5 reasons to walk out on 13 July
Number five
Hit the streets against Trump and capitalism
Claire Laker-Mansfield, Socialist Students national organiser
As we go to press, Donald Trump is on his way to Britain. This billionaire bigot is hoping for a red carpet reception. But the most important ‘welcome’ he will receive will be on the streets. Students, workers and young people plan to throw him a party he won’t forget.
Such is the government’s concern about the potential for mass protest that, in austerity Britain, the Tories have already shelled out more than £30 million on policing and security.
Their nervousness is undoubtedly not restricted to the issue of Trump’s personal safety. He will arrive to greet a government in the depths of crisis – potentially at the point of collapse. And the protests that he is met with will not just be aimed at Trump the individual. We are organising against all that he represents. And that puts our own, crisis-ridden government in the dock.
Trump epitomises the rottenness of the capitalist system. His divide and rule, racist and sexist agenda goes hand in hand with tax cuts for the super-rich and attacks on workers’ rights. Its intended effect is to distract working class people from those really responsible for, and benefiting from, austerity and hardship: the capitalist class – Trump’s billionaire friends.
The system
We need to take aim at Trumpism, and at the system which generates it. The Tories are no strangers to whipping up bigotry and division. The Windrush scandal has shone a light on many of the appalling racist policies applied in Britain. As we take to the streets in protest our cry will be both Trump out and Tories out. And we will be demanding an alternative.
Capitalism is a system which thrives on hate and division, which is based on exploitation and oppression. That’s why there is growing support for socialist ideas. We are fighting for a society for the 99%, one founded on solidarity and working class unity.
A socialist society would see the vast wealth and resources, currently in the hands of a tiny rich few, owned publicly and controlled democratically – so that we could plan the economy to meet the needs of all. Young Socialists is organising to help build a movement to kick out the Tories and fight for socialism. Join us.
- Read an interview with a socialist student activist from the US
- For a full list of protest events against Trump’s visit see ‘Walk out against Trump and Tories’
- Also see the first four reasons to walk out: ‘1 – Stop war, fight Trump, walk out on 13 July‘, ‘2 – No to Trump and Tory racism‘, ‘3 – No to Trump’s climate change chaos‘, and ‘4 – No to sexism! No to Trump!‘