Turn Left Chronicles
Turn Left in This New Series
The time is now for a worldwide workers’ revolution! We have nothing to lose but our chains.
As I prepare to broach a new niche topic with you, I sit here with some trepidation. What do I want to talk about? I wish to discuss what a socialist revolution would entail. I will divulge why we need such a revolution. I would be far less persuasive as an orator if I failed to do so. This piece introduces a series of discussions.
Said topic weighs more than the light and whimsical plant posts I often publish. It hits closer to home. While our environment and sustainability are quite important, so are how we organize ourselves as a species — like economics. One can only plant so many trees before capitalism gobbles them up again. I don’t know where to begin, so I’ll just start.
Why have I hesitated for so long to discuss such a vast subject? For one, there remains much I do not understand. Second, few people have much training in economics at all. Also, writing about politics can sometimes bring undesired attention.
Having just left my full-time wage-labor job for the day, I sit here in my air-conditioned unit with WiFi while unhoused folks walk around in the blistering heat. Some people have enough privilege to feel they can avoid politics. But politicians and corporate boards make decisions that affect prices, the environment, our health, and more.
Our world burns from the fossil fuels combusted for the desires of capitalist industry. Natural events become more frequent and severe. Aquifers are being drained without replenishment. Without a doubt, this correlates with a rise in industrialism over the past 200 years.
Basic living expenses are unaffordable. What’s worse is we lack the understanding of why things are this way or what we can do about it. It’s time we change that.
We ration resources in the West using prices rather than government quotas. It feels free, but the nature of the system is to demand more while offering less. Those choices aren’t pleasant ones like where to vacation for the year. For many, the options are whether to afford medication or food for the month.
We live in a human society driven by a sociopathic agenda to make a profit at all costs. Now this profit-motive does not relate to the well-being of people who live in said society. It works to the detriment of the Proletariat, or working class. Much of the capitalist wealth relies on speculation, rent-seeking, and exploiting the labor of people like you and me.
Of course, capitalism lies within a sort of economic evolution. We see hunter-gatherers develop into city-states. From feudalism to capitalism, there lies a progression and perhaps advancement in how we make decisions of value and trade. By that same logic, capitalism won’t exist forever — whether we continue on or not. Great thinkers forecasted the natural outcomes of the system they saw which continues today.
How can we make 300 widgets in an hour but can only afford 3 with an hour’s wage? How does draining precious fresh water for monopolized industries help us long-term? Our bodies and our environments cannot sustain such demands. The alternative would be a purpose-driven society such as one that seeks to maximize human well-being and happiness.
Our government’s priorities focus on arms deals with Ukraine and Israel. This boosts the stock values of corporate military contractors. Again this has little to do with improving the well-being of all people.
Rather it’s the natural outcome of modern, capitalist nation-states. Our representatives continue to show that they would rather seek profit at any cost. This reflects how capital dominates our society.
One doesn’t seek to make a profit by meeting the needs of people. If you cure an illness, you lose a customer. If people own their homes, you can’t charge ever-higher rent in perpetuity. If people can afford to save and retire, they won’t be so willing to work low-wage jobs in their golden years.
This capitalist class organizes itself incredibly well in the pursuit of profit. But we who are affected by their decisions could be more well-organized. The government gives the illusion that we have choices, but those choices are relegated to the social sphere. This changes when we take actions like joining a union.
Sure! It was decided that same-sex or interracial couples may marry, but we don’t have much choice in terms of economics. We are thus far unable to raise taxes on the mega-wealthy as before. This leaves the working class responsible for the nation’s tax burden. This leads to our safety net degrading while they tell us we can’t afford them. I explain why we can’t afford them earlier in this paragraph.
Nothing will change unless those who work for a living become as organized as those who own everything and force us to labor for their benefit. We must learn about new-to-us ideas and take actions we haven’t tried in a long time. I seek to do my part by learning about these topics and better explaining them to you, Dear Reader. Beyond the work I already do for my communities.
The capitalist system devours the ground we walk upon. It siphons up life-giving water out of the land that grew us. It acidifies oceans, destroys habitats, and causes species to go extinct.
