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Stop War Profiteers from Stealing $1 Trillion From People’s Needs

Demonstrators at a march and rally in New Orleans on Jan. 4.

By Sally Jane Black

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke out against the evils of capitalism, racism, and militarism in one of his last speeches. He was speaking about the Vietnam War, the invasion of a country that sought independence from colonial/capitalist occupation. The targets of the capitalist class are new but the struggle is old: today’s Iraq and Bolivia are yesterday’s Vietnam and Chile.

The evils of militarism, racism, and capitalism are connected, and opposing all three is crucial to defeating the capitalists who oppress and exploit us.

In the more than 50 years since Dr. King’s speech, the United States spent over $20 trillion on war.

In December 2019 Democrats and Republicans passed another war budget that will cost workers $738 billion. When other aspects of the budget dedicated to warfare are included it is over $1.1 trillion dollars. A trillion dollars is a thousand billion.

Politicians claim that there’s not enough money to fight climate change or provide universal healthcare and free college education. But Republicans and Democrats together authorized funding for the terrifying Trump Space Force in the new war budget. The workers of the world produce all the wealth we need to thrive, but the capitalists steal that wealth and waste it on their endless wars.

Permanent wars enrich the war profiteers, threaten our security
This money does not “stimulate the economy.” The trillions of taxpayer dollars handed over to war profiteers are not invested in expanding our productive capacity. The sole ‘value’ of missiles and bombs is expended in the act of destruction. In order to sell more weapons, the capitalists have to keep starting wars which only destroy the lives of more workers. This economy of horror is not sustainable. When this leads to an economic crisis the workers will once again be made to pay the price.

End imperialist wars, fight the capitalist class
The role of the U.S. military is to terrorize the working class and oppressed nations of the world. The U.S. capitalist class uses force to dominate and occupy countries for the sole benefit of Wall Street. The Afghanistan Papers prove that the U.S. military, politicians, and capitalists knew there was no leaving once the war began. They intended to occupy and exploit Afghanistan, not to liberate it. This one war alone has cost nearly $1 trillion.

Our only chance at liberation is to stand up to U.S. imperialism and militarism everywhere. We must demand our money go to schools and healthcare—not to drones and bombs. It’s not just a matter of improving our lives here in the U.S. It’s not just a matter of rearranging where our taxes go. Ending these wars would be a victory for the world’s working class, oppressed nations, and the environment (as the military is the world’s top polluter). Our liberation depends on it.

Members of Veterans for Peace in New York CIty demonstrate against war and sanctions on Iran.
“War is a racket: A few profit, the many pay!” – Major General Smedley Butler, USMC
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Sunrise New Orleans Brings Climate Strike to City Hall

Dec. 6: Jesse Perkins, a resident of Gordon Plaza, addresses students participating in a Climate Strike organized by Sunrise New Orleans. Students demanded that the city fully fund the relocation of all residents of Gordon Plaza, a housing development built on toxic soil.

By Nath Clarke

On December 6, 2019, 200 people gathered at City Hall for a Climate Strike organized by Sunrise New Orleans. They demanded that Mayor Latoya Cantrell and the City Council:

  1. Champion the Green New Deal
  2. Fully fund the relocation of Gordon Plaza residents
  3. Stop the construction of the fracked gas plant in New Orleans East
  4. Commit to 100% renewable energy

Students of all ages spoke on the urgency of organizing in the face of the current climate crisis. Reverend Gregory Manning, a pastor at the Broadmoor Community Church, talked about environmental racism—and how people of color often are on the front lines of the fight against coastal erosion. Jesse Perkins (pictured at right), a resident of Gordon Plaza who’s been leading their fight for fully funded relocation spoke as well. Gordon Plaza is a Black, working-class neighborhood in the Upper Ninth Ward built on a Superfund site. For over 30 years, the residents have been organizing for the right to live on soil that won’t kill them.

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Mississippi Protesters: “Prisoners’ Lives Matter!”

Families and human rights defenders gather at the Mississippi Capitol to protest conditions inside Mississippi jails and prisons. Five prisoners have died in MDOC custody between Dec. 29 and Jan. 3.

On January 7, protesters gathered at the Mississippi State Capitol building to speak out against the deplorable conditions that prisoners have endured in Mississippi jails and prisons.

