Title is quote from Crazy Horse, as documented in Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee (1970).

 

Housing As A Modern Rallying Point

How do we organize in late stage capitalism? This question is often debated among Leftists of the US in reference to the precarity of modern existence. The destruction of unions has made at-will employment the norm. Confronting the police’s racism is dealt with harshly. Capitalism’s reach seems inescapable, infecting even the social programs which would seem to mitigate its cruelties. In such a world, people feel alienated from their employment and from their participation in political life: how can they speak up at work when they can get fired without any recourse? Why participate in political life when their options are limited to two brazenly corrupt capitalist parties?

Organizers in Austin, Jackson, New York, and many other regions have turned to housing. While the modern condition of housing typifies the aforementioned precarity, it is an issue that is nearly impossible to be alienated from. For the alienated working class person, the home is one of the few realms where they can exercise dominion and seek refuge (obviously to varying degrees – the police rob many people from the safety of the home).

Continue reading