I’m Sick of Living in a Country With a Price Tag on Survival

There’s something deeply wrong with a society that puts a dollar sign on everything: air, water, healthcare, housing, even hope.

In America, you don’t get to live, you get to rent existence. And the rent keeps going up.

Need to drink water? Better hope your tap isn’t poisoned, privatized, or shut off because you’re behind on the bill. Need to see a doctor? Hope you can navigate the insurance labyrinth, dodge bankruptcy, and survive long enough to get an appointment three months from now.

This isn’t a functioning society. It’s a hostile marketplace cosplaying as civilization.

We slap “In God We Trust” on the currency, but worship profit above all. Billionaires hoard resources like dragons while kids ration insulin. Corporations dump chemicals into rivers while charging us for clean water. Politicians talk about “personal responsibility” while handing corporate welfare to their donors.

Everything is for sale … except dignity.

This system wasn’t built to help us. It was built to extract from us. Your labor, your time, your energy, your life. All monetized. The only thing “essential” in this economy is your ability to generate profit for someone else.

And when you stop being profitable? You’re disposable. That’s the cold logic of capitalism. It doesn’t care if you suffer. It needs you to.

But here’s the thing: people are waking up. The cracks are visible. The rage is growing. The question now isn’t “Is this sustainable?”, it’s “What the hell are we going to do about it?”

We can’t shop our way out of this. We can’t vote our way out of it alone. This is going to take organizing. Disruption. Solidarity. Mutual aid. Refusing to play their game by their rules.

Because survival should not be for sale.

And I, for one, am done pretending this is normal.

Capitalism, Trafficking, and the Billionaire Boys’ Club

In the shadowy corners of modern capitalism lies a truth many don’t want to face: human trafficking isn’t just a crime of desperation. It’s also a crime of wealth and power. It’s not only happening in alleys and war zones. It’s happening in penthouses, on private islands, and behind the locked doors of luxury jets. And when we pull at that thread, names like Jeffrey Epstein—and yes, Donald Trump—start to unravel the fabric.

Capitalism promises meritocracy. But what it delivers, time and again, is a system that rewards exploitation. When money becomes the ultimate measure of success, people become commodities. Labor, bodies, even children; bought, sold, and traded in a global marketplace where the rich operate above the law.

Jeffrey Epstein didn’t build a trafficking empire alone. He had help—explicit and implicit—from financiers, politicians, royalty, media moguls, and intelligence networks. He lived in the belly of capitalist power, not outside of it. His crimes weren’t an aberration, they were a symptom.

And then there’s Donald Trump, who once said Epstein “likes beautiful women as much as I do, many of them on the younger side.” Trump and Epstein were photographed together, partied together, and allegedly shared access to the same circles of underage girls. One woman, Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit in 2016 alleging Trump raped her at one of Epstein’s parties when she was 13. The case was dropped—quietly, mysteriously—just before the election. And we’re supposed to believe justice was served?

Wealth doesn’t just buy yachts and elections. It buys silence. It buys immunity. And capitalism ensures that those with the most money can bend the system to their will. Epstein’s private island was protected by layers of wealth and influence. The girls he trafficked? Disposable. Their voices were dismissed until it was too late, and even now, most of the men involved walk free.

Capitalism thrives on hierarchy: of class, gender, race, and power. And at the top of that pyramid are men like Trump and Epstein, who use their wealth to shield themselves from consequences while feeding off the bodies of the powerless. It’s not a glitch in the system. It is the system.

Until we start connecting these dots—not just as scandals, but as structural realities—we’ll keep asking the wrong questions. The real issue isn’t just “Who knew?” or “Why wasn’t Epstein stopped sooner?” It’s: What kind of economic and political system makes men like this inevitable?

If we want a world where children aren’t trafficked for billionaires’ pleasure, we need more than accountability. We need a new system entirely.

Revolution: What Can Be Done?

The other day I asked a communist friend of mine what needed to be done in this day and age, especially in this day and age. She didn’t hesitate.

“We need to form revolutionary cells. Militant, and armed. We need to combine these cells with mutual aid groups and cadres to act as the vanguard. Re-education and promoting independent political action outside of the established bourgeois parties and a focus on anti-imperialism are essential to our movement’s success.

