you frustrated and disgusted.”
-Kwame Ture
The ultimate class war has arrived… or has it?
With Hollywood in the process of burning (via multiple workers’ strikes, plus the bevy of cases against various celebrities), general wildcat strikes and mass quittings, as well as CEOs on their guard more than ever; class inequities and economic disparities are more evident than ever. There’s also been a growing disillusionment with the idea of ‘America’, and the relationship of the U.S. to the rest of the world.
Despite being in the middle of fulfilling several assignments, i am writing this piece; because my brain has somehow been wired to always be functioning on all cylinders. i suppose it is that ‘impulse’ aspect of ADHD- another subject i will write about at another time… when i am in the middle of several assignments, of course. That said, within the last day or two, a couple of thoughts ran through my mind, which i ended up sharing with some friends and comrades:
“This is one i imagine telling folks who support what is happening in Syria… ‘because Assad.’
imagine you are a person (Palestine), finally able to utilize the tools to escape your abusive partner (Israel). A neighbor (Syria) has been the most helpful in your journey, giving you a ton of tools to plan your escape.
ANOTHER neighbor (the US, liberals, etc.) sees how the initial neighbor has been helping you, but hates the initial neighbor so much, because other than helping you, they aren’t the greatest person. Instead of helping you in the same ways the initial neighbor does though, they just do a bad mouthing campaign, thereby leading you back to your abuser.“
And:
“i think this ‘CEO incident’ is a perfect example of why organization and political education are crucial.
The person who got arrested, capitalist media is once again using the opportunity to highlight how ideologically undeveloped he is. The dude takes issue with the death cult of the insurance industry; however, he is not ‘anti-capitalist’ like the press has been saying. What he did was personally motivated; it just happens to be that the majority of people in this country connected with what he did, because most people experience the same thing. It’s clear that he, a person with relative economic privilege, received the same treatment as everyone else regarding medical care; so it should show anyone that capitalism is no respecter of political identity.
Yes, you could say he committed ‘class suicide’ (if you wanna be technical); however, what he did was NOT a revolutionary act like some are claiming, because (a. His act was personally motivated and (b. the action was not based on ideological consistency.
Capitalist media aims for these ‘expose pieces’ on him to again, divert attention from the inhumanity of these capitalist death cults, and have people fighting among themselves about the ‘left/right’ binary again.“
So much of what we observe, we do it viscerally, because we are conditioned to think of everything as an event, versus interconnectedly. We are conditioned to look at every event in a binary way. Many who support Palestinian resistance also cheered for what is called (in both right wing and liberal (and some left circles) as) ‘the fall of Assad’ in Syria, without understanding that this ‘fall’ has now put Palestinians in an inauspicious position, as Syria was one of Palestine’s biggest geopolitical allies- hence, the ‘neighbor’ analogy i made.
Without a dialectical analysis, one would accuse another with that position of being an ‘Assadist’. A lack of a dialectical analysis lacks both critique and context. If the objective is to ensure both the people of Syria and Palestine were strengthened, supporting or advocating for the protracted struggle of the formation of revolutionary blocs would have been a stronger strategic move in my eyes, as opposed to not making a distinction between the forests and trees, and outright praising any Western-backed force to do some semblance of their bidding, because ‘Assad is now gone.’ Utilizing a strategy that can be seen as advantageous to the west, both Palestinians and the people of Syria are more likely to be put in harm’s way.
Doesn’t anyone remember when the U.S. backed the ‘falls’ of both Iraq and Libya, and the context as to why it happened? Do people not remember the aftermath? Doesn’t anyone remember Operation Cyclone– when the U.S. supported the Mujahadeen in the battle against the Soviets in Afghanistan? Do people remember what came of that?
And frankly, we can look to the history of Israel’s support of utilizing Hamas as a counter to the left-wing Fatah Party (until they decided Hamas, like the Mujahadeen, etc. went off script)… History is a great way of informing us of how we can can respond to similar ‘events’; because if we know anything about capitalism and imperialism, their eyes are on the same prizes of the acquisition of land and resources, and the exploitation of labor.
———————————————————————————————————-
“If we are not careful we allow mobilization to become events. The struggle is never an event–it’s a process–a continual, eternal process.”
“Those of us who are revolutionaries are not concerned with issues; we’re concerned with the system. The difference must be properly understood.”
-Kwame Ture
We should observe the arrest of Luigi Mangione (and the events which preceded it) in the same fashion.
His actions were also seen as an ‘event’, unifying a majority of the people who live in the U.S. People saw it as not only avenging the experience they’ve had with ‘insurance injustice’; but also avenging their loved ones who succumbed, due to lack of affordability or rejection of claims.