It leaves us with little choice but to work for their benefit or risk destitution. We have a Bourgeoisie Supreme Court that made it illegal to sleep in public. We have little choice but to take part in capitalism or risk becoming involuntary labor for the prison system — or organize. So much for the land of the free…
What is there to look forward to in this series? Over time, I wish to tell stories about major figures in the international workers’ revolution. Not just figureheads of the Left like Marx, Lenin, or Mao. But real working class folks you may not realize lean left.
For example, did you know Leon Trotsky had a romantic relationship with Frida Kahlo while she was with Diego Rivera? I try to focus on ideas not people, but that’s a juicy story from after the Bolsheviks exiled Trotsky from the USSR. Bear in mind, I make no apology for Soviet Russia.
On the other hand, I seek to highlight success stories of socialism in action. Cuba is a great example in many ways of how a workers’ revolution benefits almost all their residents’ livelihoods. This disregards the capitalists who before lived in excess by stealing the labor of their neighbors.
Cuba has $1 lung cancer vaccines, a nearly 100% literacy rate, and a thriving urban agriculture system. They achieve these things because their purpose is to uplift one another, not make money at the expense of each others’ lives.
Primarily, I want to bring up topics related to a socialist perspective. Many of us call ourselves “Left”, but we need to at least read from the same book regarding what that means. Part of my contribution will be the blogs I leave behind.
So prepare yourself for some hot takes in the future — like how capitalists don’t consider maintaining a home to be productive labor. You’ll start seeing intersections like how the prior example connects economics and feminism. We’ll identify what MLK, Jr. refers to as the “pillars of capitalism” so that we may begin to erode its foundation.
Expect to discuss topics that undermine capitalist talking points. One example is how many people died under socialism. That low-hanging fruit can be easily countered by pointing out the death tolls of colonialism and imperialism. Or the wars we wage to get resources by oppressing other nations. We can also highlight some ways to identify fascists and who is susceptible to their arguments.
At its core, I want us to learn what it means to be a socialist, why it’s relevant today, and how we can improve human lives in this world in this life. I cannot continue to sit in precarious yet relative comfort while my fellow workers worldwide and nearby suffer. Things can change, and they must change. We demand it!
I realize this post lacks the usual structure I apply to my writing. Gird your loins, because I choose to fly by the seat of my pants on this one. If it’s not clear already, capitalism kills. We must do something about it because it fails to meet our needs.
Not only that, but our only habitable planet may not last much longer for us. It actively undermines our ability to exist and thrive on our home planet. There is no adequate substitute. Time for collective liberation. So like in NASCAR, get ready to Turn Left!
In solidarity,
JM Heatherly
P.S. If you feel inspired to learn more, visit these resources below. They won’t teach you this stuff in school these days, folks.
“Capital: a critical analysis of capitalist production, Vol 1” by Karl Marx (Audiobook)
“Marx’s aim in Capital, Volume I is to uncover and explain the laws specific to the capitalist mode of production and of the class struggles rooted in these capitalist social relations of production. Marx said himself that his aim was “to bring a science [i.e. political economy] by criticism to the point where it can be dialectically represented”, and in this way to “reveal the law of motion of modern society”. By showing how capitalist development was the precursor of a new, socialist mode of production, he aimed to provide a scientific foundation for the modern labour movement. In preparation for his book, he studied the economic literature available in his time for a period of twelve years, mainly in the British Museum in London. (Summary by Wikipedia)”
“Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx (Audiobook)
“Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote their Manifesto in December 1847, as a guide to the fundamental principles and practices of Communists. The Manifesto also predicted the ultimate downfall of the capitalist system.” (Summary written by Gesine)
“The Transitional Program and the Struggle for Revolution” by Leon Trotsky (Web)
“It is necessary to help the masses in the process of the daily struggle to find the bridge between present demand and the socialist program of the revolution. This bridge should include a system of transitional demands, stemming from today’s conditions and from today’s consciousness of wide layers of the working class and unalterably leading to one final conclusion: the conquest of power by the proletariat.” — Trotsky
“Marxist Fundamental Reading List” compiled by Socialist Revolution
“Marxist theory is a revolutionary “guide to action” — the basis for our political analysis, perspectives, program, and participation in the workers’ movement. This is why the International Marxist Tendency places so much emphasis on political education. To this end, we have created an extensive Education Plan to assist comrades in their political development.”
