Capitalism is Killing Us; We Must Fight to Live

In just the past two months the brutal effects of U.S. capitalism have generated new waves of rage among ordinary people:

The so-called ‘leak’ of a draft opinion by Supreme Court Judge Samuel Alito arguing for overturning Roe V. Wade has brought hundreds of thousands of people back into the streets to defend reproductive justice. In Lafayette, a strong contingent of protesters rallied at the Tippecanoe County Courthouse to express their outrage: A second march was held just before the end of term at the Purdue campus. Four of the five justices who signed the draft opinion were appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote and confirmed by senators representing less than 50% of the U.S. population. Two-thirds of Americans oppose overturning Roe v. Wade.

On May 14th, white supremacist Peyton Gendron murdered 10 African-Americans at a Buffalo, New York supermarket. Gendron posted on-line a racist manifesto inspired by other white nationalists like Anders Breivik. The murders took place at the only supermarket in a predominantly Black working-class neighborhood of Buffalo.

On May 24th, an 18 year-old Texan shot and killed 21 people, including 19 children, in the predominantly Mexican-American working-class city of Uvalde, Texas: Instead of stopping the killer, the police waited outside, blocking parents from entering the school themselves. The killer had purchased AR-style rifles just after his 18th birthday. Texas has among the most lenient open-carry gun laws in the state.

Greater Lafayette DSA joins with socialists, feminists, LGBTQ+ organizers and anti-racists everywhere in calling for renewed defense of the most vulnerable in our society. Women under threat of losing their right to an abortion, and working-class people of color constantly menaced by a state that doesn’t value their lives, must be protected.

Only a socialist society which puts people before profits, shares society’s resources equally, and teaches fraternity, solidarity and cooperation can overcome patriarchal racial capitalism.

We mourn for the dead and organize for tomorrow.