As capitalism continues to fail to meet people’s basic needs, conversations about affordable housing, universal healthcare, and decent schools need to be the foundation of genuine socialist power, writes Yuki Lindley.
IF SOCIALISM CAN win in America, what else becomes possible?
Across the world, the Left is starting to remember what it feels like to win.
Decisive victories by Democratic Socialists across the U.S. are the latest in a succession of wins for the left; Brazilians mobilised against the U.S.-backed Far-Right, Serbian students ended 14 years of Aleksandar Vučić's rule, and the French students not only won concessions from their centrist government, but inspired mass student/worker protests across Europe.
Around the world, Gen Z-led movements are holding their governments accountable; from India to Nepal and Bangladesh, they are making the ruling class feel their anger, and showing the world what a potent combination of online organising can be in driving real-world mobilisations.
Gen Z is reminding us what hope looks like, not the passive, impotent hope of liberal elites, but the life-affirming, righteous anger of a generation who will bear the brunt of climate collapse and all it will entail.
Capitalism is not yet on its knees, but the contradictions at its core have never been more apparent. Under the Trump presidency, capitalism dropped all pretence: power, wealth, and impunity for those at the top, and austerity measures for everyone else.
It was a gratuitous celebration of capitalist greed, environmental destruction, and the brazen impunity of the wealthy.
Liberals have spent decades taking the heat out of the system, smoothing over capitalism's sharp edges so it can continue unabated, which is why, when faced with the market’s inability to meet people’s basic needs, they fail so spectacularly to capture ordinary people’s imagination.
Kamala Harris’ campaign revealed how disconnected establishment U.S. Democrats were from those whose lives were being squeezed, people whose basic needs were becoming further out of reach.
People watched while an obscene amount of military money was being sent to fund Israel’s genocide in Gaza, whilst being told there was no money for healthcare, schools or affordable housing.
For decades, we have been conditioned to believe there is no alternative, that capitalism is simply the way things are.
Fredric Jameson famously wrote:
‘It is easier to imagine the end of the world than to imagine the end of capitalism.'
Back in 2009, when Mark Fisher wrote Capitalist Realism, alternative visions for a post-capitalist world were scarce and hard to imagine. Perhaps because the suffering that capitalism’s wealth accumulation has always been built on had not yet been felt by enough people in the West.
However, the market’s absolute failure to provide for people’s basic needs or maintain a stable planet has become the catalyst for a political awakening.
Trump’s total disregard for the lives of working-class people and the environment over his term has only accelerated capitalism’s race to the bottom.
Historically, fascism has been quick to emerge in the crises capitalism creates, with its focus on reestablishing security through heavy-handed tactics such as increasing militarised police powers, mass surveillance, and further restrictions on people’s freedoms.
All the while blaming the unrest, the high living costs, and the increasing precarity felt by all on an easy scapegoat — the outsider, the immigrant, the refugee.
But today’s young, it seems, are less willing to accept this fascist turn quietly. Images of police violence against peaceful protestors now go viral in minutes, organisers can mobilise responses within hours, and solidarities across national borders are spreading the revolutionary spirit across the globe.
They seem to understand better that there is no hope in centrists; that liberals are unlikely to shake up a system that benefits them; and that power concedes nothing without a strong demand.
Everything seems impossible until it happens, and in today’s hyperconnected world, the active, life-affirming rage of today’s young is breathing new life into the Left.
They have reminded us what it feels like to win, and have held the line against fascism. But this moment is precarious. It is but a small reprieve, a window through which the left must push to create a genuinely powerful, broad church for all those angered at the obscene levels of wealth, impunity and utter disregard for us that the ruling class have shown.
A big tent for ordinary people, who simply want to have time with their children, send them to good schools, have quality healthcare nearby if they need it, and not have to worry about keeping a roof over their heads.
As capitalism continues to fail to meet people’s basic needs, conversations about affordable housing, universal healthcare, and decent schools need to be the foundation of genuine socialist power.
The kind of collective power that can demand that their governments do something to alleviate people’s suffering, because everyone deserves to live with dignity.
Change doesn’t come from the ballot box alone; we cannot simply vote our way out of capitalism and its inherent contradictions. Change comes when enough people understand that no one will save us and that we are responsible for our futures, because this is when power starts to shift.
Perhaps that is what liberal elites fear most — that the Left will be able to build genuine power and hold them accountable.
Yuki Lindley is a student of philosophy of race, colonisation and Indigenous sovereignty.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
Support independent journalism Subscribe to IA.