That’s a lot to drop in one breath.

But beneath the revolutionary jargon is something real: the blunt recognition that voting isn’t saving us, capitalism is devouring everything, and the time for passive outrage is long past.

Let’s break this down–not to dismiss it, but to figure out what, if anything, we can actually do.

“Militant and Armed Revolutionary Cells”

This isn’t Reddit larping. She’s talking about small decentralized groups trained in organizing–and possibly armed in self-defense–read to protect their communities and resist oppression. Think Black Panthers, not TikTok tankies.

But here’s the catch:

America isn’t ripe for revolution. Not yet. And we’re up against the most bloated, surveilled, militarized empire in history.

So while “armed cells” sounds bold, it’s also a neon sign flashing “federal indictment.” Strategy matters. So does survival. We can’t fight for a future if we’re locked up before we build anything.

Mutual Aid + Cadres as Vanguard

This part is gold. Mutual aid isn’t charity–it’s infrastructure. It’s food banks when the state fails, rent support when capitalism crushes, first aid when cops won’t help. When you pair that with politically trained organizers (cadres), you start building a base that can actually resist–not just survive.

This isn’t the sexy part of revolution. It’s slow, often invisible. But it works

Re-education

Not brainwashing. Just unlearning the shit we’ve absorbed living under capitalism

That billionaires deserve to rule.
That America is a force for good.
That our only power lies in voting every four years and complaining online the rest of the time.

Re-education means study groups. Memes. Teach-ins. Dismantling propaganda with actual history (I recommend Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, which I will be reviewing once I finish.) Turning alienation into understanding and understanding into action.

Independent Political Action

Translation: Stop begging Democrats to save us.

This isn’t about throwing elections to the fascists. It’s about building real alternatives. Tenant unions. Worker co-ops. Local campaigns that aren’t bankrolled by the same people gutting your town.

We can’t beat capitalism by playing its game. We need to flip the board.

Anti-Imperialism

This one gets ignored the most.

You can’t fight for justice at home and ignore what your country does abroad. Every bomb dropped, every coup backed, every sanction enforced–it’s part of the same system. Anti-imperialism is not a side quest. It’s the heart of the fight.

So … now what?

You don’t have to be ready to go full Che Guevara in a balaclava. Most people aren’t. But if you feel the rot of this system in your gut, you are ready to do something.

Start local. Start small.

Join or start a mutual aid group.
Host a study group.
Disrupt your comfort zone.
Organize outside of parties that profit off your despair.
Connect with people who want more than reform.
Learn security culture–because if shit gets serious, you’ll need it.

And keep asking: What am I willing to risk? What am I willing to build?

Revolution isn’t a mood. It’s a movement. And movements need more than slogans.

They need people willing to do the work even the unsexy parts.

Even the dangerous ones.

July 4th Ain’t Nothin to be Proud About

I stole this from an email I receive by Islamic Socialist. You can follow them on Substack and BlueSky. This is my July 4th post.

“Every year, either out of ignorance or arrogance, on the 4th of July, millions of Americans go out in this country that many of them can barely afford to survive under, to celebrate independence as a nation birthed & maintained on blood.

“Very negative picture, yes, I know. It upsets you, good. You and the many like you refuse to do the necessary independent study of just how much of the US’s history is marked by active wars, genocides, systemic rape, slaughter of its own people for demanding better conditions, overthrowing sovereign nations for geopolitical power, influencing fascism in other parts of the world because of our brutality, and much, much more. I don’t hate you, at least I don’t hate the ones who never learned the truth because they was never presented the ability to. I hate those who arrogantly defend the illusion that the empire taught them to defend. I hate those who refuse to study independently and put all their trust into the liars of empire, unwilling to have a critical thought of their own, independent from the influence of the state. I hate, boldly and firmly, robotic “people” who care none for critical thinking, no independence of their brain. I hate those who, in their enslavement, act like sell outs and turncoats to protect a system that has never given them a damn thing except pocket change and a lie to protect while they stood by and watched slaughter, rape & theft of others outside their lands. Hell, sometimes even inside their lands.

