We all know the story of the frog in boiling water. If you drop a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will of course frantically try to clamber out. But if you place it gently in a pot of tepid water and turn the heat on low, it will float there quite placidly. As the water gradually heats up, the frog will sink into a tranquil stupor, exactly like one of us in a hot bath, and before long, with a smile on its face, it will unresistingly allow itself to be boiled to death.
What is heating up? Pressure and attacks on the 99%
The gap between rich and poor is not only the highest it has been in American history, but it is the highest in the world. Also, the wealth that is claimed by the 1% is not based on the production of real goods and services but on fictitious capital. The regime in power has done nothing to implement economic structures to see that this “Great Recession” never happens again.
In addition, while more jobs have been created these jobs are low paying, insecure and with no benefits. Student debt is now the highest of any other type of debt. If these debts are not repaid there is good reason to believe there will be another economic crash.
We have a collapsing infrastructure of roads, bridges, sewer systems and gas mains causing deadly explosions. There is something like three trillion dollars worth of work that needs to be done. Unfortunately for us, the state has more important things to do. There are so many wars the United States is involved in that it has become a way of life.
The open season killing of African Americans by police with no state intervention in is in full force. Lastly, the candidacy of an openly racist and bigoted candidate and his support by a considerable section of the American population is causing helping to bring the water to a boil.
Why can’t we tell the water is heating up? Diversions
We have diversions. The same working class people who would know little if any of the statistics above, are very intelligent when it comes to quoting the statistics of their favorite football team, or arguing with radio commentators about what strategies did or did not work after the big game. The same problem is at work in the number of people who follow movie stars, reality T.V. or the careers of musicians.
Frogs starting to leap!
Look around the world to connect the dots against capitalism:
- Over 350 worker take-overs alone in Argentina, a movement that is spreading, not only in Latin America but also in Europe.
- Strikes and protests doubling in China in 2015 alone.
- The “Fight for $15” campaign winning over more and more cities in the U.S.
- The introduction into everyday language of terms like “Socialism”, “The 1%” and “The 99%”.
- The fact that a self-proclaimed “socialist” is running as a candidate in the Democratic Party tells us just how desperate the Democratic party is.
- The large support Bernie Sanders has received without any corporate sponsorship says something about progressives and some sectors of the American public.
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