Plenty for War – Nothin’ for the poor!

by Leslie Willis

Art by Andy Willis, Chicago, IL

We are surrounded by plenty of everything, so why can’t everyone have a good life? Billions of dollars go to support the genocide of the Palestinian people. And billions more go to the nazi infiltrated Ukrainian government to supposedly protect them, but nothing can be spared to protect workers here from homelessness and ruin. Nothing can be spared to guarantee good health care for all. 

Half the country is struggling to make ends meet with growing inflation and they tell us – don’t worry – it’ll get better. Well, WE CAN’T EAT LIES!

It doesn’t make sense that people should go without anything when the technology exists today to provide everything fast and cheap. A house can be 3-D printed in a day, tons of food can be harvested with machines, and piles of goods can be cranked out by computer-controlled robots.

In fact, we already have plenty. But you can’t have it because you can’t pay for it.

So while people go without:

·         houses and buildings stand empty all across the country

·         car lots are full of unsold vehicles

·         warehouses are stacked to the rafters with goods that have nowhere to go

·         and tons of food is thrown into the garbage everyday (ask any grocery store employee).

Yes, it’s all out there, it’s just not distributed fairly – only those who can pay have any security. That’s the economic system that both the Republicans and the Democrats are protecting. Protecting the property of the wealthy and protecting them against us, the people at the bottom.

No matter how divided the Republicans and Democrats appear to be – they are completely united in squeezing out our last cent and our life’s sweat and blood to maintain their rule over us.

The government that the ruling class of this country has constructed protects those who own the land, the technology, and the natural resources. This is their private property, and we can’t have anything if we can’t pay them. If we take what we need – we break their laws. If we break their laws, we join over 5 million people in this country that are either in prison, local jails, on parole or probation.

The ruling class of property owners is the same class of people who robbed the Native Americans of their land and attempted to wipe them out completely. They are the same class that chained immigrant children from Europe to machines in the Northern factories. They are the same class that enslaved people they kidnapped from Africa, brutalizing them into forced labor.

All this horror committed against us, the common people, just to insure their power and riches. Most people know this about our country and only fools try to deny it, so why do we trust this ruling class? Why should we place any faith in their political parties?

Many people have come to the conclusion that this election is not about the lesser of two evils. No matter what or who sits in the white house or the chambers of government – we will be dominated and discarded by these masters at the helm when they don’t need us. Who are these masters? It’s easy to see that today corporate money determines who gets elected, what laws get passed, and what rights are taken away. With the advent of robots and computers in production, owners of corporations just don’t need as many of us. That’s the real reason we can’t get any help from the government today! If they don’t need us, they won’t feed, house, or care for us!

Our only hope lies in organizing ourselves around a new vision for our future. Yes, it’s time to join all those who shout – We’re the bottom and we’re coming for the top!

And if you think change can never happen, just look back at history. Change is what does happen through the centuries. Not that long ago we had serfs and lords. Not that long ago we had slavery in this country. Abolitionists (both slaves and citizens) organized and fought for a new vision.

If you still think that change can never happen – look around you at the growing movement demanding change. This is the moment for those of us who are the dispossessed of a dying system to determine how it will change. We can and we will build a different society – one of cooperation, equality and sharing. 

Cheri Honkala, Poor People's Army spokesperson, attempting to deliver a citizen's arrest to the Democratic Party on August 19 at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.