“I hate cowards, I hate robotic people. You can quote me on it – if you refuse to challenge the narratives of the US, if you refuse to think for yourself without the mainstream telling you whats allowed to be thought about, or the mainstream telling you whats true, if you accept the hateful narratives from the West against people you’ve never met or struggled alongside, if you refuse to listen to opposing sides because their evidence challenges your comfortable lie – then I mean it when I say I hate you, you coward, you robot. Centrists, neo-liberals, wealthy conservatives, workers of weapons manufacturers, and the other cowards and robots who uphold the evil empire – to hell with all of you. Your maintenance of the evil empire, once it falls, because it will, will gain you a punishment worse than The Hague.

“Your celebrations are an empty, hollow show of arrogance.

“‘But we are celebrating our independence!’ Independence for what? A nation who fought over a 3% tax where we are now taxed by several brackets, none of which under 10%, and some over 30%? Independence on a land that was already occupied that we raped and slaughtered to steal so we have our living space? Theft, mind you, that didn’t stop even to this day where we continue to steal reservation lands as natives are targeted and randomly trafficked or killed? Independence for who, because the only ones who have been doing great in this country are the wealthiest bloodlines and the business owners of this country?

“What is the point of your pride, because you was born in America? People was born under Nazi Germany, should they be proud of Nazi Germany? ‘Oh that’s an unfair equivalent and deeply offensive’ WE KILLED 12 MILLION NATIVES! WE ENSLAVED ALMOST 11 MILLION PEOPLE! Hell, poverty alone, based on a 2019 study, kills over 180k a year – in America, the richest nation apparently, while China uplifts 800 million of it’s people out of poverty in 40 years. ‘Unfair equivalent’ did you not see the source earlier about how we influenced Hitler with our brutality? If you believe that some people outside the US, especially the third world, deserve to suffer for your comfort, or that they aren’t as important as you – you’re no different than a Nazi. Your cowardice and robotic minded behavior makes you no different from the Nazi civilians who silently accepted slaughter and invasion of lands for the lie of supremacy. If Hitler was alive today he’d say America continued the vision while cosplaying as a liberal democracy – because of course it has, liberalism is the left-wing of fascism.

“Your arrogance is unlimited, there is no logical reason to be proud in the US as a government or a nation. Being proud of your local community, being proud of your background or contributions to art or food and the like, being proud of your cultural roots, these are more rational than being proud to be associated with this government.

“July 4th is nothing but an expression of American arrogance and pride in an illusion built and maintained off bloodshed, theft, and destruction.

“And no, I won’t ‘if you don’t like it, leave’ – because to quote Paul Robeson ‘my people died to build this country and I am going to stay here and have a part of it just like you.‘ I will stay and fight because while arrogant cowards who protect evil, like you who say such vile expressions, want to protect this bastard government of killers and thieves, people like me will make sure their tyranny is opposed every step until it stops.”

The Big Beautiful Bill Is a Big Ugly Disaster

And you should be pissed.

They called it the One Big Beautiful Bill. The name sounds like something cooked up by a real estate scammer with a spray tan and a God complex. And that’s exactly what it is: a bloated Frankenstein bill straight from Trump’s second-term fever dream, cobbled together by House Republicans and passed with the slimmest possible margin. And now it’s headed to Trump’s desk for a July 4th signing ceremony drenched in flag-waving, billionaire bootlicking, and straight-up cruelty.

What’s in this monstrosity?

Let’s start with the headline:

Twelve million people are projected to lose their healthcare.

That’s not hyperbole. That’s the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate. The bill guts Medicaid, imposes work requirements, and kicks immigrants off public healthcare programs. Because in the America envisioned by this bill, if you’re not white, wealthy, or working yourself into the grave, you don’t deserve care. You deserve punishment.

And while they were at it, they slashed $185 billion from food assistance. So now we get to watch people try to feed their kids on zero-hour contracts while GOP lawmakers brag about “fiscal responsibility” over cocktails with lobbyists.

