Dear Editors,

This is what a real American looks like, these days. It’s like growing up in a dysfunctional home thinking is normal and naturally loving it.

As a real American I can admit the truth and say we have to do better. The history of the United States has put this country in the position of the villain to the people whose labor created the original American surplus wealth. It’s time we see some accountability and reparations.

In American people I see the resilience of the human spirit. I see a nation of beautiful diversity yet lacking necessary equality. When people realize, and it happens from time-to-time, that we have more in common than we are different, the differences are celebrated, and an abundance is produced. That’s how humanity can lead into the future instead of fighting and flailing through time.

The United States fights with the threat of enormous weapons to be the so-called leaders of the world. We can become true leaders. Leaders put people’s well-being of above the private hordes of profit. The world already has enough accumulated wealth to afford to structure the economy to benefit the public’s wellbeing over the private profit motive. I stand with people and for any cause truly for people. I can say this, I’m making ends meet, barely because unemployment is not enough. I got laid off twice since the pandemic started, worked myself out of a job. I’m a working person, not very skilled at the “slow-down” side of things, because construction, especially painting, is about production, and when it comes to the union it’s definitely about who you know. I think what I see about stock market is that it’s helpful to find comfort within the vicious cycle of capitalism, that is, if you can afford to invest and spend time keeping up with the market. And while it does allow one to flip money, it’s still based of the global production for profit motive which creates space for racism, exploitation, oppression, and produces a class of people willing to pay enforcers like the police and military to uphold the status quo of bigotry and class oppression, which is, in and of itself, the vicious cycle of capitalism.

Remove the profit motive, and, instead, produce and distribute according to what’s needed and where— it’s really that simple in a nutshell.

Peace and power to the people,

Johnny Gould, February 21, 2020

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