If not now, when?

“You’re being naïve.” “You’re overreaching.” “You’re being unrealistic.”

These are the comments and responses I predictably get when I state that the only way we, the people, can get meaningful change in the way we live, our values, and the ability to protect life on Earth, is to rid ourselves of the disease called capitalism. Maybe it’s time to be unrealistic and aim for meaningful change rather than continue to accept the lesser of two evils.

The lesser of two evils has not worked . . . the lesser evil, is still evil. Decisions continue to be made regarding how we are to live our lives by people who are beholden to those who are responsible for the poverty, hunger, wars, homelessness, joblessness, inadequate medical care, destruction of our environment, etc.

In other words, what does capitalism hold for us, the bottom 95% of the economic scale? Some want to maintain the “freedoms” we have. Socialism has been sold to the public as an oppressive system, one in which we will not be able to pursue our dreams and interests . . . one in which we will lose our right to speak out and dissent . . . one in which we will lose the right to vote and select our leaders, etc., etc., etc.

Socialism like capitalism is an economic system. It takes the production and distribution of goods and services out of the hands of those looking to profit and places it in the hands and control of the government whose decisions would be based on human need rather than individual profit.

Capitalism has demonstrated that it is a danger or threat to life on Earth. The core threads of capitalism are the need to produce products and services at the lowest possible cost and to search for and to continuously expand markets and access to resources “in order to remain competitive” and maintain the highest level of profit.

Capitalism, therefore, is wasteful having no central planning and existing only at the whim of individual capitalists. As a result, there are constant duplications of products which are then distributed, not in response to human need, but by available profitability.

By its very nature, capitalism is a predatory, corrupt, and hierarchical system, one that not only allows the elite class, the top of the food chain, to use, abuse, and exploit the workers and impoverished, but it rewards them. To reform capitalism is like trying to stop a hemorrhage with a Band-Aid . . . it can slow the bleeding but will eventually fall off and the bleeding will continue as before. A gentler, kinder capitalism is nothing more than an oxymoron . . . it doesn’t equate.

Waste and toxic materials resulting from doing business are dumped into the air and waters. Being that the main concerns for the capitalists are their profit margins, their response to the poisoning of the air and water is to hide the damaging data from the public. Also, we are now dealing with global climate change which is threatening the lives of millions of people as well as many animal species globally. Despite the overwhelming scientific data, there are still many who deny that climate change due to human activity is a factor to be concerned with. After all, we cannot disappoint the shareholders.

The “freedoms” we would wish to maintain are not reliant on an economic system such as capitalism. The economic structure does not dictate the political and social freedoms and restraints that would exist. Such an argument against socialism is misleading and false but has been effective in creating fear about socialism and the role of government.

I am often amazed that so many people are willing to reject the notion of a single payer or Medicare for All healthcare system because, as they claim, they do not want politicians interfering in their healthcare. But, they are willing to continue to accept the current system of privatization of healthcare so that corporate CEOs can interfere in their healthcare and make decisions guided by the desire for financial profits rather than their well being.

The “freedoms” capitalism has offered us, which would not be available under a socialist system, are the freedom of a minority of wealthy, powerful people to exploit the labor of others, the freedom to get the sons and daughters of the working class to march into or bomb sovereign countries in order for the US ruling class to dictate who shall govern them (regime change), the freedom of the ruling class to buy candidates who shall govern according to their dictates, the freedom to poison the air we breathe and the water we drink so their profits continue to be realized, the freedom to be impoverished, the freedom to have to work 2 jobs in order to feed your family, etc. No, socialism or communism will not support such freedoms!

The myth of the “American Dream,” where individuals live with the notion that if one works hard, one could someday accumulate wealth and power and become a member of the top 5% of the economic scale, would no longer exist. In fact, the top 5% would no longer exist. Income and wealth would be more equitably distributed, everyone would have access to healthcare and free education, there would no longer be homelessness or joblessness, everyone would earn a livable wage.

Is the American public ready to struggle to implement such a system? No. The people of this country have been thoroughly brainwashed into thinking that capitalism goes hand-in-hand with freedom.

Many Americans don’t recognize the contradiction when they speak about protecting this country from socialism while enjoying and defending the Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid programs—programs that are examples of what socialism is about.

We have a system in the US in which the media work hand-in-glove with the government and the corporate world to keep the people under control. I remember when Russia withdrew from Berlin and the Berlin Wall came down. Tom Brokaw of NBC stated to the East Germans, “Welcome to the free world.” This so-called free world is a world in which nothing is free, but the brainwashing is relentless.

History tells us that the revolution in Russia occurred without the support of the majority of the people. The same holds true in China when Mao led their revolution. It only took a relatively small, dedicated group of people to gather popular support and defeat the capitalist.

The people must come to realize that under a capitalist system, they are merely expendable pawns who are there to serve the elite. That means that we have to continuously talk the talk without compromising our message . . . we must talk openly about the need to overthrow the capitalist system . . . we must talk openly about communism and socialism and what they truly are . . . we must project the idea that the people have the numbers and the power to bring this country to a halt . . . no more business as usual. It is the people that make this country run day after day and it is the people who can stop it from running.

Of course, this is a difficult task and there will be many hardships. But I would rather overreach than continue to participate in and accept the criminal, corrupt system we, as well as the rest of our world, are currently burdened with.

We, in the US, are moving toward fascism and a police state. This is a predictable outcome of the dynamic, which is currently in play, of corporations joining with and forming alliances with the government. Dissent from the official narrative is being criminalized, whistleblowers are being criminalized and run the risk of being charged with treason, the president now has the power to assassinate US citizens whom he/she deems a threat to the US. We should not and cannot passively accept these conditions while being told that they, the government, is only looking to protect us. What we need protection from is our own government. The enemy is us.

“A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.”―Mao Zedong

Dave Alpert has masters degrees in social work, educational administration, and psychology. He spent his career working with troubled inner city adolescents.