Meanwhile, the rich got another tax cut. Permanent this time. Tips and overtime income? Tax-exempt now—but don’t get it twisted, that’s not for you. That’s bait. The real prize is hundreds of billions in tax breaks for corporations, fossil fuel giants, and the donor class. This bill adds $3.4 trillion to the deficit, and you can already hear the vultures circling Social Security and Medicare as the next “cost-saving” target.

Oh, and they militarized the border.

The bill throws over $150 billion at ICE, CBP, and border wall construction. It funds surveillance, detention, and deportation at a scale we haven’t seen before. They’re not just building walls—they’re building infrastructure for a permanent deportation machine. If you think that won’t grow, expand, and eventually turn inward, you haven’t been paying attention.

Climate crisis? Never heard of her.

Clean energy incentives? Gutted. Fossil fuel subsidies? Expanded. If you’re under 40 and plan on breathing air in the next couple decades, this bill is a declaration of war.

—

This isn’t governance. It’s class warfare.

They’re engineering a future where the rich get richer, the poor get punished, and the middle class is slowly boiled like frogs. And they’re doing it with fireworks, flags, and a phony populist smile.

Don’t let the branding fool you. This bill is a moral abomination.

If people don’t fight this tooth and nail—with legislation, with lawsuits, with mass mobilization—they’ll be complicit in letting this country slide further into oligarchy.

And if you’re still sitting on the sidelines? Get off the damn bench. The fight isn’t coming. It’s here.

Libertarian Socialist or Anarcho-Communist? Depends on Who’s Asking.

When a Democrat asks about my politics, I tell them I’m a Libertarian Socialist. It sounds just palatable enough to pass through their MSNBC filter. You get the “socialist” part—Bernie vibes, maybe some Chomsky seasoning—and “libertarian” makes it sound like I still believe in rights or property or some other adult word they can handle.

But when a Republican asks? I’m an Anarcho-Communist.

No soft edges. No training wheels. I want them to picture Molotovs, mutual aid, and the local Starbucks being reclaimed as a community kitchen. I want them to flinch like they just heard “abolish landlords” whispered behind their 401(k).

The thing is, it’s all the same to me. Libertarian socialism, anarcho-communism—both oppose capitalism, hierarchy, and the state. The labels are just different levels of shock therapy depending on who’s in front of me.

I’m not here to fit into anyone’s Overton window. I’m here to kick the damn thing open.

Democrats still think change comes from voting a little harder. Republicans think billionaires are their friends. I don’t have the patience to explain mutual aid to someone clutching a Pelosi bobblehead, or the difference between anarchism and chaos to a guy with a Punisher sticker on his pickup.

So I adjust the mask, not to deceive, but to translate. Because if you say “anarcho-communism” to a liberal, they hear “chaotic Stalinist death cult.” And if you say “libertarian socialist” to a conservative, they hear “soy boy who hates America.

I just believe no one should rule and no one should starve.

I want a world built on cooperation, not coercion. A world where communities thrive without CEOs, landlords, or billionaires buying bunkers while the world burns.

If that sounds extreme, maybe the problem isn’t the label. Maybe the problem is the system that makes those ideas sound extreme in the first place.

“One Big Beautiful Boot”–Trump’s Bill is Just Capitalism with its Mask Off

While liberals are pearl-clutching and conservatives are clapping like trained seals, the U.S. state just reminded us — again — that it only exists to protect capital and crush the poor.

Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” just passed. A 1,000 page orgy of tax cuts for the rich, surveillance-state expansion, environmental vandalism, and open war on the working class. They’re not even pretending anymore. The boot isn’t just stomping, it’s doing it with patriotic fireworks and a press release.

What’s in this monstrosity?

Permanent tax cuts for the wealthy, including “relief” on tips and gig work. Translation: handouts for bosses, crumbs for precarious workers.
Billions for border walls, ICE, and CBP. The U.S. is investing in a future where desperate people are hunted like animals.
Slashing Medicaid and food stamps, forcing people to work to death for scraps while the rich lounge in yachts subsidized by tax breaks.
Torpedoing climate policy. Clean energy incentives? Gone. Fossil fuel subsidies? Pumped full of cash.
Newborn “MAGA savings accounts” because nothing says “freedom” like indoctrinating infants into capital accumulation from day one.

