Workers' unite to defeat Trump: An Injury to One is an Injury to All

Richard Mellor

A former co-worker forwarded this image on Facebook. He's a decent guy, always treated people fairly, wasn't mean particularly.  But the statement on this image reflects the confusion that exists in American society. a confusion, strengthened by a serious lack of class consciousness. The working class has no collective voice here. We have no political party of our own and identity politics is used by the ruling class to undermine class solidarity, shove it in to the background. We have the Ford Foundation promoting conferences on white privilege which should tell us something is askew.

Weak class cohesion leads us to draw incorrect conclusions about politics that the words on this image show as the writer, and my co-worker and others who shared it,  identify with Trump on a nationalist basis, he's one of us.  He is possibly fooled as this degenerate racist and misogynist, after stoking the flames of racial and religious hatred, after demeaning our mothers and sisters and all women, is claiming he is the healer.  Is asking for people to love one another.

Trump is a degenerate human being. He has never worked only sucked the lifeblood out of people. Victims that needed shelter and lived in his apartments. Young women in search of fame as an escape from social alienation and isolation, or workers seeking higher education along the road to a better life.  Of course I want him to fail. His failure is a plus for workers of all races and religions and nationalities.

If you are a male or white skinned or non Muslim, a woman, put yourself in their position walking around our streets today. No wonder racial and religious attacks on people have increased, the next president of this country has legitimized them and he has a white nationalist, neo Nazi in his administration. As I have stated in earlier posts, the prime reason for us reaching this point is the abject failure of the heads of organized labor to provide an alternative, an alternative that offers all workers a future, that strengthens us and unites us as a class. They are responsible.

Of course we want him to fail. He is the pilot of the plane we're on and is flying it in to the mountain.  He has all workers on board, especially unionized and public sector workers. It is our obligation to stop him, to ensure his failure. 

As a contrast I share below some comments I received from a strong friend and fighter I met through rental struggles. We have different politics, but he is an honest genuine worker who fights for all workers and I am honored to have met him.

Here is what he sent in the light of the election results. His name is Carlos Carmona:

Hi friends, I hope you all are well. A dear friend messaged me this morning telling me she thought of me in light of the elections results last week. She concluded by wishing that my "hopeful soul" wouldn't waver. Her note elicited me to write the following paragraph, which I intend to use as a blueprint and want to share with you. 

"I have a lot of hope for the future," I said to myself sometime back as I contemplated plans for my life. For a little while, following Donald J. Trump's election, I felt my hopeful soul get lost in limbo as my future aspirations came close to a dead end. The thought of taking back what little evolution our society has trudgingly made was irreconcilable.

Today, not only my hope, but the hope of the ages comes alive in my heart again. Now more than ever, I put to work every moment of each minute I've spent in silence. Now more than ever, I go out of my way to uplift and hold the door open for women and men of color. Now more than ever, I will look my Muslim brothers and sisters in the eye and smile big, thereby signaling appreciation for their contributions. Now more than ever, I extend loving kindness in all my interactions that I may inspire similar sentiments in others.

Now more than ever, I embrace the richness of my cultural heritage; from the skillfully decorated skulls elevated on altars filled with candles and images of the dead during  El Día De Los Muertos, to the iron strong family ties that bind us in perpetual union with our parents, brothers and sisters. Now more than ever, I proudly and lovingly embody the medium dark brown shade of my skin tone, that others--existing in America while brown--may feel accompanied in doing the same.

Now more than ever, I work diligently to develop behavioral skills that serve to cherish and honor all women. Now more than ever, I arm myself with reserves of forgiveness, so in the event that anyone is so emboldened enough to make prejudiced remarks, I would already have forgiven them, even before their actions come to pass. Now more than ever, I cease judgement of folks who are judgmental of other folks. Now more than ever, I pick up the limitless tools passed down to me by the great wisdom of the ages and put them to work. Right here in my heart, is where the work begins."

Carlos Carmona