I don't understand when people tell me that socialism will not work in the US. Well, I do understand why they tell me this. I guess I just don't understand why people refuse to explore a different system. Why are Americans so tied to their comforts while actively boiling alive in this system called capitalism?
I'm writing this while sitting amongst college students and community members at UNC Chapel Hill. Currently, the Student Panthers of NCCU are giving a presentation about how to organize on campus.
We're all gathered here to mark one year since the student's Gaza Solidarity Encampment.
To be amongst the student resistance was beyond amazing. From the outside looking in, they were organized. They were disciplined. But, above all, they were inspiring. To see how they organized systems and resources, how they were utilizing the greater community to rally support was a masterclass. It highlights how people can come together fora. common goal to achieve great things. People lent hands wherever they could. Services were rendered wherever they were needed. People also came to teach and learn. It was a literal society that popped up in the middle of a quad.
Justifiably, the vibes are slightly off a year in. Since the encampments, State oppression has been in full force. People lost jobs, scholarships, and even degrees. Some have criminal records while others were terrorized by the State long after the fact. It is enough to chase anyone away.
But, yet, these students still persist. Even with a new regime change in the Empire, with the threat of deportations, these students keep marching on. They look at what Trump is doing with their rights and still stand ten toes down against the oppressors.
It is that bravery, that strength, that resiliency that we as workers should look to. The students have led countless movements against the system. Not just students, but the youth in general.
Now is the time we listen to the students. We need to foster the struggles and strengthen their resolve. We cannot let our cynicism and apathy spread like weeds to their optimism.
In fact, I believe we should be doing more. We need to take our privilege and access to support them. When the State tries to stifle their movement, we should open new paths for them to allow them to thrive. We have an obligation to these young people to give them the best chance possible to un-fuck the situation that we put them in (or at least couldn't do much about).
We may have missed our chance, but we still have a better world ahead of us. We just have to fight for it. And we need all the help we can get.
These kids need more than allies in their struggle.
They need accomplices!