Read: Johnson, Cedric. "The Triumph of Black Lives Matter and Neoliberal Redemption." nonsite.org, 09 June 2020
"Most often, it is the biggest, most obvious and encompassing problems that are the toughest to recognize for what they truly represent. The article that I’ve chosen to share gets at one large element of this idea in a way that I hope will resonate with anyone who reads this post.
The realities of racism in the US, and the brutal, unconscionable outcomes of it in this society have been laid bare many times before the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing violent suppression of dissent by police forces across the country in the aftermath -- and already have been seen many times since Mr. Floyd took in his last breath under the knee of Derek Chauvin.
But what are the underlying realities that create and perpetuate the malignancy of racism, oppression, and inequality in the US and around the world?
What is the underlying reason for bloated, militarized police forces that so routinely do things like suffocate George Floyd to death, or shoot Breonna Taylor to death, or beat and maim activists and protestors?
Cedric Johnson points the finger directly at the economic system that governs our world and shapes our lives from cradle to grave – the problem is the all-encompassing perniciousness of capitalism (particularly the neoliberal variety that has dominated humanity for the last 40 years), and the ruling class that is both its creation and its captain."
~~ Matthew Bethurem Assistant Professor, Environmental Science & Sustainability at Allegheny College
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