Food lines: Hunger in America
Not just food “insecurity”, but absolute hunger is stalking America. A community food bank in Rhode Island reports a 26% increase in those seeking assistance and they estimate that one in four households in the state are facing “food insecurity”. A food bank in Dallas reports a nearly ten fold increase in demand. The lineup of cars at food banks across the country snakes for blocks and blocks. Things are going to get worse. A lot worse. Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics is predicting total job losses of an additional 3 million jobs in the first half of 2021.
The Republicans and Democrats have allowed the $600/week unemployment supplement to expire. The two capitalist parties are “negotiating” for a new “stimulus” package. This is the same old game. Incoming president Biden has said “There’s so much we can do, but the only way we do any of this (economic relief) is we work together.” If the Democrats were even halfway serious, they would have launched a campaign around the need for the additional $600/week for all those without a job. Right now, the two parties are ramping up for the runoff election for Senators in Georgia. Just hitting hard on this simple issue alone would guarantee victory for the two Democratic candidates. But they won’t do it because too many employers complained that that additional amount made their laid off workers unwilling to return to work for the pittance they were being paid. If it had lasted, it would have tended to drive wages up, and we know we can’t have that!
Meawhile, where are the protests?
The unions are missing in action once again. The bureaucracy has a choke hold on the only mass working class organizations that exist in the US, and they adamantly oppose any sort of independent action of workers.
Democratic Socialists of America brags that it now has over 80,000 members. Why isn’t it organizing protests?
Black Lives Matter has built mass protests around the country. Why isn’t it organizing protests? After all, black workers are some of the hardest hit.
Many “revolutionary” socialist groups opposed voting for Biden on the grounds that he was a capitalist candidate. Why aren’t they organizing protests?
Oaklandsocialist urges those serious unionists and socialists to join together in their cities to organize some sort of action. Go to the food banks and agitate there! It doesn’t need to start with tens of thousands. Just a few hundred – or even a few dozen – would do for a start.
Food lines: Hunger in America
Categories: poverty & hunger, socialist movement, United States
People need food, medical attention and support, not protests.
Frankly, that is a silly comment. Unless you plan to give food and medical attention to all those millions who are going hungry, how do you suggest they get it other than through a mass movement to demand it? How did workers ever get anything in this country?
Martin, they’re not getting enough food, medical attention and support. All that’s left is a general strike. People in power pay attention to people in the streets AND work stoppages in solidarity with those people in streets disrupting the economy & society that’s under their control. There’s been a rise mutual aid associations/organisations around the country, but it hasn’t been enough. It’s time for the pitchforks.