They even raised the debt ceiling by $5 trillion so they could do it all without blinking. No panic over the deficit now because the spending serves power.

This bill is not “big” or “beautiful.” It’s discipline — state discipline in service of capital. It rewards extraction, exploitation, and domination. It punishes care, solidarity, and survival. It doesn’t just hurt the poor, it’s designed to remind them who’s in charge.

Liberals will write op-eds about how “deeply concerning” it is. Conservatives will call it a “victory for the American worker.” But those of us truly on the left know: both parties serve the same machine. One smiles while tightening the chains, the other spits in your face as it does. The illusion of reform is dead.

The state cannot be reformed. You don’t pass 1,000 pages of fascist legislation and pretend this system can be voted out of tyranny. This is why we fight for abolition, not revision. No tweaks. No “better Democrats.” No savior presidents. Burn the whole damn thing down.

“If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.” -Emma Goldman (and probably your gut too.)

So what do we do now?

We organize. Not to win elections, but to build dual power, sabotage capitalist logistics, defend our communities, and imagine a world without the state and without billionaires.

We do mutual aid, we educate, we disrupt. We make it ungovernable.

Because if this is what law looks like then we owe it nothing but our resistance.

No masters. No “beautiful bills.” Just solidarity, sabotage, and the end of all empires.

Why Presidents Shouldn’t Pick Supreme Court Justices

Given the news about the Supreme Court’s rulings on all sorts of bullshit Trump executive orders, I felt I had to write my thoughts on it, and my thoughts are as follows:

There’s something deeply broken in the way we appoint Supreme Court justices in the United States.

Nine unelected individuals serve for life, with the power to decide the most intimate and far-reaching issues in our society: abortion, voting rights, corporate power, gun laws, and more. And how do they get that power? They’re handpicked by whichever president happens to be in office when a seat opens up. It’s a political jackpot, not a principled process.

That alone should make us question the system.

We’re told this is how democracy works: the president wins an election and earns the right to shape the future of the court. But let’s be real. Presidents have been elected without winning the popular vote. The Senate–the body responsible for confirming nominees–can represent a minority of the country and still impose a majority decision. Lifetime appointments ensure that some justices rule for decades after the society that empowered them has changed entirely.

This is not democracy. It’s oligarchy in robes.

When presidents nominate justices, it’s not about qualifications. It’s about ideology. It’s about legacy. It’s about stacking the court with people who’ll interpret the law in ways that protect power. Every nomination turns into a televised culture war circus. Nominees dodge basic questions with rehearsed non-answers. Senators posture for the cameras. And the American public is left with yet another justice who serves power instead of people.

I have a better way: Independent Appointments

We need to take this power out of the president’s hands. Let’s create a nonpartisan judicial appointment commission, an independent body tasked with selecting justices based on legal expertise, ethical conduct, and a commitment to upholding the Constitution as a living, evolving document.

This commission could include former judges, constitutional scholars, and representatives from a diverse range of backgrounds, not politicians, not donors, and not partisan hacks. Their job wouldn’t be to pick someone “from the left” or “from the right.” It would be to ensure the court serves justice, not ideology.

It works in other countries. It can work here.

Trust in the Supreme Court is at historic lows and for good reason. When people see a court stacked by partisan deals and rammed-through nominations, they stop believing it represents them. And when people lose faith in institutions, the whole system becomes unstable.

We don’t have to accept this.

We can demand a new way, one where the court reflects the people it serves, not the politicians who manipulate it.

It starts by taking the gavel out of the president’s hand.

On Palestine, Israel, and the Rotten Core of Empire

I’m not going to dance around it: I stand with Palestine. Not out of trendiness, not because it’s the “left” thing to do, but because I believe in justice, liberation, and the end of colonial domination wherever it shows up, however it dresses itself. And in this case, it’s wearing the face of a U.S.-backed apartheid state.

