Only Way to End Terrorism is to End Capitalism
The U.S. and its allies are, by far, the biggest terrorists on the planet. Their imperialist wars, conquests and enforced “austerity” programs in virtually every country on the planet has killed tens-of-millions of innocent people over the years and robustly continues today.
The capitalist class—commanded by U.S. capitalism—are directly responsible not only for the wars they have initiated and are militarily and financially supporting, that have caused terrible destabilization in almost every continent, but they are also responsible for the deaths from catastrophes such as the Grenfell Tower fire; the BP oil spill in the Gulf; the death and displacement from natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, floods, even earthquakes, to name just a few blatant examples of capitalist indifference plaguing the poor across the globe.
They are responsible for the global warming that causes many of these natural disasters as well as the death-toll due to the lack of preventive and rescue services available to victims, and safe building practices.
They are responsible for the masses of refugees fleeing from wars zones that have been initiated by Western capitalism—wars that benefit the U.S. capitalist class most of all.
They have been getting away with these crimes of war and conquest with impunity for generations. War is part and parcel of the very nature of the system of capitalism itself. It has never been a peaceful or just system.
Divide and conquer
The most powerful tool the capitalists have is to convince the working class to blame each other for the very same hardships we all suffer at their hands. This same suffering is evident everywhere.
They have nurtured a world in turmoil because it serves their purpose of miss-directing the anger experienced by the working class away from the real causes of their plight—the theft of the wealth that we workers produce—that goes directly into the pockets of the wealthiest one-hundredth-of-one percent.
In fact, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, Amancio Ortega and Mark Zuckerberg are now the five richest men in the world, owning more wealth than half of the world’s population! This is down from eight just a few months ago. (See, “And Then There Were Five,” by Paul Buchheit in this issue.)
Capitalism, at its essence, is in constant competition for the largest share of profits. And U.S. capitalists are at the helm of world capitalist competition and they aim to stay on the top!
Organizing a fighting force
to end capitalism
As the world is presented to us by the mass media—owned and controlled by the U.S. commanders of capital—the division in the world’s working class seems insurmountable.
But the reality is working class unity and solidarity is a more powerful force than capital. And that’s what the capitalist class is really terrified of.
So how can we overcome our differences and build the massive force necessary to end capitalism and the strife it brings once and for all?
Capitalism can’t be reformed
First and foremost we must realize that capitalism cannot be reformed. It is a dead-end system for the working class. It’s not a matter of “bad capitalists” against “good capitalists.” The capitalist system itself is designed to enslave the entire working class. It can’t exist otherwise.
We need an organization—an independent party of our own—controlled democratically by the working class that has as its goal to overthrow capitalism and establish a socialist society under workers’ control, and in our interests, not theirs.
We can’t depend on liberals who claim that capitalism can be reformed—who claim that there once was a “kinder and gentler capitalism” that we can bring back. There never was a “kinder and gentler” capitalism!
Capitalism was built upon conquest through bloody wars through the ages. Its fodder—indigenous peoples, slaves, serfs and workers—whose blood was, and continues to be, shed for capital’s never-ending accumulation of wealth and power now centered in the U.S.
World War One and Two were just such wars that put the U.S. capitalist class and their allies at the helm of world capital. Tens-of-millions of workers of all ethnicities were and still are being sacrificed in U.S. capital’s continued bloody battle to remain on top.
Building a party capable of
combating capitalism’s violence
Only a unified working class can wield the tremendous power necessary to combat capitalist tyranny.
We must become a powerful force, not only in defense of workers everywhere, but as the only combative force capable of overwhelming the violence against us.
In fact, we, in the belly of the beast here in the U.S., have an obligation. We must show, by organizing ourselves into a massive movement against U.S. wars and terrorism, that we are actively fighting against our own capitalist government, and are on the side of workers everywhere.
Right now, we workers manufacture all of capitalism’s weapons—their guns and bombs, both nuclear and conventional. Without us, they would be defenseless. They would have no power to terrorize us any longer. Only we can bring their tyranny to an end!
That’s why we must build a massive, unified, combative working class party independent of, and in solidarity against capitalism, that can finally end capitalism’s long and violent reign against the whole working class, and bring peace, equality and justice for all.
It is up to us—we must lead the way.