The Most Important Issues for Activists in 2016: An Interview With Kevin Zeese
The longtime political activist pinpoints what activists should be paying attention to in the new year, including the killing of people of color by the government through police violence, the climate crisis and the duopoly scam of American politics.
Black Lives Matter activists march in Minneapolis in November. (Jim Mone / AP)
In an interview on Popular Resistance, longtime political activist Kevin Zeese addresses the most important issues activists should be paying attention to in 2016, including the killing of people of color by the government through police violence, the climate crisis and the scam that is American politics.
The economic system is corrupt to the core and the political system takes legal bribes – campaign contributions, promises of future jobs, employment for family and friends – and is deeply corrupted as a result. Systemic corruption is the reason that we need to fight.
The elites in the system know they are corrupt. They fear us, knowing that every day more people understand their corruption. The system is losing its legitimacy and facing imminent crisis moments. If the economic collapse that is predicted occurs – bigger than 2008 – then the opposition to the government will multiply. More people will be mobilized and the system will fear for its survival. This is an opportunity for radical transformation for which we must be ready.
The transformation does not only have to be electoral — in fact, that may be the least important. If people followed the models of the Zapatistas and the Kurds and created their own direct democracy institutions, like local assemblies that began to bring people together to improve their own communities, they would grow to become the legitimate forces. Illegitimate government would be recognized as the non-problem solver; and people would realize they have power.
Posted by Jenna Berbeo
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