Confronting the American police state

Latest

pt.2014.03.03_coverStory
Unarmed civilians with their hands in the air are gunned down like dogs. Nine- year-old children are handcuffed and dragged to jail for pointing fingers and saying, “Bang – bang.” Police beat defenseless, homeless people to death for being homeless. Citizens photographing illegal police activities are beaten and hauled off to jail. Armored battlewagons with “Serve and Protect” painted on their sides patrol our streets. Masked men with battlefield arms, called SWAT Teams, lurk in the police stations of even small towns. Police chiefs, lawyers, State officials (who happen to be Black) are stopped, frisked and hauled off to jail on “suspicion.” Latinos are unlawfully stopped, frisked or jailed on suspicion of being “undocumented.”
Nazi Germany? No! It is America—Land that I love. It is the Beautiful, the land of patriot’s dreams. Stripped from the 4thAmendment, humiliated by cavity searches, she is slipping into the grasp of full-blown fascism.
It hasn’t happened to you? Have we so soon forgotten the lesson of Germany? “First they came for the Communists – but I wasn’t a Communist.” The time for resistance is before it happens to you, and time is short.
In preparation for battle the first task is an estimate of the situation. We are in a war and no war is won simply by fighting battles. Understanding and defeating the enemy’s strategy win wars. That strategy has been to control and exploit the American people by creating a “middle class,” about a quarter of the population, through labor unions, minimum wages, Social Security and home ownership. The majority of the workers were excluded. The double exploitation of the African Americans, the increased exploitation of domestic, agricultural and non–union labor more than made up the cost of bribing this “middle class.”
Greek philosophers wrote, “Nothing is permanent except change.” The introduction of electronic production with little or no human labor changed everything. With robotics, wealth and poverty polarized. Globalization of production began the end of bribery of the “middle class.” No longer politically or economically necessary, this pillar of social control was discarded.
A new class of workers with decreasing reliance on or relations with capitalist society confronts the ruling class. Dropping the benign mask of “Serve and Protect,” the police stand exposed as the ”the watchdogs of private property.” Militarized, divorced from society, striving to become a law unto themselves, their every brutal, illegal act shapes and concretizes an American fascist police state.
Thousands of Americans are aware of this danger. Even the liberal writers of the capitalist press are raising the warnings. A thousand scattered voices, politically and ideologically separated, mean nothing. We must confront each and every attack on what liberty we have left.
Most of all, we must see that electronics has fundamentally changed the world. There is no going back. The sad alternative is to re-live the blood soaked horror of the past century. We must visualize the world of peace and freedom that electronics makes possible and fight for that future.

PT Logo collage
+ Articles by this author

Free to republish but please credit the People's Tribune. Visit us at www.peoplestribune.org, email peoplestribune@gmail.com, or call 773-486-3551.

The People’s Tribune brings you articles written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Unsigned articles reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: ©2024 peoplestribune.org. Please donate to help us keep bringing you voices of the movement. Click here. We’re all volunteer, no paid staff.

1 COMMENT

  1. More and more there are people fleeing thier contry of origin to find a better life.future Political candidates label anyone in the region that is the southwest as corrupt. That we are all conspiring to help undocummented workers. If you said that about Harrriet tubman, now you would be considered a hero. Dont you think that we need to sure who are enemy is? In 100 years will the actions be recognized as heroic fight of fascism. Or would history bury us under fasisms boot. We all benefit for undocumented workers. History repeats its self, first they cane after the undocummented immigrats i was not one so i said or did nothing… Who do you think is next?

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Featured

Speakers Listed for April 22 Webinar on Mass Deportations

The speakers for an April 22 webinar on the resistance to mass deportations have been announced. See the speaker biographies and registration information.

Bring Union Brother Kilmar Home: His Deportation Is an Attack on All of Us

The deportation of union brother Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a gut punch to the labor movement, a slap in the face to every worker who dares to organize.

Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame Inducts 11 Journalists

Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame selects 11 journalists in its 2025 class. See speech from one of the 11, Daymon J. Hartley, who has contributed photos from the front lines to the People's Tribune for decades.

April 22 Webinar Will Explore Resistance to Mass Deportations

On April 22, the Zooming to the Border Coalition, which includes the People's Tribune and Tribuno del Pueblo, will hold a webinar titled Zooming to the Resistance Against Mass Deportations. A group of activists will share their experiences in resisting the government's assault on immigrants.

‘Oligarchs are Deeply Tied to Both Parties,’ says MI State Rep. at ‘Hands Off’ Protest

MI State Rep. Dylan Wegela tells protesters to prevent people like Trump from coming to power we have to fight for people, not corporations. And to win, Democrats cannot be complicit in the oligarchy.

More from the People's Tribune