In honor of the United Auto Workers going on strike today, I’ve chosen to use this space to share part of Shawn Fain’s (UAW’s president) speech to his fellow workers yesterday. Needless to say the sentiment applies beyond the auto industry and indeed far beyond the borders of this country.
“People accuse us of waging class warfare. There’s been class warfare going on in this country for the last 40 years. The billionaire class has been taking everything and leaving everybody else to fight for the scraps. When I talk about that, it reminds me of one more piece of scripture: Matthew 19:24: it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
Why is it easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God? I have to believe that answer, at least in part, is because in the kingdom of God, no one hoards all the wealth while everyone else suffers and starves. In the kingdom of God, no one puts themselves in the position of total domination over the entire community. In the kingdom of God, no one forces others to perform endless backbreaking work just to feed their families or put a roof over their heads. That world is not the kingdom of God, that world is hell.
Living paycheck to paycheck, scraping to get by? That’s hell. Choosing between medicine and rent is hell. Working seven days a week for twelve hours a day for months on end is hell. Having your plant close down and your family scattered across the country is hell. Being made to work during a pandemic and not knowing whether you might get sick and die or spread the disease to your family is hell.
Enough is enough. It’s time to decide what kind of world we want to live in and it’s time to decide what we are willing to do to get it.”
This man lowkey spittin. All power to the workers.
Side Items
Libyan Flood Update: Libyan officials evacuated citizens from the inundated city of Derna earlier today, as searchers dug through mud and hollowed-out buildings for 10,000 people missing and feared dead. The death toll has already surpassed 11,000 from the flood earlier this week, exacerbated by the collapse of two dams from Mediterranean storm Daniel on Monday. The dam collapse sent a wall of unstoppable water several feet high surging down a valley that cuts through Derna. Western outlets will tell you that the flooding and Libya’s political instability contributed heavily to the enormous death toll. What they’re more likely to leave out is the leading role that western powers played in destroying Libya’s chances for political stability in the first place
Justice, At Long Last: According to secret court records, the US government has finally talked some sense into a Virginia judge that allowed an American marine (that boy Joshua Mast) to keep an Afghan war orphan he obviously stole. The justice department ruled that the “adoption” risks violating international law and would probably be viewed around the world for what it is, “an act of international child abduction”. Failing to return the child, who is now 4, to her Afghan relatives in the US could jeopardize other American efforts to resettle Afghan refugees, as well as threaten international security pacts. Citing a long list of “falsehoods,” the US Justice Department wrote that the court that approved the adoption relied on “intentional misrepresentations” (otherwise known as lies) from the marine and skipped necessary safeguards to protect children being brought to the US
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year: This weekend kicks off the monthlong celebration of Mexican independence. In Chicago, the occasion will be celebrated with caravans of cars and trucks descending on the downtown area, draped in the Mexican flag and carrying families reveling in the festive atmosphere. There will be parades and street festivals, there will almost certainly be heavy traffic and there will probably be some unregulated fireworks. Truly the best way to celebrate breaking the shackles of colonization