San Jose, California. July 6th, 2024

Overview

On July 6th, 2024, a coalition met to protest NATO at the upscale Santana Row in San Jose. It was a hot, sunny Saturday with many people walking down Santana Row towards the Westfield Mall. The coalition that organized this event consisted of California United (C.U.), Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), League of Filipino Students (LFS), San Jose Against War (SJAW), and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). This coalition handed out flyers, made signs, and had speeches denouncing our country's current direction, whether war, personal freedoms, the economy, or the climate. They were met with support from passersby, whether by car or on foot, and light contention by some who were especially upset over signs regarding the current contentious topic of freedom for Palestine. 

Most groups who attended the protest supported causes like Palestine or to cancel RIMPAC. However, being anti-NATO does not always carry over to all of NATO's actions, such as justifying support for the Ukrainian Army through their conflict with Russia. Many activists focus on the narratives presented (or being so staunchly anti-war) that other aspects become forgotten, like why it occurs and the economic incentives behind it.

Climate change was an important topic for most groups that day and they believe our countries' current solutions are inadequate. It is evident and apparent that the U.S. only supports climate change if it means corporations such as Tesla can profit from it. Still, something important is the U.S. and, in tandem, NATO's ability to pollute through their war machine. NATO and the U.S.' pollution through growing their war machine need to be at the forefront of our arguments to appeal to the youth activists because climate change is a crucial issue amongst the majority youth crowd today in San Jose. It should continue to be an essential talking point for anti-war groups wishing to grow the youth movement within their organizations. 

Interviews

Saraswati

Saraswati formally organized with the University of California Santa Cruz Divestment Initiative and expressed concerns about the upcoming election, especially after the latest debate. In regards to Biden and his severe mental decline, Saraswati said, "He is not our candidate but has to be for some reason" and wanted to share a message with the rest of California that we should be educating ourselves because the media "likes to share biased views." Saraswati urges people to vote, believing that the lack of voter turnout is why people like Donald Trump and Biden were elected.

Raven (SDS)

Raven is a member of the Students for Democratic Society (SDS) and a community organizer for the San Jose State chapter. And also often organizes with SJAW, a big tent anti-war mass organization.  Raven expressed the importance of voting, specifically in local elections, which deserve more attention than the presidential election. Raven believes we, as the people of California, "are all in this together" and that it is essential to organize for positive change within our communities.

Dillon Foster

Dillon is a climate activist from L.A. and is worried about Republicans holding a majority of power in the government because of their Project 2025, which Dillon believes will be "the most anti-climate legislation ever." Dillon also states the Democrat party "fails to meet the needs of the people" and that they ignore the people and their desires for us to stop funding wars like in Israel and Ukraine. Dillon also describes how "the more public goods we have, the better [the government] can serve its people's needs," this has led to worse wealth inequality than the Gilded Age of the late 19th century. One significant example discussed in the conversation was private ownership over land which has led to 27 empty homes per homeless person in the U.S. We also discussed how farmworkers are some of the most vulnerable in our society and cannot afford the basic needs to live despite being the backbone of our economy and for survival. An example Dillon gave is how the average life expectancy of an American is in the 70's, while a farmworker's life expectancy is in the 40's. The conversation ended by expressing the need to push for policies that better meet the people's and ecological needs.

Phillip (SJAW)

Phillip is an organizer for SJAW. Phillip begins by saying what he thinks about the upcoming elections at the federal level and that "the working class won't be winning at all." We discussed the push for San Francisco to acquire PG&E and how it can "set a precedent" for the rest of California and the United States, which would be a big win for working-class people. Sacramento already has SMUD, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, whose rates are 50% lower than PG&E, as reported on their website. For these reasons, Phillip thinks all of California should favor the public ownership of the infrastructure we need for basic survival as people of California.

Kari 

Kai is a resident of San Jose and begins by describing how people are worried about the current election because of the uselessness of Biden and disdain for Trump. Kari also mentions we must find a 3rd option to serve the people better. This message resonates with the American people because Biden has some of the lowest approval ratings in history, and a small minority of people believe in the American government and it seeks to improve their lives. Both these presidents served during the COVID pandemic, and they oversaw the most significant upward transfer of wealth in human history. 

When discussing public and private ownership, Kari voiced their frustrations over how people have no say over the basic needs for their livelihood because much of it is privately owned and profit-driven. We both agreed that public ownership has always been necessary and something more innate to humans, giving the example of Native Americans and their communal living within villages. Kari finishes by describing the issue of climate change, saying, "It is an issue that affects us all, and sooner or later it needs to be discussed" and that we need "democracy in our government and our economy."

A Lesson on Economic War for the New Left

As mentioned before, the reason for war has long been economic, and nothing that NATO does strays from that. NATO is the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) private army, and the U.S. is the most significant contributor to it. Smedley Butler was a soldier for the U.S. in the early 20th century, and he described it accurately: "War is a racket." This quote has never been more accurate, regardless of which war the U.S. and NATO are engaged in, past or present. At one time, it was the stalling on joining WWII because U.S. companies had ties to Nazi Germany, or it was the U.S. devastating Vietnam because it would acquire rubber from that country. Then there is NATO invading Iraq under the pretense of looking for WMDs, but really, it was to secure oil and launder taxpayer money through the military-industrial complex. NATO also destroyed Libya to prevent Africa from straying from the petrodollar, which is the IMF's lifeblood and one of the few things keeping America's economy and its federal reserve afloat. Now, we have American presidents speaking the open truth that NATO leveled Syria because the U.S. wanted to occupy their oil fields. 

Why would NATO's involvement in Ukraine be any different? Russia offered an interest-free loan to their close trading partner to counter the IMF's high-interest loans full of strings attached, whose purpose was to extract as much money from Ukraine as possible by privatizing its energy and resources and imposing austerity on its people. All of these corrupt business deals are significant to why war happens. Regardless, many anti-war groups neglect this type of information, and their messaging is almost always purely pacifist. This virtue signaling is a weakness of the left. It prevents stronger messaging from appealing to broad masses because, as people of California and the U.S., we should not have our hard-earned money be given to war profiteers to support the interests of multinational corporations. We in California United are staunchly opposed to international corporations that owe no loyalty to any country and only to their financial interests. All the masses of people need to rally against the only-growing debt trap that is the U.S. and IMF's policy, and need to oppose all actions NATO, the IMF's army, drags the American people into.

Republished from California United, with thanks!