The call is coming from inside the house

Capitalism will do whatever it must in order to continue. And what it must do, as it has always done, is perpetuate inequality. Under capitalism, poverty and suffering are not aberrations, or a problem to be solved—they’re literally part of the coding. It’s a system where money makes money—those with money make increasingly more, those without or with little money make increasingly less, increasingly more profit from their labor funneled to those at the top of the pyramid. It is, by definition, a system centered around the impossible goal of infinite growth—like a cancer. And, like a cancer, it sucks all the lifeblood out of its host as it grows, until it finally, inevitably takes too much—and kills the host body, taking itself with it. It does this to its exploited laborers…it’s doing this to the Earth itself.

We’re at the end of the line. Either we excise this tumor, or everything alive on this planet is toast.

But it’s important to remember, like any human-created system, capitalism’s violence is dependent on the complicity of its people. People did this. People continue to do this.

We don’t have to let them.

And sometimes…we don’t. It’s the reason unions are formed: because laborers recognize they’re being screwed by those who employ them, they recognize their employment is crucial for their employers’ continued profits and existence as a profiteer, and they recognize their strength in numbers. The people running this shitshow only care about profit—they don’t care how bad things get for the likes of you and me, so long as they can continue to make bank. Our power lies entirely in our numbers…and our ability to grind their system to a halt if we refuse to participate in it.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread death and widespread, longterm disability, but our so-called leaders in the United States won’t be closing up shop again at any point. In March 2020, when the U.S. suddenly shut down in an effort to stop the spread of the virus, it brought the economy to its knees. Its repercussions are *still* being contended with as I write this in June 2022.

 So imagine the power of an organized general strike: if all of us suffering under this system suddenly, immediately, and completely stopped participating in it until our demands for a better quality of life are met. No labor. No shopping. No money moving into the masters’ pockets. Our government would cave in a matter of days…or, y’know, start actively killing us (outside of currently passively killing us daily with a poor quality of life and violently out of control police and a runaway pandemic and…) until we get back to work.

Thing is, this has worked before. It’s why we celebrate May Day/International Workers’ Day (but not Labor Day, exactly…kinda…it’s complicated)—and why our work days are limited (or supposed to be limited) to eight hours, and work weeks are limited (or supposed to be limited) to only forty hours. We have weekends because people literally fought their employers and died to make it happen. Unions are being formed at Amazon, Starbucks, and exploitative workplaces all over the country, and there will almost certainly be a backlash. And when that happens, it’s up to us to stand our ground like Captain America and say, “No, you move.”

We will never achieve progress without fighting back against the capitalist violence we’re subjected to with the same tenacity and fervor and strength it uses to keep us subjugated. And that strength lies in our numbers—all of us, fighting together against our oppressors, in direct contradiction to the lies they feed us to keep us separated: those of money meritocracy, racism, nationalism, and “rugged individualism.”

There’s a reason those in power spend so much of their precious profits on efforts to keep the exploited working class divided: because if we unite, they can’t stop us.

* * * * *

Here’s something else the capitalist establishment will do to protect itself: silence voices of dissent.

Any ideals that run counter to capitalism are met with censorship or violence. Fascism, white supremacy, religious extremism, patriarchy: these are ideals that work in concert with American capitalism and help to perpetuate it. It’s why they decimated Tulsa. It’s why they killed MLK, and Fred Hampton. It’s why they waged war on Vietnam. It’s also why the State uses police to attack those protesting those ideals, while protecting white supremacist groups. Look, there’s obviously a long and complex history of capitalist violence, and many people have covered it more comprehensively than I can, so for a crash course on some of it, read (or listen to the audiobooks) A People’s History of the United States, The New Jim Crow, and The End of Policing.

This same principle applies to the culture we consume—but in a different, more subtle way.

The arts in all forms tend to be left-leaning. Which makes sense: the guiding principles of good art and those of authoritarianism aren’t exactly compatible—probably why Hitler sucked as an artist! It’s also obviously why conservatives do their best to defund the arts and humanities (until people like Mr. Rogers testify in front of Congress and remind them what it means to be human).

So while the arts are generally left-leaning, so much of our pop culture has also been created and produced by the wealthy and privileged, while the voices and lived experiences of the poor and working class and non-white are marginalized. For every artist who comes from nothing and scrapes and struggles and eventually ascends to mass cultural awareness, there are a hundred who were born into wealth and fame and connections that all but guaranteed their success—and a hundred more who never got the chance to be seen because of the class and status they were born into. People who never got the chance to lie in the grass next to the mausoleum and make songs about it because they were spending all their energy just trying to survive.

Thus, we end up with a relative homogeneity of culture, produced by people given the privilege to create by the system, reinforcing that system (and creating works that reinforce that system). On top of that, creators’ means of disseminating their work (including social media platforms and search engines) are all owned by oligarchs whose interests and products are aligned with those of capitalism, further stifling countercultural voices and experiences.

All that is to say: it is FUCKING HARD to produce anticapitalist work and get it seen by anybody when the entire system is constructed in a way to ensure such things never see the light of day—or ensure that there aren’t even people of a mind to make work that runs contrary to its goals.

Unless, of course…that anticapitalist work proves to be profitable.

Here’s just one example. Corporations have discovered that appearing pro-equality is profitable—but equality is still contrary to capitalist aims, and thus, they still work towards regressive ends as detailed in this pride month twitter thread. 

In the same way that any threat to the system cannot come from within the bounds of the system (and why supporting either right-wing American party will just ensure this same garbage keeps perpetuating itself until the planet burns—yes, the Democrats are right-wing), any work the system allows to become widely consumed it does so because it’s safe. If it can’t destroy them, it will adopt and dilute the things produced in opposition to it for its own gains and destroy them in that way. It’ll destroy everything it touches for the only thing it cares about: its Profit god. It knows nothing else.

There’s no ethical consumption under capitalism, and it’s really hard to be a good person within a bad system (long watch, but so worth it). Seek out and support obscure, independent creators' output for a truer reflection of the masses' lived experience and vision, and amplify and energize them instead of the latest mediocre Star Wars property. Elevate the powerless into positions where they can eventually be a force for good despite living within the system (as we’re all forced to, until we eliminate it for a better one)—the Dolly Partons of the world, not the Elon Musks. Don’t give your money or time or energy or soul to people and corporations who would would use what you’ve given them to destroy you and everyone you love. I get that sometimes that’s impossible in this country, but hell, you don’t need Amazon. The vast majority of the time, it’s cheaper elsewhere.

So finally…if you love this comic series I’m making, this thing I’m pouring all of my time and energy and soul into—please tell people. Bring ‘em here—almost all of the series so far is available to read on this site. Lend ‘em your books. Point them to their local library. The Unforgiven is in the IL and MO library systems, at least—let me know where it isn’t and I’ll send their library copies. I’m never going to compromise this book’s message or plot or anything to make it “profitable”…which also means it’s gonna be hard to find any substantial kind of distribution or publisher, and by extension, a large audience. But I want share this thing with as many people as possible…to, in a sense, meet and interact with as much of the world as I can, through my stories. I hope they bring something positive to this brutal planet. I hope they make someone else feel seen and heard and understood.

I had a young girl come up to where I was tabling once and tell me my comics were what inspired her to start drawing her own—that she was trying to model her work off of mine. And it’s the best possible compliment I’ve ever received, no contest. I hope she keeps making comics. I hope her books are read by people the world over. I hope they’re loved.