Photo / Sarah-Ji Rhee
DETROIT, MI — Context is a determining factor that helps us understand the nuances of any phenomenon. No circumstance stands alone. The time identified as ‘2:00 p.m.’ is better understood because there was a ‘1:00 p.m.’ that happened first…context. When visiting the Mammoth Caves in Kentucky, the tour descends 100s of feet below the surface of the earth to a point where the tour guide announces, ‘the absence of light,’ meaning that the sun does not reach that far down. When the tour guide turns the tour/trail lamps off – the visitors stand motionless in complete darkness, often for the first time in that person’s life. The experience of knowing what light is and what the absence of light is – remains a highlight of those who visit that federal destination . . . context is established between the two conditions.
To better understand the forces that are at play world-wide, thinkers must review and study what is at the essence of any circumstance. Opinions vary about the causes of these stressful times that are evident. Some use a religious lens that suggests these days are the ‘end of time’ that humanity has reached foretold by the Bible. Others suggest that a lack of planning and concern for others is the reason for so much suffering. Still others believe that simple bourgeois elections with this Democrat, or that Republican, or some other Independent, is where we should concentrate our interests. Elections do matter, but studying society using an economic lens will take us to a deeper understanding of the forces we face.
Perhaps the best single example of how to view today’s circumstances, is to observe the millions of average working persons world-wide who have been infected by the Covid virus over the last two years. How did the wealthiest in every country escape? Except for a few instances, no named millionaire or billionaire has been listed among the dead. A ‘class’ analysis forces the conclusion that the Covid death grip affects almost exclusively the poorest populations across the globe. The corporate class has resources available to them even before the rest of the world is aware that the crisis is approaching…their lives are valued.
America offers an added layer of protection found in the traditional response to societal crisis situations. Early examples of non-existent healthcare in communities of color have proven to be a death trap for millions. There are horror stories across the country about people of color going to the hospital during the early days of Covid to request treatment only to be turned away. Communities of color early-on started to complain about not receiving appropriate medical care because they were not rich or white and that observation was true.
Color is a determining feature of capitalism and a successful tool that can be depended on to divide working people on the basis of skin color. The ‘Ivy League’ hospital systems that appear to cater to the rich are well known, so when asked, most will list in terms of where to receive ‘better care’ those medical centers. Context then becomes a key factor because sub-consciously, when offered a choice where to receive quality care, few will select rural healthcare centers. Even in predominantly white counties, those residents will travel miles away from their homes to seek-out ‘Ivy League’ healthcare centers as locations better able to care for their medical needs.
Race is always a factor that has to be appreciated because it has been so successful for so many years. But deep down, the American working class holds the notion that where rich people travel, the outcomes are better – we have been well-trained in reaching that conclusion. Color matters, but CLASS matters also so both must be reckoned with.
Thinkers have to consider this in making an analysis of economic conditions. The ‘race’ question is part of the fabric of American history used to maintain control over profits made at our expense. Technology has proven the capacity to provide enough resources to feed, to clothe, to educate, to house, to care for every person on this earth. The shacks occupied by poor Blacks in Mississippi, by poor Latinos in Texas, by poor Whites in West Virginia, and by 1st Nation people on reservations are the result of not organizing our class on the basis of what is best for us. Our fight today is to raise the alarm about the destruction of democracy – not the democracy that supports the rule of the rich and the control of the white. NO!! Our voices need to be heard in every hamlet talking about equal access to all resources is the objective. No more of these Cadillac conditions for a few and skate-board conditions for the rest of us. The people in the yachts have to abandon their class interests because the working class families in the row boats have started to see the light of what real democracy looks like.
Working people…now is the time to lift the flag of freedom with the demand that America live up to her promise of “…forming a more perfect union, establishing justice, promoting the general welfare, etc…” We must declare war on these corporations and on this murderous economy as we name poverty and racism as the first two causalities of a system that we will not allow to endure.
Our task is NOT to just build back better what capitalism may be losing, but instead we must demand MORE, see further, and organize deeper. We should be taking advantage of this moment by lifting the concept . . . THAT THE NEEDS OF THE MANY MUST ALWAYS OUTWEIGH THE NEEDS OF THE FEW OR THE ONE! . . . Context is important because it forces one to look at the polar opposites which then allows us to see which is the better choice. Pick the side that is rising and developing. Let’s get organized to fight for our families both young and old, as we adopt the slogan…CHARGE!!
