To End The Oligarchy, All We Have To Do Is Organize

The purpose of all the media distractions, McCarthyite propaganda, and censorship the corporate state now uses is to stop people from organizing in big enough numbers. The population is more hostile towards war, more aware of corporate capitalism’s evils, and angrier at elites than it’s been in decades. And stopping Americans from translating this anger into a coordinated revolt is the establishment’s top priority.

As I’ve noticed in the last couple of months, the war against dissent has been getting more brutal. In March, Ecuador cut off Julian Assange’s internet access, totally isolating him from the outside world at a time when his imprisonment was severely damaging his health. When 78-year-old CIA veteran Ray McGovern protested the nomination of Gina Haspel last week, he was physically dragged and beaten by police while inside the Senate. Activist Rakem Balogun has become the first person to be arrested under the FBI’s new “Black Identity Extremist” label, with his crime having been making Facebook posts which criticized police.

This is a standoff. Many people are determined to force change to our system, and the ruling class is determined to hold onto its power. It’s similar to the Palestinian people’s struggle to reclaim their rights and their homeland, which goes up against an Israeli government that the U.S. empire is determined to keep supporting. This struggle is intensifying, as the Israeli army becomes more and more violent; this week, at least fifty-eight Palestinians participating in the Great March of Return were killed by Israeli troops, the latest massacre in the all-out war against Palestinian demonstrators that’s been going on for the last two months.

These demonstrators know that Israel is prepared to retaliate in this way. Like has always been the situation for the Palestinians trapped in Israel’s Gaza concentration camp, they know that many will need to sacrifice themselves so the fight for freedom can be won. “They’re quashing the protests so violently and so aggressively not out of self defense, but to dissuade such protests in the future,” Caitlin Johnstone has assessed. “All they have to do is be brutal enough to convince the Palestinians that such protests aren’t worth the cost of life, and whole generations could be dissuaded from future protests.”

It’s the job of the Palestinian resisters to not give in. As it’s our job to not be dissuaded by the war against dissent in America. These two struggles are directly linked with each other, since Israel, the U.S., and the other countries in the global empire are tools used by the same circle of plutocrats. And what can maintain and strengthen these revolutionary efforts is a drive to organize the population.

This means seeking out the local organizing groups in our areas. It means volunteering for the many candidates around the country who refuse corporate money. It means building our online platforms so that we can rally people towards strikes, boycotts, and other actions. At the most extreme, it means doing things like refusing to pay taxes in protest of war and staging occupations like the one at Standing Rock. At the most basic, it means refusing to believe the establishment’s propaganda. All of it helps though, and we need to do as much of it as possible.

Because if we keep fighting, the power dynamic will be switched over. The government will be unable to control society. The people will hold command, and the policies which support imperialism and corporate power will all like dominoes. The Gaza protesters know this, and they’re waiting to see how long they’ll have to work before the situation reverses.