Similar to what happened in Syria; the U.S. is full of mirth, as it is an opportunity to exploit the anger and pain of the masses. While people are in a state of desperation, capitalism surely recognizes that the anger will dissipate into hopelessness, and focused conversation will fracture into memes… because while the masses may now be unified, the masses are not organized.
We are currently in the process of seeing this. Alongside comments regarding the (deliberate) bewilderment of capitalist media as to why the masses are upset, are the seemingly more frivolous or jocular takes, one example being a focus on Mangione’s looks- unfortunately leading to another conversation that if he were not deemed ‘conventionally attractive’ (or European), there’s the possibility of him not being viewed as prominently as a hero.
As i was writing this, i saw a message a friend sent me. They sent me an image of a portion of a piece from a writer they enjoy, Leo Herrera. The post succinctly describes exactly what i mean: “The ER was packed with folks choosing between groceries and medicine, going bankrupt over these bills. Instead of gratitude or relief, we were all thinking, “What will this cost me?”… Luigi’s popularity is communal grief masked as jokes and lust. We feel so abandoned by this healthcare system- and by extension, this “great” country. We need victories and heroes so badly, we’ll settle for a murder and cheer on an unwell young man. He’s hot AF, though. i hope we unpack this catharsis of solidarity into something more than just memes.”
———————————————————————————————————-
Inspired (and frightened) by the actions of Luigi Mangione, ‘wanted’ posters have been placed across cities, with CEO’s photos on them, and said CEOs are ramping up personal security.
While i could be wrong, something inside of me says the persons who put up the posters are not necessarily coming from the position of revolutionary and organized armed struggle. Just as the news reports are strategic in scaring off both the more liberal and right wing portions of the population (by deeming Mangione an “anti-capitalist” when his admiration for people like Elon Musk (as well as his antipathy towards what he considers the “woke mind virus”) proves he is far from that) or an “extremist”; fear-mongering reports of these posters do nothing but perpetuate an already over-saturated surveillance state, and encourage the passing of more draconian laws.
While we are angry at the death cult of insurance agencies; we must hold the same anger for the government that consistently allocates funds toward state-sanctioned violence, both domestically and internationally- the same government which colludes with corporations to prevent the masses from receiving the care they need, or ensuring that basic material conditions are met for all (such as housing and medical care).
A couple of days after Brian Thompson was shot, the U.S. House Of Representatives passed H.R. 5349: Crucial Communism Teaching Act. This bill (which was was first introduced on 5 September 2023) echoes many other bills that were lying in wait, and were passed at a moment when passion and fear ran high- not unlike S. 735 (104th): Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which was introduced on 27 April 1995, and signed into law by Bill Clinton. Communism is already demonized in this country, and this bill (which is inspired by the heavily debunked by multiple sources (including contributors) The Black Book of Communism) further sets it in stone, proving once again (as if you needed further proof) that McCarthyism never left.
Also proving that there’s not much difference between democrats and republicans, this was supported via bipartisanship- 156 democrats and 172 republicans voted yes for this, while 34 democrats and 27 republicans voted no.
Of course, instead of addressing the contradiction of capitalism and the inequities that fall under its umbrella, the only response by its agents is both the threat and reality of mass criminalization and surveillance…. Which is why simply celebrating the actions of an (ideologically inconsistent) individual who ‘got to one of the bad guys’, albeit unified, can never be a solution.
Brian Thompson may be gone, but another CEO will replace him. You can get rid of all of the CEOs, but until capitalism is severely dismantled or outright destroyed, it will continue to dictate the conditions of distribution (or lack thereof) for medical care (and all other material needs) in this country. You can remove an Assad, but as long as the west participates in and supports that process, the people of Syria (and by extension, Palestine) are not going to immediately be able to participate in self-determination on their terms, in the ways that are hoped or expected.
——————————————————————————————————-
As there are calls to ‘free Luigi Mangione’, we must remember that he currently has a lawyer and is most likely able to afford it, either on his own, or through his family. Most people living in the U.S. most likely can not. Most people in this country are not organized with jail support, community defense or counsel, or mutual aid. Most people will also not be backed with mass support (both on the ground, or on the internet).
While seemingly absolutely planned; what Mangione did, echoing what ancestor comrade Kwame Ture stated, was an unconscious act. It was a reaction to whatever mental and physical pain he was experiencing. His unconscious act surely stirred something within the masses to make connections between said actions and the system which negatively impacts us all. Upon this new awakening, as Kwame Ture also said, we must never get discouraged in struggle. We must stay on message. We must understand if the masses have ideological disunity, capitalism will ensure that susceptibility persists.
We must, as the great Fugazi once said, keep our eyes open.
Overjobbed and Underworked 