Many looking out into the world right now are having a hard time finding ways to feel hopeful, or rather, even anything other than apathetic and cynical. When I speak with coworkers, friends, family members, and folks I interact with throughout my day, I find that the majority of people are under the assumption that we as a human species are on our way out...and maybe they aren't working with false data, but the analysis is off, our conclusions are not concluding! If we are committed to the idea that "this is it", and the world is coming to an end as we know it, why don't we all stop going to our jobs? Why don't we stop paying our bills? Why do we keep going to school? If it is true that the world and human beings are meeting their final end, why the hell do we care about any of this shit?
It's because deep down we all know it isn't "coming to an end", or at least, we might recognize that there isn't coming around the corner one big, explosive moment where the world will go dark, and everything will be over.
I think we know, all of us, that if we don't do anything the world will simply continue to get gradually worse, and the ones who will suffer are the same as those who always do: the vulnerable, the exploited, the poor, the unhoused; Africans, Asians, Latin Americans, and others, especially women, trans folks, the LGBTQ+, and the disabled community. Many of us belong to one or many of these groups, and fear the worst is coming for us. But when we sit with this fear and do not act on it, we are accepting the fate that we are setting up for ourselves. Surely, we know that the global political system is corrupt, Capitalism-Imperialism is exploitative and creates immense poverty, death, war, and destruction - but this is not an excuse to do nothing - when we do not act, we cannot simply continue to blame reality. We have to also blame ourselves for not doing what we need to do.
It is not enough, nor helpful to simply interpret and report on reality, but we must commit to changing it!
When we speak with those around us, we commonly have folks who are beyond the point of believing in change...or so we think. I too thought a while back that I couldn't believe that change would ever happen; that people were too "evil" or corrupt in their spirit; I believed that the world was simply going to come to a crashing halt - but it won't.
I no longer believe that change is impossible. Why? Because I have looked through history!
Everything has changed. Though not always or entirely for the better, and not always as intended, change does come often and is really one of the most common parts of life. Change is in our daily chores and habits, our patterns and behaviors, our style, our interests, our appetites, our friends, our situations, locations, ideas, beliefs, and practices, all of which change on a frequent basis, very frequent actually! When we study what has happened in the past in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and even in Europe and elsewhere, we see many different struggles for liberation against poverty, against incarceration, against Capitalism and/or Imperialism, against racism, against Patriarchy, and against oppression of workers, farmers, migrants, refugees, and those who face the brunt of war and repression at the hands of NATO, UN, US and other forces employed or trained by these groups. We see that billions have rose the banner of liberation, even socialism, and proclaimed a need for a new system based on the control, needs and participation of the masses and the majority. No longer can we submit ourselves to the rule of a few, wealthy, powerful Imperialists!
In Africa, Colonialism was dealt an almost fatal blow, and Africa is still fighting for its full liberation; in Asia, the attack against colonialism and imperialism continued, and continues; in the Americas, not only the Indigenous but also the African, and other populations of oppressed people, even along with poor and (some) middle class white folks, are standing against Imperialism along with those who fought before and alongside them on their own lands, and around the world. This is an international struggle, one led by millions in Haiti, millions in Cuba, millions in Nicaragua, millions in Venezuela, millions in Vietnam, 1.4 billion in China, and billions more working/oppressed peoples across the globe.
This is a call that we cannot ignore, and forces who we cannot continue to allow to be isolated.
If you don't believe change is possible, why not try? It couldn't hurt, and you wouldn't lose out on anything, if it doesn't work you'll be "right" and you can cement yourself in those beliefs. But if it works, don't say I never told you so.
But for real.
If we look to the people who have been colonized, who today are suffering the brunt of international debt, war, poverty, climate change, and other factors created or contributed to by Capitalism-Imperialism, we see a people who has NEVER given up! We see a people who against all odds will continue to fight in Peru, Ecuador, Haiti, El Salvador, Palestine, Nepal, Yemen, and across the rest of the world. Indigenous people, African people, Asian people, and others will be the ones who, as always, take up the struggles with the most militancy and most determination, by survival and necessity.
As the most oppressed and most vulnerable, if they do not struggle and organize, they die.
If they do not receive the support they need and the solidarity they deserve, they too might die.
If not die, they will likely be incarcerated, harassed, without healthcare, without adequate housing, without proper education, and without job opportunities, and under the thumb of white supremacy, colonialism, and imperialism.
If we allow the people who confront the worst of what this system of profiteering and oppression has created, by themselves, we stand guilty if not equally as guilty as their assassins, guards, and oppressors. If we do not fight for the liberation of Africa, the liberation of Asia, of the Americas, of Palestine, and if we do not succeed in winning sovereignty, socialism, and true freedom for all the oppressed, NONE OF US WILL BE FREE!
But remember, the time is coming. So prepare yourselves. Study, organize, train, and contemplate deeply. Do not hesitate, do not lose focus, do not abandon caution, and never give up your concern for others. And most importantly, do not fall prey to the fallacy that is "Doomerism" or apathy. We can, and we WILL succeed.
All Power to the People!