| — | Martin Luther King, Jr. (via theconquestofsled) |
“Poverty, the existence of the poor, was the first cause of riches. This it was which created the earliest capitalist. For, before the surplus value, about which people are so fond of talking, could begin to be accumulated it was necessary that there should be poverty-stricken wretches who would consent to sell their labor force rather than die of hunger. It is poverty that has made the rich. And if poverty had advanced by such rapid strides by the end of the Middle Ages, it was chiefly because the invasions and wars, the creation of States and the development of their authority, the wealth gained by exploitation in the East and many other causes of a like nature, broke the bonds which once united agrarian and urban communities, and led them, in place of the solidarity which they once practiced, to adopt the principle of the wage-system. Is this principle to be the outcome of the Revolution? Dare we dignify by the name of a Social Revolution that name so dear to the hungry, the suffering and the oppressed - the triumph of such a principle as this?
It cannot be so. For, on the day when ancient institutions splinter into fragments before the axe of the proletariat, voices will be heard shouting: Bread for all! Lodging for all! Right for all to the comforts of life!”
— Peter Kropotkin | The Wage System (1888)
Empire Files w/ Abby Martin – America’s Unofficial Religion: The War On An Idea
The Empire has a range of weapons to maintain its power: from its courts to its military. But it also has effective ideological weapons.
Everyone in the United States knows that “socialist” or “communist” is considered a bad word. How did things get that way?
Abby Martin explores the history of anti-communism in America, and the heavy repression of an idea that became an unofficial religion.
Featuring interviews with:
Brian Becker, founder of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (Twitter: @pslweb)
Jared Ball, Professor of Communication Studies at Morgan State University (Twitter: @iMiXWHATiLiKE)
teleSUR’s The Empire Files airs every Friday night at 10:00 EST / 7:00 PST. Watch live here: http://bit.ly/1kuU2Vi
November 19, 1915: Murder of revolutionary labor activist and songwriter Joe Hill
Utah union history: ‘I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night, alive as you and me’
Salt Lake City, UT - They murdered Joe Hill in Utah 100 years ago, on Nov. 19. The labor hero died at the hands of a firing squad, punishment for a murder he didn’t commit. His real crime was organizing workers into a union, opposing the class of bosses and tyrants who sentenced him to die.
It’s fitting his end came in Utah. Few other places have been as hostile to organized labor, or as willing to use violence to beat down laborers in their fight for basic rights. Despite the burden of an especially hostile ruling class, Utah has a long and proud history of radical worker struggle.
Like a true working-class rebel, Joe Hill keeps fighting even in death. He knew his legacy would live on to inspire millions, and he wanted it that way. Now, more than ever, we need to heed his words: “Don’t waste any time in mourning. Organize!”
