In Ontario, California, warehouse employee Chamel Adbulkarim was arrested after setting fire to the facility where he worked. The fire caused over $600 million in damages. Adbulkarim posted a video to his social media, showing himself igniting several stacks of toilet paper, while voicing outrage about not being paid a living wage. The incident has been compared to the anti-capitalist celebrity Luigi Mangione. Acts of working-class violence like these are to be expected under late-stage capitalism and can only be quelled by systemic change.
Wealth disparity in America has skyrocketed for decades. President Donald Trump’s administration, at the behest of the ruling party, has gone to great lengths to further the class divide. Tax payer money is spent on losing inhumane wars, while Americans are priced out of gas. Extreme politicization has long kept Americans divided. Citizens are slowly waking to the realization that the system at hand is not only failing but was doomed from the start.
The public has not shown the outrage that media outlets expect of them, similar to the response to Mangione. Out of touch articles from billionaire-funded outlets sob at the loss of shareholder value; meanwhile, the working class cheers. Even during a time of extreme political divide, workers can unite over the joy of watching the system decay.
Americans have been witnessing cracks in American capitalism for the past 20 years. Since the 2008 recession, voters have been seeking change. Whether that change was neoliberal war hawk former President Barack Obama or fascist want-to-be President Donald Trump, the country demands change. Unfortunately, these attempts at change generated no tangible benefits.
The No Kings rallies have seen millions of activists from varied demographics coming together, helping to build an infrastructure of solidarity amongst the general public. Unfortunately, the ruling class could not care less about the opinions of the average worker as long as that worker can still produce value. If voting and protesting do nothing, the voiceless majority has no choice but to act out to inflict damage. A system stacked against the average person, ignoring every cry for help, breeds working class violence.
Since the Ontario fire, online discourse has arisen over the ethics of the act. These conversations never arise when companies slash wages, bust unions and lobby against worker rights. There is nothing ethical about the current capitalist system, a system that dehumanizes in mass to boost shareholder value. Slowly, shared suffering unites the working class. Only together can systematic change be achieved.