Since Dec. 29, 2019, at least five prisoners have died because of the violent conditions in Mississippi prisons. Recently, the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) has moved inmates to a notoriously decrepit maximum security unit at Parchman, the state penitentiary. This unit had previously been forced to close due to inhumane conditions. Prisoners have documented a lack of plumbing and electricity, flooded quarters, rampant black mold, and more.

Mississippi governor Phil Bryant justified this inhumane treatment of prisoners as retaliation for “gang violence.”

Sharon Brown, who has family on the inside, responded: “It is not a gang war. It is a systemic war. The biggest gang sits right there in that tower,” Brown said, pointing to the Capitol building.

Protesters are demanding an immediate reform to these inhumane conditions, the end of corporal and group punishment, educational and vocational-technical programs, the decriminalization of marijuana, restoration of regular family visitation and more.

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Steal Bread, You Go to Jaill Steal $10 Billion, You Go Free

The Sacklers—the biggest drug dealers in the U.S.—are in court for knowingly profiting from pushing millions into opioid addiction, specifically with OxyContin, produced by their company Purdue Pharma.

But they have never been criminally charged. Instead, courts are working out a financial settlement that will go to state governments, not the victims.
Now it has been revealed that this rotten family withdrew $10 billion from the company to put in family-owned bank accounts in order to hide their real wealth and to ensure that they continue to live it up.

All their money should be seized and distributed to those driven into addiction by these psychopathic capitalists, and they should all be jailed for their crimes.

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Prisons Send Families into Debt

By LaVonna Varnado-Brown

Prisons cost the federal government billions of dollars to keep approximately 2.3 million people behind bars each year. The City of New Orleans currently dedicates 63% of its $721 million dollar budget to jails, police, and other reactive measures. The “City of Yes” says no to returning stolen tax dollars to working families by continuously dedicating only 1% of the budget to job development and 3% to children and families. Families around the country spend thousands of dollars each year just to keep in contact with dear ones who have been placed in prisons. They send money to incarcerated loved ones and incur debt to pay for emails, phone calls, food, and personal hygiene items.

Research done by a collaborative, participatory research project with 20 community-based organizations across the country like the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Forward Together, and Research Action Design shows some hard hitting facts about how America’s punitive jail system is deeply impacting families as much as the incarcerated.

One report states, “The high cost of maintaining contact with incarcerated family members led more than one in three families (34%) into debt to pay for phone calls and visits alone. Family members who were not able to talk or visit with their loved ones regularly were much more likely to report experiencing negative health impacts related to a family member’s incarceration.” If we want to support building whole communities, we must examine what punitive systems like this really achieve. Who do they benefit? The rich ruling class is waging war on working people and the poor. We must call for an end to the prison industrial complex and support building communities where families can be healed. We must fight for the right to self-determination for all people.

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Jail Expansion Vote is Not a Win, Fight for Justice Continues!

By Ashlee Pintos

The vote on the jail expansion, which took place on December 5, was painted as a victory by some, as every city council member voted “Yes” on the sheriff’s proposal. The Temporary Detention Center (TDC) that was supposed to be closed in 2017 and has been illegally operating ever since with more prisoners than the proposed bed cap of 1,100, has been approved by the city to remain open. They intend to use the TDC to warehouse mentally ill people who have been incarcerated. This vote does nothing to challenge the unjust criminalization of the mentally ill or the lack of public, accessible mental health services. City Councilmembers Banks and Palmer worked out a last-minute concession to those opposing the proposal: instead of the proposed bed-cap of 1,438 (bed caps determine the maximum amount of people that fill them), there is now a person cap of 1,250.

While we understand that we cannot abolish prisons overnight (without revolution), we must also be clear that this is far from enough. As long our community members’ lives are sold into prison slave labor, all of us working people are under attack. In this society, the overwhelming majority of “crime” that leads to incarceration stems from poverty. When people’s backs are pushed against a wall with low wages and high taxes, rent, and food costs, a situation is created where people must act to survive. If the New Orleans city government (or the US government at large) actually wanted to put an end to crime, the proactive solution would be to fund quality jobs, healthcare, childcare, and education. The interests of the majority would be served by a living wage and social programs that build communities. But when we look at the city budget, it is clear they have allocated OUR money where THEIR interests lie. Over 60% of the city budget goes to cops, jails, and reactive measures.

By filling prison beds with thousands of predominantly black folk, there are millions to be made in profit. Over 50,000 people fill Louisiana’s jails and prisons, and there are over 8,000 undocumented people in detention centers.

