American Politics: The Big Lie!

ChickenBones: A Journal

for Literary & Artistic African-American Themes

Wages must be kept as low as humanly possible, so profits will yield as great a dividend as possible. . . .

that so many working people are unemployed is a plus for capitalists. The capitalist forces the working

class to fight and compete over jobs, which . . .only serves to lower wages and working standards.

American Politics: The Big Lie!

By Joe Williams III

The reason people are poor in America is because the American political machine creates an image that society will become greater next year, or in the near future. This is a lie. America’s reality is based on a dual premise. It is often expressed in various terms: the rich versus the poor, the haves versus the have-nots, the capitalist versus the workers, the suburbs versus the slums (ghettos), or the whites versus people of color.

No matter how you view reality, it is very clear that American society, along with the rest of the world, is based on the fight over property. The fight over property, (natural resources) items, products, commodities, is the majority element that divides humans in societies.

However, unlike most societies in the world, America’s conflict over commodity production and consumption is not one of lack, or scarcity, but one of greed, plenty, over-production. In essence, we are a nation with mass poverty, while we are over-producing. In essence, our production is superior because of science and technology, which includes farm technology, educational techniques, and weapons of mass destruction, and mass production of consumption items, pleasure, leisure, raw materials, and commodities.

One major factor of commodity production under capitalism, is that even the youth in high school are trained to be an extension of the commodity process. In other words, even the youth are raised to be extensions of the “machine.” So it is no wonder that “x” amount of youth are guided towards entering prisons, gangs, law enforcement, industrial workers, rappers, educators, addicts and homelessness. The whole face of society is a staged reality. We have youth lingering in prisons because of poverty related crimes, and capitalists, who live off the labor and sweat of others, living a life of luxury, living as if they were gods.

Under the capitalist system, unemployment is a must. The whole theory of commodity production is “produce low, sell high.” In other words, the huge amount of unemployed workers in society is a planned and structured necessity. Wages must be kept as low as humanly possible, so profits will yield as great a dividend as possible. The fact that so many working people are unemployed is a plus for capitalists. The capitalist forces the working class to fight and compete over jobs, which, in many instances, only serves to lower wages and working standards. In the back of every capitalist mind, is the dream of having a workplace free from unions, the organized self-defense of the working class.

Above, I mentioned the influence of capitalist society on youth, but society under capitalism reins over all of society, and stand superior to ever economic structure in the past. Capitalism is the foundation of our families, our births, our deaths, and even our marriages. Our whole existence, spiritual (religious) rituals, cultural norms, relationships, are all determined by the system of commodity production (capitalism), even the way we have and enjoy, or not enjoy, sex.

So, if I was to take these premises to their most extreme conclusions, we are treated by the capitalist class as robots, mentally programmed devices, or machines, to cater our labor and life to the capitalist class, a class of wealth, leisure, luxury, pleasure, idol time, and long, extended live. While, we, the working class, the poor, die young with little, if anything, to show for our suffering, our blood, our sacrifice, our labor.

The deadly reality of capitalist society, it that enough is never enough. This is why we have so many wars, so many conflicts, around the world. The rulers of various countries try to conquer each other to enlarge their profits, they kill each other, and us, to control the land, the productive forces, the human (workers and consumers) resources, the commodities, and the buying and selling of goods and services.

It is imperative that we as workers view ourselves as a social class; we must stop seeing each other as enemies. We are divided by religion, by race, by economic status, by sex and national boundaries. However, if we are to seek out and attain our natural birth right, which is a life of prosperity, security, peace, leisure, and love for all humanity, we must control our work, our knowledge, and our production and consumption of what we know, what we produce, where and how we live.

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I was born in New Orleans during the Jim Crow segregated. I had to ride in the back of the bus, could not attend movie theaters with whites, couldn't drink out the same water fountains, and I had to learn how to read out of used books that were handed down from white schools.

I moved to Chicago in the early 60s. I joined Jesse Jackson's Operation Breadbasket. I helped organize the economic boycotts of various supermarkets.

I later moved to Los Angeles and became a radical. I was involved in the following movements:

1. The peace and anti-war movement.

2. The anti-police abuse and terror movement.

3. The labor movement.

4. The African Liberation Movement.

5. The prison rights movement.

6. The free all political prisoners movement

I also became a political and social writer.

1. Political and social commentaries.

2. Social poetry.

3. News articles.

I now reside in San Diego, California. tedoil@aol.com

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