Resistance mounts as a failing system kills us

Latest

Amazon workers striking for safe working conditions and hazard pay.

 
As stories in this digital edition of the People’s Tribune show, the economic and public health catastrophe now gripping America is exposing a for-profit system and a government that doesn’t give a damn about people’s lives and is not competent to deal with the crisis. But we also see the unprecedented outrage, humanitarianism and growing resistance by the people.
The pandemic has the greatest impact on the most vulnerable, who the government refuses to protect: the homeless, people of color (especially African Americans and Native Americans), people without health care, the elderly, low-wage workers, prisoners in crowded jails, immigrants in detention centers, health care workers without proper protection, and so on. Likewise the economic crisis is forcing many people to do without income or assistance they depend on, increasing hunger (while government allows food to be destroyed), and making people homeless or leaving them homeless (while empty hotels and apartments stand vacant). The economic crisis could well kill more people than the virus.
The net effect is a genocidal assault against our people, and especially against those that the billionaires who run this country want to eliminate: people whose labor is no longer needed in an increasingly automated economy.
The for-profit system paved the way for the disaster with decades of hospital closings, cuts in the public health system and social safety net, denial of health insurance to millions, having no adequate national stockpile of emergency medical supplies, diversion of trillions in public funds to the military and the wealthy, and the squandering of capital on an orgy of speculation in the financial markets while automation and off-shoring of jobs left millions in poverty.
The lack of a coordinated national response to the virus by the federal government led to the disgraceful lack of testing and the chaotic competition among states for scarce medical supplies. Meanwhile, the government hands out trillions of dollars to big business, while giving crumbs to the workers, small businesses, and state and local governments.
But the people are fighting for their lives, organizing, making demands on government for nationalized health care, for food and an income, rent relief, release of vulnerable prisoners, etc., and for a coordinated national response to the crisis that ensures the health and economic well-being of all people. People are also thinking and talking about building a whole new society based on cooperation, not competition for profits, and where humanity comes first. We can’t go back to what was.
 

Covid-19 ‘exposes US racism in a stark new way’


 

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

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Featured

The American People Want Peace, Not War!

The US's immoral and illegal attack on Iran threatens the whole world with war. The American people have a special responsibility to come out into the streets and rein in the US government, which has become a rogue state.

Juneteenth 2025: ‘We Have to Win this Fight,’ Hannah-Jones Tells Black Graduates

Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones addressed Black graduates at Harvard University, telling them that "we are about to see unleashed upon us an America that we have not had to live in. And we have to win this battle."

Voices From the No Kings Day Protests!

Millions of people – estimates range from 11 million to 12 million – took to the streets in protests across the U.S. on June 14 in a direct response to President Donald Trump’s regime, unifying under the message that also named the day’s protest movement: No Kings.

‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Hurts the Working Class

"Big Beautiful Bill" robs from the poor to give to the rich. A major frontal attack on all segments of the working class, the bill must be stopped.

Los Angeles: Standing Up to the Threat of Dictatorship

The federal government's war on Los Angeles is a war on the American people. The ultimate aim of the attack on immigrants is to impose a dictatorship on us all.

More from the People's Tribune