Over $1 million of tax payer money is paid out to Louisiana’s prison economy every day.

Not only are we the ones being incarcerated en masse; we’re also the ones who are paying for it! While the minimum wage has not gone up in over 20 years, Louisiana remains one of the highest incarcerated places on the planet.

With nearly 60,000 of our community members in cages, the rich can further their profits by forcing incarcerated people to work for as little as 86 cents per day. As previously mentioned, the lack of funding for quality jobs ensures that unemployed and underemployed people will be chained and caged. This keeps all of our wages down. By incarcerating poor and working class people, the rich keep a boot on our necks by restricting our access to political engagement and community life. By filling jails with predominantly black and brown folk, the state can continue to vilify us, using racism to justify their violence.

How can we truly fight back against this war on our bodies? Only a united front of working people can put an end to the prisons and jails of the capitalist U.S. We say, “lift the wages, down with cages!”

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Cancel All Student Loan Debt!

By Adam Pedesclaux

61% of college students have to take out loans to pay for their education; for many of these students, their debt becomes a lifelong burden. In total, over 44 million people in the US owe more than $1.5 trillion to various loan providers. The majority of this debt has accrued over the last decade.

Since 1987, the number of students enrolled in public and private institutions has almost doubled. In this time, costs have more than doubled. Students often have no choice but to accept these loans, sometimes with fluctuating interest rates that go as high as 25%. Once out of school, students are discovering that wages aren’t high enough to live, much less service their debt.

Parasitic loan companies have a record for making the repayment process as difficult as possible, charging fees for payments and forcibly holding back payments to extend the debt. As loan company Navient (changed from Sallie Mae as lawsuits piled up) admitted in court in a rare moment of corporate honesty: “there is no expectation that the servicer will act in the interest of the consumer.” These words sum up the industry, cold and unwavering in their pursuit of maximum profits.

It should be no surprise that more than 3,000 students default on their loans every day. The ultra-rich shareholders at Navient do a service to their fellow capitalists when they saddle workers with the distraction of never-ending debt. They count on the constant harassment by debt-collectors and the threat of wage garnishments being enough to keep people in line. They count on us always running on the hamster wheel to avoid poverty, with little time to consider a future beyond debt bondage. They expect that we’ll suffer our debts in private while we’re denied jobs because of our credit scores. But there are 44 million of us! We must unite to demand a cancellation of all student debt! Education should be free; other workers have won this right across the world. It’s time we catch up! Cancel the debt!

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Workers: Unite to Fight for a Living Wage

By Joseph Rosen

Citing low unemployment, Trump boasts that the economy is booming under his leadership. Is this really true? Unless you’re counting the profits of the ultra-rich, no.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) determines the official unemployment rate by taking a telephone poll. If you’ve worked just one hour during the week of their poll, you count as employed. Excluded are more than 2.3 million workers locked up in jails, prisons, and detention camps across the country.

Add to this more than 5.2 million people who currently want a job but have not looked for work in the last 4 weeks. Usually these are merely discouraged workers, but according to the BLS, they have “dropped out of the labor force.”

Economists who continue to take the unemployment rate at face value wonder why wages have barely budged. “Full employment” ought to enable workers to bid for higher wages. If the bosses deny a pay raise, the worker can easily take another job—or so the theory goes.

High paid economists might learn a thing or two from talking to workers. As it turns out, low-wage, temporary, and part-time jobs make up the largest growing sector in the economy, continuing a trend of the last thirty years. A recent study by the Brookings Institution found that more than 44% of U.S. workers make less than $18,000 a year. 36% of the workforce has to work more than one job to get by.

These conditions typify the most recent phase in a global class war in which the capitalists have, with few exceptions, outmaneuvered workers for control over the world’s factories, farmlands, mines, etc.

Capitalists want governments that guarantee them labor as cheap as they can get it, whether that means cutting social programs or enslaving workers. Whenever they succeed in installing governments for this purpose—whether by coups, invasions or bribery—they advance their goal of pitting workers against one another in a global race to the bottom.

We workers have the power to turn the tide. The capitalists depend solely on the labor of the international working class for their profits. Our labor makes the world run. Workers in the United States need to realize that our well-being is bound up with the well-being of the workers of the world. For this reason, we need to come to the defense of any nation that resists the domination of our shared enemy—the ultra rich bankers and bosses who want nothing more than to grind us down so that they can live it up. Workers should treat the borders of every nation that resists U.S. imperialism as they would a picket line.

