Revolt of the Wage Slaves

By James R Smith

               Trump's in his bunker
               and the streets belong to the people 

The demonstrations triggered by the police murder of George Floyd quickly evolved to outrage at endemic racism and second-class citizenship endured by Black Americans. It then became an outlet for the hatred of at least half of the population for the conditions in which they live. All this happened in no more than two days.

A government’s first priority should be to protect the lives and well being of its people. Yet this government failed to protect thousands from a tiny little virus. There were not enough masks, gowns, hospital beds, and even doctors, nurses and hospitals were scarce. We watched as politicians and researchers guessed at which chemicals would stop, or at least weaken, the onslaught of the pandemic. The chief executive, who proclaimed himself a war president, promptly blamed China for all his inadequacies.

Perhaps if the multi-billions spent for an unnecessary military had been applied to health care, housing and education, there would not be 100,000 dead, so far. Then, perhaps there would be fulfilling jobs for millions of unemployed or underemployed. Perhaps there would be intelligent people in the White House and Congress. Perhaps we would be on our way to making racism and discrimination a thing of the past. Just perhaps.

One Million Protesters?

Crowd estimates are as rare as hen’s teeth. That usually an indication that they’re big. There are protests in all of the 200 largest cities in the country, plus numerous smaller cities. If the larger cities have protests averaging 5,000 people, that would be 1 million total. Some cities have far larger numbers on the streets, so this might be a conservative estimate. There have been seven days of protests at this writing, so that could be 7 million people total, although many come out day after day. These are earthshaking numbers of strongly dissatified people.

Setting the night on fire

In a poll that was reported by Vice in 2019, 24 percent agreed that society should be burned to the ground; 40 percent agreed that their view of the U.S. political and social institutions was, “just let them all burn. A recent survey found that 40 percent of those who earned $40,000 per year or less had lost their jobs. According to Dr. Cornel West, we are living in a “failed social experiment.”

Police Brutality

If we didn’t have smart phones with built-in video cameras, many protesters and innocents would be brutalized, or killed, by police without anyone knowing the real facts. Without video cameras, George Floyd’s death would likely have been falsely blamed on his resisting arrest (which he didn’t do). In addition, TV stations are providing a service by showing what the police are doing. It seems that police have decided to ram protesters with their vehicles. This has happened in New York, Los Angeles and San Diego, and possibly more locations. Police have used excessive force over and over. A video of a NYPD mini-riot showed plain clothes thugs joining with the cops to beat up protesters. Were they spys, white supremacists or friends of cops? There are already enough white supremacists among the police, not to mention misogynists and the violence prone.

What ever happened to the nice cop on the beat? Police today don’t walk or stop to chat with neighbors. Police forces, as currently constituted, should be disbanded. Those who are racists, misogynists, violence prone, or have a record of brutality should find other jobs and get help for their problems. Those who remain should be joined by people of color in proportion to their numbers in the population. All should be unarmed. Carrying weapons separates them from those they are mandated to protect and serve. Weapons should be locked up at the police station. In recent years, police departments have be militarized with weapons of war. Obviously, this is counter-productive and should be stopped.

If the police don’t calm down, people are going to be injured or killed. In the 1992 Los Angeles Uprising, 63 people were killed, 2,383 people were injured, 12,000-plus were arrested, and property damage was more than $1 billion (in 1992 dollars).

Trump

The President is trying to escalate the divisions in the country. In a video meeting with governors, June 1, Trump demanded that they crack down down on protesters. "You've got to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years…” said Trump. Most of the governors weren’t buying it. In addition to calling the governors “weak,” the Prez said they “looked like fools.” He is showing signs of stress that he can’t handle. Thump earlier had called for implementing an 1807 insurrection act to send in military troops. Unfortunately for him, he needs the consent of the governor before he can act. In 1992, President George H.W. Bush federalized the National Guard in the Los Angeles Uprising. The Guard, which is mainly working class youth, was unwilling to take on the protesters and were assigned to guarding buildings instead.

Everyone I’ve talked with is hoping for a peaceful transition to a better and less violent world where Blacks and other people of color do not have to live in fear constantly. Let’s continue to strive for such a world.

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