I’ve had some conflicting thoughts on this book so far. There have been bits that I’ve come away from kind of confused, and parts that I thought were very useful.

At the least, this would be an absolutely excellent introduction for a sympathetic noncommunist to show them how the majority of the ills of Amerikkkan society are irrevocably tied into capitalism, and how capitalism has to be ended for us to survive. I’m definitely going to keep this in mind as an introductory text in the future.

This chapter is divided into an introduction and areas of concentration:

Introduction

This section introduces the theme of the chapter: that capitalism is intentionally inimical to indigenous (and global) survival.

A standout quote: " Whereas our culture is based on regeneration, capitalism is based on death and seeks to kill all that give life"

Area 1: Citizenship and equal rights

This section talks about the intersection of climate change, imperialism, and migration to the Global North. They talk about how the U$ has caused many of the issues that lead to migration. A quote that seems to sum up this bit is that “US citizenship is no the horizon of what we should be trying to achieve when we call for migrant justice”.

A part that confused me was the quote “One of the demands of such efforts should be the creation of a global minimum wage to end the global wage disparities”. I get the aim, but it seems curiously passive. Who should be doing the demanding? Demanding what of who?

Area 2: Free and Sustainable Housing

I agree with the broad point of this area (everyone should have good housing), but a couple of quotes gave me pause:

“The recent campaign known as Moms 4 Housing in Oakland, California, and the efforts to house unsheltered families by occupying vacant buildings it has inspired in other cities, are examples of how direct action led by unsheltered people can confront houselessness”

It feels like that kind of direct action could directly result in the most vulnerable people pushed into police violence.

“We can move towards ending private ownership of housing entirely by practicing collective living and building tenant-owned cooperatives”

This feels super idealist - like communes are effective in confronting capitalism on their own.

Area 3: Free and Accessible Education

No notes here, honestly. They go over how education is fucking awful in the U$, and how people deserve good education.

Area 4: Free and Adequate Healthcare

Good healthcare is important.

Area 5: Free, Reliable, and Accessible Public Transportation and infrastructure

We all agree on how important public transportation and infrastructure is. I liked this quote:

“The lack of funding for infrastructure within Indigenous nations is an obvious form of abandonment on the part of state actors”

I thought this was strange:

“Organizing for free, reliable, and accessible public transportation and infrastructure must therefore be an area of priority for the left”

I agree with them, but it feels weirdly passive. Who’s doing what? Should we be demanding public transportation from the capitalists? That feels more reformist, and not in line with the anti-capitalist bent of the work.

Area 6: Noncarceral Mental Health support and no more suicides!

I feel like this is summed up in the title, nothing really to add. An interesting quote:

“However this is not an issue that can be fixed through better services or suicide-prevention campaigns”

This feels like it clashes with the other comments on the import of vague “organizing” and “grass root campaigns”.

Area 7: Healthy, Sustainable and Abundant Food

Food is important. A neat quote:

“…food security is necessary in order for a nation to have political independence”

food for thought.

Area 8: Clean Water, Land, and Air

Standout quotes:

“Earth - and all life that depends on her - is dying”

“Conservation has certainly won some important gains for environmental justice, but it is ultimately a struggle for crumbs that offers defensive possibilities at best”

This section was written by the rad anti-reformism author in the collective.

“We need a movement that decenters conservation and the NGOs and nonprofits that continue to consume considerable amounts of resources and power for conservation campaigns”

I fucking love it, but it totally clashes with praise for AOC and the Green New Deal in last weeks discussion.

Area 9: End Gender, Sexual, and Domestic Violence

Area 10: End Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit Peoples

I’m totally out of time to cover the good bits in the last two sections, but they make great points about material conditions in indigenous communities putting them at particular risk, and how that is the fault of capitalism.

I’m happy I read this chapter, and I’ll be sure to keep it on hand as a recommendation, but it feels like it’s written by a group of authors that don’t really agree on anything beyond the “what’s wrong” and “what areas need to be fixed”. I really agree with them, and love that they’ve condensed the information down, but I don’t feel like there’s a clear directive on what’s to be done.

Maybe reading Debray has made me primed to expect short aggressive directives, politically, and I need to take a step back.