N. Brown, Providence, RI
I participate in a men’s therapy group. We come from different professional backgrounds: teaching, social work, construction, metalworking, healthcare, and landscaping.
What strikes me is the alienation and isolation all of us feel. Men are often taught to repress or ignore our emotions, and that our value comes from our ability to “provide”—by making profits for the boss. This puts enormous pressure on all of us, as many look for individual solutions to the systemic problems of capitalism.
At my most recent session, each of us were sharing updates about the mental and emotional distress from our jobs. Coworkers routinely get hurt or die from chemical exposure; work is allocated week to week and is inherently precarious; income isn’t keeping up with inflation so it’s harder to make ends meet; we get fired during workplace disputes that have nothing to do with us.
After the meeting, I pulled out The Communist. I explained that the bosses are the ones responsible for life getting harder and harder. This got an immediate echo. People started bringing up all kinds of issues. Someone mentioned that luxury apartment construction is tearing down wildlife habitats and jacking up our housing bills, and the lawn care companies make a killing but the employees see none of it. Someone else talked about how Flock cameras surveil our movements, so the police can clamp down on us. And everyone agreed that politicians are in the pockets of big business and don’t listen to the working class.
Two members of the group bought a paper, but even more significant is the simmering class anger in society.