Capitalists Create Disasters, Workers Create Solutions
Austin, TX, USA, February 25—Members of the Austin Guerrilla Plumber Corps work to replace a water heater. The corps of five friends worked to repair workers’ plumbing problems caused by the winter storm.
TEXAS (USA)—Nature creates hazards, capitalism creates disasters.
“I like that, it’s exactly right,” said a Houston friend, reflecting on the week-long power blackout and infrastructure collapse after a winter storm hit Texas in February.
A Dallas comrade also agreed. He spelled out, in great detail, how capitalism turned a cold snap into a deadly disaster.
He started with what happened at the hospital where he works. The pipes burst because they weren’t winterized. The toilets wouldn’t flush, creating unsanitary conditions in the middle of the pandemic. And they didn’t have enough clean water to sanitize surgical instruments, forcing the hospital to cancel surgeries.
Our comrade went on to describe the flawed electrical system. Fifty percent of the power plants went down. Scores died because they had no heat.
These plants are designed to function only during the four or five hot summer months. That’s when electrical companies that own the power plants make their money.
These cold spells will become more frequent because of global climate change. Even so, the cold snaps don’t last long enough for the capitalists to invest in winterizing the plants.
He drew an analogy to capitalism’s failure to prepare for the pandemic. It isn’t profitable for capitalist businesses to produce the masks and other necessities for these emergencies beforehand. But communism can, because all production is for our needs. Profits don’t enter into the picture.
Thousands of Texans Show How Communism Will Work
“In all of my time of being a so-called activist, I have never seen people come together and get work done the way these people have,” said an Austin resident.
This work was to provide for the needs of the people. Ashante Reese, who works at the University of Texas, was one example. Reese and a few of her colleagues created an online spreadsheet to gather information about the needs people have. They then used their social media platforms to promote the spreadsheet. After that, they started divvying up the tasks and putting out the call for volunteers and donations,
Within days, the group had helped more than 200 households with food, transportation, medicine, shelter and other needs.
Dancing Plumbers to the Rescue
Seeing the desperate need for emergency plumbing repairs across Austin, five friends who met through the dance community set up the Austin Guerilla Plumber Corps.
They created a spreadsheet for people in need of plumbing repairs who didn’t have access to a professional plumber and went to work. In three days, they repaired the plumbing for 20 properties, including the refugee house Casa Marianella.
While these plumbers were providing free repairs for the refugee house, the Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, was screaming that diseased immigrants were spreading Covid throughout the state.
Mobilized masses can overcome whatever hazards nature might throw at us. But first we have to smash the disaster-making capitalist governments that Abbott represents. Communism will unleash the creativity and power of the workers, such as we saw in Texas.
Front page of this issue