Let’s get this out of the way: critiquing the Israeli government is not antisemitism. That’s a deflection tactic used to shut down valid criticism of a violent, militarized system of occupation. If you’re more outraged by someone saying “Free Palestine” than by the bombing of schools, hospitals, and entire apartment blocks, you might want to take a long, hard look at your moral compass—and maybe replace the batteries.

This isn’t a “both sides” issue. That framing is a cop-out. One side is occupying. One side is being occupied. One side has nuclear weapons, tanks, and billions in U.S. funding. The other side has rocks, desperation, and a memory of their homeland before the bulldozers came.This isn’t ancient history. This is now. This is 2025. This is settler-colonialism on full display.

And if you think this has nothing to do with you—if you’re watching from your couch in the U.S. thinking this is just another faraway tragedy—think again. Your tax dollars are funding this. Your government sends weapons, signs off on the bloodshed, and spins the PR machine to paint genocide as “self-defense.”

We’ve been trained to accept empire as normal. Palestine reminds us what happens when people refuse to roll over for it. That’s why they’re demonized. That’s why their resistance is painted as terrorism while the bombs dropped on their homes are called “precision strikes.” Orwell would be exhausted.

Do I condemn violence? I condemn occupation. I condemn systems that force people into cages and then act surprised when they fight back. I condemn pretending that peace can be brokered while one side is holding all the cards and the other is buried under rubble.

The solution isn’t another round of U.N. scolding or a new “peace plan” written by war profiteers. The solution is decolonization. Land back. End the siege. Dismantle apartheid. Let Palestinians live, breathe, return.

Until then, no justice, no peace.

And if that makes you uncomfortable, good. It should.

Does Communism Kill Individuality?

Or Is That Just Capitalist Propaganda?

You’ve probably heard it before: “Communism doesn’t breed individuals.” It’s a go-to jab for anyone trying to defend capitalism as the champion of freedom, creativity, and self-expression.

But let’s stop and ask: Is that actually true? Or is it just one of those lazy talking points that people repeat without thinking?

The Claim:

Critics of communism love to say it crushes individualism. They’ll tell you it turns everyone into drones, serving the collective and losing all sense of self. No more art. No more weirdos. Just gray buildings and gray people, all saying the same thing in perfect unison.

Scary, right?

The Reality:

1. Not All Communism Is Stalin in a Bad Mood

There’s no single “communism.” What people usually mean is authoritarian state socialism—like Stalinism. But that’s not the whole story.

There’s also:

Libertarian socialism, which emphasizes radical freedom through collective liberation.

Anarcho-communism, which fights both capitalism and the state.

Council communism, where power is decentralized and workers run everything directly.

Not exactly hive mind territory.

2. Marx Wasn’t Anti-Individual

Marx’s whole project was about freeing people from wage slavery and letting them develop into full human beings. He didn’t hate individuality—he hated a system that forced you to sell your life by the hour just to survive.

“In communist society… the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.” – Karl Marx

That doesn’t sound like someone who wants to erase you. It sounds like someone who wants you to have time to actually be you.

3. Capitalism Doesn’t “Breed Individuals” Either

Let’s be real. Under capitalism, your so-called “individuality” often boils down to which brand you consume or how well you perform on social media. You’re free to express yourself—as long as it sells. You can “be yourself,” but only if you can afford the entry fee.

Capitalism sells individuality the way fast food sells happiness: brightly packaged, deeply hollow.

4. Socialist Cultures Produced a Lot of “Individuals”

Ever heard of Dostoevsky? Eisenstein? Mayakovsky? Hell, even the Red Army Choir slaps. The USSR may have been authoritarian, but it wasn’t artistically sterile. And outside of the USSR, there were experiments like anarchist Catalonia and Yugoslavia that explicitly encouraged creativity and local autonomy.

Individuality didn’t die—it evolved.

Does authoritarian communism sometimes suppress individuality? Yes.

Does capitalism do the same, just with better marketing? Also yes.

The truth is: The system that actually supports individuality is the one that liberates you from economic coercion. That might be socialism. That might be anarchism. But it sure as hell isn’t wage slavery in a hoodie.

So next time someone says “Communism kills individuality,” ask them:

Does your job let you be yourself? Or just sell a version of yourself that keeps the shareholders happy?