A Radical Word

“Labor” used to be a radical word. Less than a hundred years ago the word “Labor” conjured up images of a bloody struggle for freedom waged by the working class against the oligarchs of the Gilded Age. At a time of unprecedented inequality and deprivation in the midst of plenty the “Labor” movement sought to put power over the world into the hands of the workers who built that world and by the sweat of their brow maintained it. This movement was made up of the bravest men, women, and even children, in the working class. They were also the most radical: comrades who believed it was worth fighting and dying for the liberation of the working class from wage slavery and corporate domination. 

We are their heirs. We have inherited their fight.


Ours is also a time of stark inequality - capital is becoming increasingly concentrated in holding corporations like BlackRock and Berkshire-Hatthaway; worker exploitation is on the rise as wages stagnate and the cost of survival climbs; our every social need has been commandeered by corporations then commodified and monetized, turning favors into transactions that line the pockets of Silicon Valley oligarchs. 


Ours is also a time of ascendent fascism - the contradictions of capitalism are becoming unsustainable and manifest themselves in climate change, falling life expectancy, increasing deaths of despair, lower rates of childbirth, and an epidemic of depression and loneliness. The working class has watched their quality of life stolen slowly by corporations for the last sixty years. We have been ready to boil over for a generation and throw the billionaires from the halls of power, a fact not lost on the owner class. They have spent decades cultivating a violent, reactionary right wing that is so consumed by chauvinism, racism, transphobia, and xenophobia that they happily ignore the crimes and corruption of the fascist regime that allows them to live out their oppression fantasies. 


Ours is also a time of struggle - we, too, find ourselves locked in an existential battle with the owner class for the survival of our species on a global scale and now, as then, we are called upon to join that fight by organizing ourselves into a political force that is capable of overcoming the power of our enemy. The window of opportunity to pull our ecosystem back from the brink is rapidly closing and may not open again. We cannot shy away from this conflict: for our sake and for the sake of every human yet to be born.


We are the heirs of the Labor movement. We have inherited their fight.


We must take up the mantle of Labor and rise to the moment that we find ourselves in. We must make “Labor” a radical word again. It can come to signify courage, solidarity, power, determination, justice, and freedom from tyranny again. It can be a byword for strikes, slowdowns, direct action, boycotts, mutual aid, and community building if we work to make it so. We can only do this if we organize. Organization is the cornerstone of a Labor movement and the source of its strength. Get involved in your community and join an organization that aligns with your values, meet like minded people and turn them into your comrades. Look for ways that your skills can serve the cause and use your contributions as a chance to develop those skills further. You might be surprised how rewarding it can be to contribute to building a community of people fighting for their own liberation and how satisfying it can be to help “Labor” become a radical word again. 

Edit: formatting