One of the primary factors perpetuating our social duress is poverty, and rather than have the necessary conversations about poverty what we get is an intentional, violent war on the poor. The war on the poor originates with titans of extreme, predatory capitalism, a system that both creates and depends on an exploitable poverty class. Via relentless media mouthpieces, the war is insinuated between those burdened by poverty, as well as between they and an impressionable middle class, along race lines. By design, the middle class—itself living a tenuous existence under extreme, predatory capitalism—then comes to angrily, irrationally blame the poor (again, often along race lines) for our social ills. Extreme, predatory capitalists delight at the deflection and obfuscation of blame because they, as a result, remain unexamined, effectively outside the popular conversation, if one can even call it a conversation. The problematic workings of the entire unchecked economic system remain outside the so-called conversation. Systemic poverty is, of course, complexly related to institutional racism. As with poverty, our racism is a conversation that too many people do not want—and most often do not even know how—to have. When one’s existence is terrorized by generational, historical racism and poverty—and such is one of the few appropriate uses of the word terror—anger, frustration, and hopelessness is a natural byproduct. Finally: extreme, predatory capitalism’s intentional undercutting of critical, reflective, and humane public educational and health opportunities perpetuates all of the above.

In short: extreme, predatory capitalists know how to get us, how to pull our strings, how to use and exploit us. More, via now-ubiquitous broadcast and popular media outlets they have the most effective propaganda system in human history at their disposal. The system sells itself over and over and over again. As with religions of old we are constructed to see it as the only possibility, the rightful, natural order of things. Noncritical-Consumer-Us is this system’s triumphant product, a product that self-replicates over and over and over again.

Others have described the above phenomena—a terrible global situation—in texts much more effective and detailed than this one, but the basics of the situation cannot be stressed enough, because the message must pass through almost endless channels of interference.

Poverty is violence. Racism is violence. Extreme, predatory capitalism is violence. People and planet die.

We can create new possibilities.