No to Occupations! Smash Capitalism!
Anti-Capitalist Bloc Call to Action

While the continuing military conflict in Iraq is an atrocious issue that must be acknowledged, it is imperative that advocates for global justice remember that the world is always engaged in a state of perpetual warfare. The battles are fought in smoldering factories and unventilated sweatshops across the globe. Every day, citizens the world over are raising battle cries against the tyranny of capitalism. On August 24th, join Pittsburgh in opposing military occupation and opposing capitalist rule.

The present occupation in Iraq is simply the second stage in America’s most recent military quest in the “war against terror”. This war is a flagrant exemplification of the principles of capitalism, that is, the war is being waged in order to accumulate profit through the unilateral control of a valuable natural resource. Capitalism places profit above human life on its hierarchy of priorities, and this principle is never clearer than in the midst of a massive civilian bloodbath.

Capitalism is an economic system manifested upon the deification of profit. The accumulation of wealth into the hands of a few opulent individuals is enabled only at the expense of the well-being of the global working class. We have seen this through the International Monetary Fund’s structural adjustment policies, programs that exacerbate poverty and coerce governments into minimizing social spending. We also witness the malevolence of capitalism through the barbed wire fences surrounding sweatshops in Southeast Asia, and on coffee plantations in the Guatemalan countryside. And, presently, we see its brutality unmasked on battlefields across the Middle East.

Private interests profit from the brutality of state-sponsored terrorism through various corporations. For instance, Lockheed-Martin would be bankrupt if the military didn’t desire the latest incendiaries and explosives, weapons that inevitably become the bane of innocent civilians worldwide. Thus, this corporation directly profits from human misery. Another corporation responsible for the perpetuation of suffering is the Starbucks coffee empire. Not only is Starbucks’ coffee harvested by destitute individuals who sleep on mud floors and make no more than a fistful of pennies an hour, but the multinational is responsible for funding the occupation of Palestinian territories through its generous monetary contributions to the barbaric Israeli Military. And, of course, the construction giant Caterpillar provided Israel with the bulldozers that leveled the homes of countless Palestinian families and extinguished the existence of Rachel Corrie.

It is with these injustices in mind that we will take to the streets in opposition to the marriage between capitalism and militarism. Disruption is necessary, for the status quo rests upon a foundation of calloused hands and broken backs. Our struggle will not be in vain.


Sunday, August 24
Schenley Park: Flagstaff Hill
1pm- Potluck Picnic
2pm- Rally
3pm- March

www.indypgh.org