American Party of Labor, Colorado Division–

In the United States there is a growing sense of abandonment amongst rural working people, and while some regions may express this more directly than others, it is a trending phenomenon that cannot and should not be ignored. These issues have caused a lack of adequate transportation, infrastructure, housing, medical infrastructure and jobs.

Rural communities are struggling with just 7% of the national budget, which prevents governmental solutions to the problems plaguing the people. In the United States rural communities struggle with the exploitation brought in by agribusiness as well as extraction companies, given that their economies are largely made up of lower paying resource extraction jobs. These jobs are “brought” in by private entities, generally creating a local monopoly on extraction and allowing for the maximization of profits, with a minimal pay rate.

These issues are endemic to the capitalist system of production as a whole. As long as the primary driving force of an economy is to maximize profits and not to fulfill human need, thus denying the workers a voice in their labor, these issues cannot be resolved. Many rural communities across the United States are starved of adequately paying jobs, while the resources pulled from them are bringing in millions of dollars for corporations that own the land. The working people of these communities are thus denied access to the resources they extract, the land they could cultivate for crops, the money made by the sale of commodities extracted and produced by them; all while the companies that do benefit from the disproportional exchange bring yachts to their shareholders.

Working people continue to push back against the current way of politics and economics, although a recurring challenge has been the failure to identify the root cause that brings these symptoms. Rural communities are more likely to vote in favor of the exploitative enterprises, while citing social spending (which they feel they do not benefit from) and restrictive governmental oversight as the core problems with their economies and lack of services. The solution to rectify these issues begins with sharing a consistent message, with consistent outreach.

Socialist organizing in these communities would allow workers to see yields for their labor, and prevent the “small town corruption” that comes with such concentrated and monopolistic economies. Worker-led economies give voice to the people who toil to produce the value that is extracted by outside entities. Communities that depend so much on the working class, while systematically disenfranchising them, are communities that should be organized around laborers as the primary beneficiaries of economic activities.

These communities would benefit from moving away from the profit driven commodity model, and towards an economy more oriented towards meeting community needs, with expanded access to higher quality infrastructure, education, healthcare, and a more just workplace. Rural towns and counties must organize to realize the full potential of their resources and their own productivity. The movement to build socialism would benefit from reaching out to these disaffected communities to assist with union organizing, mass organization meetings, and community aid programs.

Categories: Economy, U.S. News, Workers Struggle