On May 25th in the city of Minneapolis (Minnesota, USA), a 46-year-old dark-skinned coronavirus patient named George Floyd died of fentanyl-methamphetamine intoxication while attempting to pay for cigarettes with a fake $20 bill, for which he was detained and soon killed by a white police officer. This was recorded by the cameras of random passersby and became the cause of mass riots across the USA under the banner of the BlackLivesMatter movement and the slogan “I can’t breathe.” Let’s try to understand why and how this happened.
Firstly, according to the statistics, police officers in the USA kill about three people every day, with approximately 70% being dark-skinned. It’s hard to believe that only Floyd was lucky enough to be caught on camera by “random” passersby, and that he was the only one to say “I can’t breathe” before dying (although, of course, the case is quite telling).
Secondly, according to statistics, police killings are decreasing every year, and African Americans are becoming their victims less frequently, and according to the Wall Street Journal’s opinion, “racism in the police is a myth.”
Thirdly, according to statistics, racism in the USA is decreasing every year: in 1950, only 5% of white people approved of marriages with dark-skinned individuals, while in 2013, over 85% had no objections. In this context, the statement by the representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova that “the problem of racism in the USA is now in full view” seems very strange. Obviously, someone wants it to “appear,” while it is actually gradually disappearing.
Therefore, it is evident that the issue of racism-based violence does not have a systemic and nationwide character in American society. However, it is presented as a tragedy of global coronavirus proportions, rallying tens of thousands under its black-and-white banners. Why is this being done and who benefits from it?
Without fear of repetition, let us consider a conflict much more fundamental and deep than racial: a class conflict. Capitalism, despite the high quality of life in most European and North American countries, has never lost its slave-owning essence, inherited from earlier forms of social organization. The tension arises not only from the notorious growing wealth gap between the rich and the poor, but from the gap between the philosophies of the masters and slaves: the majority works to survive, while the minority owns and enjoys life without knowing how to work.
There is no peaceful way out of this conflict, and there cannot be. Over many hundreds of years, from Spartacus to Mao Zedong, humanity has found only one solution: revolution, inevitably followed by repression, civil war, dictatorship, and… a return to the previous positions.
Creating distracting conflicts is an excellent way to mask the main conflict: from now on, it is not capitalism that is the cause of the oppressive and growing hopelessness of the middle class life in the West, but racism, sexism, antisemitism, masculinism, feminism, environmental pollution, domestic violence (it’s important to emphasize). All efforts are thrown into fighting these social ills, and of course, it is impossible to defeat them. The struggle can and should continue indefinitely, creating a sense of revolutionary tension in society, demonstrating broken windows, and emotionally satisfying those who wouldn’t mind, having leaders, rising up against oppressors. The opportunity to rise up is provided, but not against oppressors, but against mythical racists whom no one has seen, but everyone considers it their duty to hate.
The riots, if they erupted spontaneously after the death of the unfortunate drug addict Floyd, spread across America and Europe not on their own. And they do not harm Trump, as some may think. On the contrary. They are beneficial to both Trump and Hillary, conservatives and democrats, and all the other lackeys of global capital, which sponsors these riots. And we, not understanding what is happening, take to the streets and demand an end to racism.
There is no racism. There is capitalism. But our limited vision and short-sightedness prevent us from demanding its end. What a pity.
Translated by ChatGPT gpt-3.5-turbo/42 on 2024-04-20 at 14:28