All workers have the right to a safe and reliable job that allows them time to care for their communities. But we’re going to have to fight to get it; the first step is to know which side you’re on.

Minimum Wage Has Increased in 46 States
It’s time Louisiana workers get paid $15 an hour!
Raising the Minimum Wage
will Raise the Wages of All workers

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General Strike Shuts Down France

Millions of workers in France have been on strike to protest the anti-worker policies of the Macron government. Sign reads “Let’s Revolt!”

Workers Tell Capitalist Government, “Don’t Mess With Us!”

By Nath Clarke

Current French President Emmanuel Macron, who puts the interests of bankers and big business above the people, announced plans to gut Social Security, affecting millions of people across the country. The Yellow Vest movement and many unions have been struggling against his policies (cuts to public spending, increased taxes for the poor, and tax cuts for the super-rich) for over a year. Working French people are not done fighting back against cuts to Social Security, public hospitals, and aid for poor families.

After the government announced plans to reform retirements, several of the most powerful unions offered an ultimatum on December 15th: scrap this law or feel the rage of the people. Since December 3rd, the teachers’ union, the train workers’ union, the bus drivers’ union, the hospital workers’ union, the truckers’, the EMTs’, the airport workers’, the refinery workers’, the firefighters’—and even the lawyers’— unions have issued a call to strike.

The rage of the people is a force to be reckoned with: in Paris, public transportation has come to a halt; only every third train is running across the rest of France; entire refineries have been shut down as their workers walk out. Although the government and corporate media are claiming these unions are just lazy or that these reforms will not affect restaurant workers, cashiers, and other workers in the private sector, nobody is fooled.

Nico, a trucker from the Corbières in Southern France, said that although the strikes have made getting around difficult, he understands that these folks are fighting for everyone. Macron’s reforms will mean that Social Security is a fixed rate. In a country where inflation is constantly on the rise, this will affect all workers, particularly women and folks who earn inconsistent salaries throughout their career.

Edouard, a landscaper who has been going to Yellow Vest protests since last year, told the Workers Voice:

“The government is trying to change the entire system so that different careers get access to different monthly sums based on their supposed societal value. Meanwhile, senators and other politicians will keep their own separate social security system—which receives 1.4 billion euros of funding every year. Cops will also maintain a more beneficial retirement, as France has slowly devolved into a police state under a state of emergency; cops are maiming protesters every week in order to maintain order, while nurses, teachers, servers, and countless other workers are left to starve…This reform is just an attempt to make more money off a system that works perfectly fine… except that it doesn’t generate enough profits for the super rich.”

At the protest on Thursday the 17th, hundreds of thousands of working class folks chanted: “This is democracy,” “Less money for the bankers, more money for the people,” and “Macron, we won’t slow down ’til we stop this reform.” The French government is nothing without the working people whose labor produces all the wealth. It’s the people’s money, and when we unite and fight, we always win.

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Pensions Under Attack in U.S.

By Jennifer Lin

Workers’ pensions are under attack in the U.S. In 2014, the Obama administration proposed and Congress passed a new pension law that allows multi-employer pension plans (for example, trucking and construction) to cut pensions for current retirees.

Years ago, pension funds were put in a guaranteed account with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, a federal program ensuring that funds did not go bankrupt. Now employers put pension funds in 401K funds controlled by Wall Street speculators. These speculators profit from investments they make using pensioners’ money, but when the stocks fall, pensioners lose money.

Like the workers in France, we must take to the streets and demand an end to these attacks.

The 2014 pension law allows plan trustees to cut benefits for retirees in order to save the funds they manage from bankruptcy instead of requiring the PBGC to take them over. This ensures that bailout funds are reserved for Wall Street, not workers. Under the new law, 150-200 multi-employer plans covering 1.5 million workers will be drained over the next decade. Retirees, widows, and widowers and domestic partners whose benefits are reduced are banned from filing a lawsuit to challenge the legality of these reductions.

Due to low wages, less job security, and insurmountable debt burdens, workers in the U.S. are retiring later and later in life, only to face declining retirement incomes. In 2017, the median income of retirees age 65 or older was just $19,352.

On top of this Trump & Co. are threatening social security. All this proves that the U.S. government serves Wall Street financiers, not workers. In France, millions of workers and family members have shut down the country to defend their pension laws. Like the workers in France, we must take to the streets and demand an end to these attacks.