Throughout 2011, cracks have appeared in this broken system. From the Middle East to Europe to the United States, life is becoming intolerable for the majority of people. The planet is showing signs of the environmental destruction. Wars of domination continue with no end in sight. Nothing could be clearer – this system has no future to offer us.
A System of Destruction
War and Occupation
- The US military presence in Afghanistan increased and operations have spread across the border into Pakistan.
- While US military troops have begun to be removed from Iraq, the US funds the Iraqi puppet regime, and maintains thousands of armed private contractors.
Environmental Destruction
- The world saw the most extreme weather in centuries.
- The top scientists from across the world warn that the current level of carbon emissions threaten the lives of most species on the planet while in Durban, South Africa, world corporate leaders promise to continue the same levels of environmental destruction.
Economic Inequality
- Amidst record levels of profits and wealth for the world’s richest one percent, over 50 percent of the world lives on less than 1 dollar per day.
- Governments across the world slash social services as they bail out banks and corporations.
- Corporations make record profits as they layoff workers and push more work onto fewer people and cut wages and benefits.
The Beginning of Resistance
Middle East
- In January, revolution exploded in Tunisia, followed by Egypt and Libya. Revolt spread to the rest of the Middle East, promising more revolutions in 2012.
Europe
- In Spain, in May, thousands of protestors take over the central square of Madrid, Puerta del Sol, calling for and an to unemployment and an improved quality of life.
- In Greece, hundreds of thousands protests the government’s austerity measures, which enrich large European banks while slashing social services and wages for working people.
- In the UK, workers hold the largest strike since 1979, against wage cuts and attacks to social services.
United States
- In February in Wisconsin, hundreds of thousands of workers and students occupy the capitol building and surround the square for over two weeks, expressing their outrage to past cutbacks and further attacks proposed by Governor Scott Walker.
- Occupy Wall Street protests erupt all over the country. Tens of thousands of people, many for the first time in their lives, began to express their anger towards this system that is run for profit.
There is No Future Under this System
In country after country, with our backs against the wall, and no great prospects for a better future under the status quo, people are beginning to say enough is enough. But 2011 has showed us when we come together and organize our forces, we can unleash our power to fight for own interests. Last year was an inspiring beginning in this fight.
