Martin L, Queens NY
An enthusiastic young worker who volunteered for Zohran came to our table. He talked about the cost-of-living crisis in NYC: “The rent is rising like crazy. People are living paycheck to paycheck. Groceries are getting mad expensive. And no one wants to talk about it.”
“That’s why Zohran won,” I said, “he connected with working-class anger. The Democrats and the establishment are hated, and Zohran is seen as someone willing to stand up to these people.”
He enthusiastically agreed. The conversation then shifted to the election in November. He was worried.
“No one actually likes any of the other candidates, but they have a lot of money and powerful backers behind them,” he said, “I think he will win, but that’s when the real problems will start for him.”
I asked him what he meant.
He responded with: “He needs to fight for the people who made him win. He can’t become another politician.”
I agreed—the working class has put their confidence in him and what he is fighting for. The billionaires and their parties will try everything to stop him. They are not as scared of him as they are of the mass of workers behind him.
“Yeah exactly!” he added, “They’re going to try to pull an AOC with him!”
I asked, “Do you think he needs to break—”
“With the Democrats! Of course!” he exclaimed. We were finishing each other’s sentences.
Later, during a phone call, he said, “Capitalism is like an old building. The foundation is crumbling and the ceilings are collapsing over our heads. We keep trying to fix things here and there, but nothing works because the problem is with the foundation. We need to tear the whole building down, and build something new, with a strong foundation.”